Samsung Galaxy S owners riled by more Vodafone bloatware

Samsung Galaxy S owners on Vodafone have joined a growing list of apoplectic Android phone owners who've unwittingly downloaded bloatware.

In a 12-page-and-counting Vodafone forum thread, Galaxy S owners blasted the operator over a firmware update received through Samsung's Kies software. Some people thought it was Android 2.2, but instead it contained a number of unwanted Vodafone goodies, such as a branded splash screen, a 360 shop and update app, and a number of trial games.

There are also indications that some apps don't work properly or are non-removable. Others posters have even suggested that the update has caused reception and network problems.

Vodafone similarly upset HTC Desire owners last month. They too found themselves the unfortunate recipients of bloatware apps. In that case, Vodafone had to backpedal quickly, promising that it would remove all the bloatware with the Android 2.2 update.

There are a number of angry user comments on the forum. M0rd0 said: "All you are managing to do with your badly animated splash screen, and badly written apps, is destroy the customer experience."

"I've had a contract with you now for almost six years. If the next Froyo update doesn't clear away your applications, I will return the handset and take my custom elsewhere. This is a lesson that you, as a company, need to learn. Branding of handsets achieves nothing, except to frustrate and alienate your customer base," M0rd0 continued.

A Vodafone spokesperson replied: "I do understand your frustrations in regards to this issue and can assure you that we do understand how serious this issue is, to many of you. Basically, what we've been doing is emailing some customers who purchased their devices unbranded but have received the branding update.

"The purpose of these emails was to obtain IMEI information so we could feed this back to our devices team and Samsung for investigation. At the moment, we are currently awaiting the outcome of this investigation. However, we will provide an official update as and when we receive it."

It looks like Galaxy S owners will probably have to wait until Android 2.2 comes out before the bloatware can be removed. Vodafone has, however, kept quiet as to when the Android 2.2 update will be available.