[ajross]

> And an aside: Interesting how you made me and the OP sound deranged because we don't want to install a 3rd party service to customize the use of our phones.

Fair enough, but I was trying to phrase it as a gentle joke.

I mean... you're trying to "customize" them to make them use "3rd party services"! That's the whole point! That's what you want! You want something not-Google, and you're mad that the mechanism to do so is to... not use the Google app.

I mean, you get that that's hilarious, right? Do you get likewise angry (maybe you'd say "deranged") that Microsoft has a Bing search bar on the desktop, or non-removable OneDrive integration in the file browser? That Apple sets you up with an account by default when you unbox your iPhone?

In point of fact, and being completely serious here: of all the major-vendor client platforms out there, Google Android is by far the most customizable in the sense of "removing the vendor's own app integration". Go try to swap your browser on iOS. I really don't understand why you're so upset.

[NeuNeurosis]

Again I didn't mention any angst over the restriction I was simply reinforcing the OPs point that those items are not negotiable. And I really don't see how the points you brought up are comparable. The bing search bar is removable and the iOS sign in is required for functionality. The issue at play here are features that have nothing to do with functionality and are locked in eating up a large space on a limited space device. This is just poor design from a UX perspective but great placement from a user habit and marketing perspective. Its great that you degraded our comments/concerns as "hilarious" and that we are "angry" when the OP was simply sharing a subjective experience, with one part that is factually correct.