The apps that came pre-installed weren't put there for you.
When you buy an Android phone, it comes with a collection of apps already installed. Some of them you use: the phone app, the camera, messaging. But there are dozens of others — apps you never asked for, never downloaded, and in many cases have never opened.
These apps are not there for your convenience. They are there because Google requires phone manufacturers to include them as a condition of using Android. And many of them are always collecting data, whether you open them or not.
Google is, at its core, an advertising company. In 2023, over 77% of Alphabet's revenue came from advertising. The product Google sells to advertisers is information about you — what you search, where you go, what you buy, who you call, what you watch, how long you spend on each thing.
Every Google app on your phone is a data collection point:
Google Maps tracks everywhere you go, even when you're not using it. That location history is used to serve location-based ads and sold to advertisers as aggregate data.
Gmail reads the content of your emails to serve relevant ads. Google claims this is automated, but the scanning is real.
Google Chrome tracks every website you visit, search you perform, and link you click — even in "Incognito" mode (a group of states reached a $391 million settlement with Google over this in 2022).
Google Assistant is always listening for its wake word. The recordings that are captured are stored and reviewed by human contractors.
YouTube builds a detailed profile of your interests, politics, religion, and purchasing intent based on everything you watch and search.
Here is the part that makes most people angry: you cannot fully remove many of Google's pre-installed apps.
Try to uninstall Google Play Services. You can't. It's built into the operating system at a level that requires root access to remove. Try to uninstall the Google app. You can disable it, but not delete it.
This is intentional. Google negotiates deals with phone manufacturers — Samsung, LG, Motorola, Nokia, and others — that require these apps to be pre-installed and non-removable. In return, the manufacturers get access to Android, the Play Store, and Google's ecosystem.
The European Union fined Google €4.34 billion in 2018 for abusing its dominant market position through exactly this practice. Google appealed and the fine was reduced to €4.125 billion. They still paid more than $4 billion and continued the practice.
Beyond Google's apps, many phone manufacturers add their own pre-installed apps — what the industry calls "bloatware." These are often even more aggressive:
Samsung phones come with Samsung Health, Samsung Pay, Samsung Browser, Bixby, Galaxy Store, and dozens more. Many of these send usage data back to Samsung's servers.
Xiaomi phones have been caught collecting browsing data even in private browsing mode. Xiaomi devices running MIUI sent device IDs and browsing history to servers regardless of user settings.
OnePlus was caught with pre-installed analytics software that sent device usage data to a Chinese company called Umeng, which is owned by Alibaba.
These apps run in the background. They use your battery. They use your data connection. And they send information about how you use your phone to corporations you never agreed to work with.
If you use Android with a Google account, Google likely has:
Your precise location history going back years · Every search you've ever performed · Every YouTube video you've watched · Every website you've visited in Chrome · The contents of your Gmail inbox · Your contacts and call history · Your calendar events · Your photos · Your voice searches · Your app usage patterns · Your purchase history through Google Pay
You can request this data from Google at myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy. Most people are shocked by what they find.
You cannot fully escape Google's data collection on an Android phone without switching to a custom operating system (like GrapheneOS), which is not practical for most people.
But you can reduce it significantly:
Disable (not just turn off) location history. Go to myaccount.google.com → Data & Privacy → Location History → Turn off. Then delete your existing history.
Switch browsers. Use Firefox or Brave instead of Chrome. They do not report your browsing to Google.
Disable personalized ads. Settings → Google → Ads → Delete advertising ID. This won't stop tracking, but it disconnects your activity from your ad profile.
Disable app permissions aggressively. Settings → Apps → [each app] → Permissions. Ask yourself: does this app actually need location? Contacts? Microphone? If not, revoke it.
Disable manufacturer apps you don't use. You can't delete them, but you can disable them so they don't run in the background. Settings → Apps → [app] → Disable.
Use Signal instead of SMS. Your regular SMS messages are stored by your carrier and accessible to law enforcement. Signal is end-to-end encrypted.
The apps on your Android phone were not all put there for your benefit. Some were put there by Google to collect data. Some were put there by your phone manufacturer as part of business deals. Some were pre-loaded at the carrier level.
The ecosystem of pre-installed apps on a typical Android phone represents multiple corporations' interests, none of which are primarily about making your life better.
Being aware of this is the first step. Knowing which apps to disable, which permissions to revoke, and which data to delete gives you back some control over your own device.
Your phone is yours. Act like it.