Different ways manufacturers and carriers make the smartphones worse than normal

Talking about smartphones, it is the apple of eye for most of the users, and I myself is also not an exception to that. When it comes to purchasing smartphones, we all try to get the most features and functionalities with our hard earned pennies, or our budget. But, don’t you deserve more within your budget! Well, we all take our decision of purchasing a smartphone by having a look at the other models by different brands that comes within the same price range. Finally, we always go for the one that offers all the flavors we need at the minimum price. Still, there are some, who prefer paying little extra for a better after sales service, if not those lucrative carrier offers prevalent in most countries.

There are a number of things in smartphones, which are just out of our control, and those are the places, where most manufacturers and carriers play the filthy marketing game. Even with a smartphone that comes with the latest flagship Snapdragon SoC, a bright Super AMOLED display, and all that you need, the same game is continued, and in almost all the cases, you might end up getting less than what you deserve. There are a plenty of elements in a smartphone, which are fixed, and that is the reason, the experience is clipped. Though it isn’t completely impossible to get over the limitations, performing some complicated activities to get over the limitations is known only to a handful of users and doing that might void the warranty and brick a device beyond recovery.

So let’s find out the things that make the smartphone experience worse.

Bloatware apps

First things first. We unbox our brand new smartphone, switch it on to find those useless apps, which we will hardly even use. Such useless apps not only take up unnecessary space on that small memory, but it also keeps using the smartphone’s hardware and network resources, which could have been dedicated to some other activities, we will usually do on a smartphone. Though there are some useful pre-installed apps in the smartphones available in India like Ola, Uber, Paytm etc. but still I wish the manufacturers gave us the liberty to install the apps whenever we feel like doing them.

And there are obviously some crapware apps in some smartphone which hardly make any sense. Look at the Samsung Galaxy apps! Who use them! The Google version of those apps is better and more reliable. Both Android platform and the Store is quite matured these days, and smartphones coming with some pre-installed apps is more a curse than a boon.

Skins and user interfaces

I am sure, most users are pretty frustrated with it. Though I might be a little more overwhelmed by third-party user interfaces, being a lover of stock Android, but nobody can deny third-party user interfaces somehow affect the performance of a device. I am not talking about some great third-party user interfaces like the OxygenOS, which come with some delicious improvements over Google’s own stock Android, but look at ColorOS, Funtouch OS, etc. which completely change the look and feel of Android, and I know many are not happy with. MIUI is also one of them. The third-party user interfaces and skins might come with some basic additional functionalities, but I personally don’t want them at the cost of the device’s performance.

The MIUI by Xiaomi comes with advertisements which I don’t like at all, and the ColorOS thing makes us forget the way we use a usual Android by over-modifying the notification panel, the quick-toggles, and many other things. Though a lot of things can be modified by using a new launcher, the final experience will still be half-boiled. I wish the manufacturers gave us the option to choose between skins and user interfaces, or all the smartphones came with the same Google’s stock Android. The overwhelming number of manufacturers adopting Android is one of the problems behind this issue.

Blocked apps and features

This might not be the case every time, but the carriers have the ability to block certain services and apps on your Android device, which might be frustrating. You might not be able to use the hotspot or use a certain wallet service, which you have been using for quite some time. You might get over some of the limitations, but you will have to end up paying extra for getting an Android device free from blocked services and features. Most manufacturers do this to promote their own products and services with the intention of killing the competition and establish a monopoly.

The features and services are generally blocked on Android devices, which are sold by the carrier and they lock down the devices in such a way, the users won’t be able to switch to other carriers and their services. So if you want to enjoy the complete openness of Android on your device, better do not purchase your handsets from your carrier. Go to an outlet and get the best value for money and later choose the most appropriate carrier that gives you the best value.

Delay in security and software updates

Now, this is something, which you will find most users still complaining about. Unless you are using a device with stock Android, or it is a part of the Android One program, the number of which devices are very limited, you will be deprived in most cases, from getting the latest security patches and software updates. Not everybody might be looking out for the fresh new Android dessert, but smartphones being the hot hub for all our personal information, security updates is something, which we deserve at any cost.

But smartphone manufacturers cut the corners and do not offer regular security updates, which is something quite frustrating. The use of overwhelmed skins and user interfaces, and sometimes, the lethargic attitude of the manufacturers are responsible for not rolling out security and new software updates. Though with Google’s new Project Treble, it will be now a lot easier for the manufacturers to roll out software updates, but it is yet to be seen, whether the manufacturers want to satisfy the customers, or follow a mean marketing strategy to continue not giving updates, and push the customers to purchase the new models.

Locked bootloaders

Now, this is something most geeks already know about. Most smartphones today, even Google’s lovely Pixel devices come with locked bootloaders, nevertheless, Android is an open-source platform. It means the users are deprived of installing their own selected operating systems after the manufacturers stop rolling out updates out of the greed to offer their new handsets to the users.

There are still a handful of users who unlock the bootloaders to install their preferred operating systems, but the fact that it will void the warranty and will brick the device beyond recovery is a reason, why most users stay away from such a thing. The manufacturers never offer a straightforward way to unlock the bootloaders, which is something that makes the Android devices bad, if a user is not happy with the bloatware and crapware, want to get newer Android versions and security patches.

Problems should get solved or should at least be reduced once the customers become aware of the problems that come with the Android devices. The companies should also give the first priority to customer satisfaction, which will eventually turn out to be the most novel and most successful marketing strategy without breaking the ethics. Though getting rid of all the problems at once is like dreaming to see the pigs fly.

So that was it. Do you know any other points or things that make Android smartphone bad? Feel free to comment it down below.

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