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by spankalee 3 days ago
I don't use Apple Music, so opening their music player only wastes my attention and time. It happens if you accidentally press play on your headphones too. Then you need to quit Apple Music, for no good reason. And you can't uninstall it!
1 comments
Terr_ 3 days ago
A similar scourge is encroaching on Google-branded android phones, as they add mandatory apps to cover stuff like supporting earbuds you don't own.
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SauntSolaire 3 days ago
Are you talking about the pixel buds app? They ask you on setup if you want it installed, and you can uninstall it anytime. Seems pretty far from "mandatory".
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Terr_ 3 days ago
Yes, that's the example I had in mind.

> you can uninstall it anytime

I'm sure it tells you that... but did you actually try?

The "uninstall" button is a lie: You cannot remove the app, you can only roll it back to some mandatory minimum version.

> Do you want to uninstall all updates to this Android System app?

If you "uninstall", the app still exists, and your only choice is to surrender and update it again. So yes, that "system app" is (as far as Google is concerned) absolutely "mandatory" on my phone.

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hadlock 3 days ago
Apps I can't uninstall on my Pixel 9 or 10 (I forget): Gemini, Google TV, My Pixel, Now Playing, Screenshots, Wallet, Weather, YT Music

Some of those might be system level stuff, but I don't know what the heck Google TV is, and I certainly am not signing up for whtever "YT Music" is. Probably some spotify subscription thing they will cancel like they did google play music and whatever came before that. But I can't uninstall any of these, or even delete the icons. They're just visual trash I can't hide from the launcher.

I don't trust the digital music stores anymore, cumulatively I have probably $100 worth of music I've bought across 3-4 music stores in the last 25 years and I can't access any of it anymore. Meanwhile my MP3 collection and WinAmp from high school continue to work without issue.

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