You Can Safely Disable or Uninstall These Pre-Installed Apps on Samsung Phones
Removing apps you know you won’t use is a great way to save storage space and minimize background processes on your phone. This is especially true for Galaxy devices, since they come with so many pre-installed Samsung apps.
Samsung Apps That Can Be Uninstalled
One of theworst things about Samsung phonesis the amount of bloatware apps included with the device. While some of them can be useful, a lot of them don’t provide much value and you’re better off uninstalling them.
Here are the Samsung apps that you canuninstall from your Galaxy device:
Samsung Internet
Bixby Dictation
Samsung Health
Voice Recorder
Samsung Members
Samsung Notes Add-ons
Samsung Find
Samsung Music
Game Booster Plus
Smart Switch
Samsung Free
Samsung Kids
Health Platform
Samsung Translator
Samsung Wallet
While uninstalling these apps won’t hurt your phone, there are someuseful pre-installed Samsung appsthat you might want to consider keeping.
Samsung Apps That Can Be Disabled
Some Samsung apps are built into the system itself and can’t be uninstalled, but you can still disable them. This way, they don’t run in the background wasting your battery life, RAM, and processing power. In addition, you canhide apps you don’t usefrom the Home screen or app drawer.
Here are the Samsung apps that you candisable on your Galaxy device:
Bixby Voice
Samsung Shop
Galaxy Avatar
Samsung Visit In
AR Emoji Stickers
Game Launcher
Samsung Checkout
AR Emoji Editor
Link to Windows
Samsung Max
Avatar Stickers
If you ever change your mind and want to use these apps again, you can enable them.
Samsung Apps I Recommend Keeping
Many Samsung apps are not very useful, and you’ll thus likely want to remove them. Before you do, have a look at the following Samsung apps I use every day and recommend you keep on your Galaxy device to get the best experience.
Google Chrome is the browser of choice for most people, but if you want the best mobile browsing experience on Galaxy, Samsung’s native internet browser is the obvious pick. When Icompared Google Chrome and Samsung Internet, I found the latter to be far more customizable, private, and easy to use with one hand.
Samsung Internet’s incognito mode equivalent, Secret mode, is also way more secure. It requires biometrics to use, so nobody else can access it on your phone. Also, files downloaded while in Secret mode can only be opened within Secret mode, and are not visible elsewhere on your phone. This is such a no-brainer that I’m surprised Google hasn’t implemented it on Chrome yet.
You should only side with Chrome if cross-platform sync matters a lot to you, and you want your bookmarks to be consistent across all your devices while logged in to your Google account.
If you’ve never used the Samsung Members app before, you might be quick to regard it as yet another piece of bloatware, but it’s actually a super useful tool. Inside the app lies a suite of diagnostic tests that help youcheck if there’s something wrong with your Samsung phone.
The app also allows you to read FAQs, access technical support, request repair service, find a nearby service center, register your device for Samsung Care+, and check out exclusive offers for new Samsung products. If you’re invested in the Samsung ecosystem, the Members app is a must-have.
You might be aware of Windows' Phone Link app that allows you to control your phone via your computer and make calls, read and reply to messages, view recent photos, and mirror your phone’s screen.
All these features are available on any Android phone, but there are somePhone Link features exclusive to Samsung users—such as cross-platform copy and paste, drag-and-drop file transfer, and RCS messaging—that make for a much more seamless experience.
Google Apps That Can Be Removed
Alongside the Samsung apps, you could also remove some Google apps without worrying about damaging your phone. Since Google controls Android, many Google apps are closely tied to the system, so you shouldn’t mess with them. For instance, you probably should not remove important apps such as Google, Maps, Gmail, Photos, Chrome, Drive, and Google Play Services.
But you can easily uninstall or disable the following apps if they are of no use to you:
Google Play Games
Google Play Services for AR
Speech Services by Google
Google News
Google Translate
Android System SafetyCore
In particular, we’ve explainedwhy you should remove SafetyCore on Android.
Android phones from other manufacturers like Google, Asus, or Motorola come with mostly clean software. But Samsung’s One UI is filled with all kinds of apps that you may not find useful, and should thus uninstall or disable.
Remember that aside from pre-installed bloatware, there are likely a lot of other apps you should uninstall from your phone to make it work more smoothly and save storage.
We want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful.
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As to your remove list, there are some I would not remove:
SmartSwitch - This is useful if you ever change from one Samsung phone to another. It has allowed me to keep apps that otherwise would be very hard to find again and saved a lot of setup time.
Link to Windows - Yes, I shut it down repeatedly on my PC, but I do use it, just not all the time.
OneDrive - Free cloud storage and if I’m using my phone for work, this comes in handy.
Flagship price, mid-range phone.
Don’t let someone else take over your phone number.
I didn’t even know this secret menu existed until recently!
My iPhone does it all, but I still need my dumb phone.
Touchscreens stole the spotlight, but these phones built the stage.
Your phone’s camera app doesn’t show this, so it’s easy to miss.
