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This may be the best news about the Galaxy S6 we’ve heard yet

Published Jan 29th, 2015 12:21PM EST
Samsung Galaxy S6 TouchWiz
Image: Zach Epstein, BGR

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The Galaxy S6 is shaping up to be the best smartphone Samsung has ever released, and not just because of what we’re sure will be killer hardware specifications. A new report from SamMobile brings us some of the best Galaxy S6 news we’ve heard yet: Samsung’s much-hated TouchWiz bloatware will be entirely optional.

FROM EARLIER: Did Qualcomm just leak a key detail about the upcoming Galaxy S6?

“It has been reported that Samsung is working on optimizing its software for the Galaxy S6 to near-Nexus levels,” SamMobile writes. “And we now have exclusive info that the company is removing every add-on feature that can be downloaded as an application, and slimming down the software by a wide margin in the process.”

This really sounds like the best of all possible worlds: The Galaxy S6 will apparently come with a tiny amount of bloatware compared to earlier models, but anyone who misses the bloatware for whatever reason can still download it in the form of individual apps. And really, this should help Samsung develop better software in the future since it will be able to see directly which of its apps appeal to people and which ones don’t.

SamMobile doesn’t know for sure which native Samsung apps will be removed from the Galaxy S6, although it’s betting that at least “apps like Story Album, S Translator, or even S Voice” will be axed, while the S Health app designed to work with the device’s heart rate sensors will be here to stay.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.