OnePlus 12, OnePlus Open pre-install third-party apps without users’ knowledge; company responds

OnePlus 12, OnePlus Open bloatware issue

• This was spotted by Android Authority from a OnePlus 12 user in India who shared the setup process that showed the option to download third-party apps.
• During the setup under “Review additional apps”, there’s a “From OnePlus” section of apps which includes four third-party apps from the Play Store. These are LinkedIn, Policybazaar, Block Blast!, and Candy Crush Saga.
• While the option still lies on the user’s end to install these apps, it can still be annoying and add to bloatware for people who might be unaware of this issue. Also, these apps are pre-selected in the list as if to almost force-install on the smartphone. 
• The “Review additional apps” section isn’t displayed at first, and users will have to select it manually to uncheck the third-party apps. So it can be easily missed by anyone. 
• Interestingly, this third-party apps issue is more persistent in India with OnePlus adding four apps, while the US had only LinkedIn, and none to users in the US, according to the report. 

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The issue seems to be worse on the OnePlus Open with apps like Meta App Installer, Meta App Manager, and Meta Services pre-installed on the device. These are system tools to ensure the smooth functioning of Meta apps. You can’t uninstall them but you can disable the apps from working on your device. Meta apps like Facebook and Instagram will continue working normally even with the tools disabled. 

OnePlus responds to bloatware on OnePlus 12, Open

OnePlus responded to this issue to Android Authority saying, “The soft-preloads on OnePlus 12 was an error made during testing and has been rectified as of May 6. The OnePlus 12 does not come pre-loaded with any of these apps and will continue to remain light, fast and smooth.”

OnePlus has been known to provide one of the cleanest Android UIs, and bloatware is something that shouldn’t be present on smartphones especially flagships like the OnePlus 12 and Open. According to the statement, OnePlus seems to have corrected this issue so it should be a clean setup process now.