Android devices are subject to bloatware and as they come preinstalled with several applications and software that may not be useful to all. To the rescue of users, there are numerous ways for users to remove bloatware from their device, but what about the annoying ads coming in without the any request. Well, this is what some Micromax smartphone users are facing.
As per a post by a Reddit user that was spotted by Neowin, the Micromax Canvas Fire A093 smartphone that is a low end device retailing for Rs 6,999 has applications that the user never installed. The user further added that some of the applications include Snapdeal, Newshunt and Amazon India. The user is basically accusing Micromax for installing applications without the user’s consent that results in using up the valuable internal memory capacity and wasting 3G data on downloading them.
Notably, the Canvas Fire being a low end smartphone has only 2.25 GB of user accessible native storage capacity and hence, it is sensible for the user to accuse the vendor of occupying this space with unwanted applications.
The user has noted that the applications that were installed without his consent are not light ones and that they reappear even after uninstalling them. He further added that it creates around 10 notifications of advertisements of online stores and other applications soon as the handset is connected to the internet wasting his 3G data plan.
For those users who are experiencing such issues, XDA Developers has come up with the details regarding this data mining by Micromax smartphones. If was found that Micromax has replaced the Google Updater that is responsible for the firmware OTA updates with a third party application called FWupgrade.apk that was developed by a Chinese firm called Adups. It is claimed that this third party FOTA app will download apps in the background without the consent of users and show several ad notifications.
The report also explains the ways in which an application can install another app with the Android PackageManager API. The Chinese firm Adups has listed features such as app push service, device data mining and mobile advertising on its website. Alsp, there is no evidence on what this data mining results in as the details collected by the process remains unknown.
The XDA Developers report adds that the only way to disable the application is by rooting the smartphone as the disable button for the third party installer app is deactivated. But, this is a complicated process for the basic users that has to be done to disable the application that will also disable the smartphone’s capability to find for updates.
