Galaxy S6 Stripped Of Software: Flagship May Feature Only Two Samsung Apps

Say goodbye to the bloatware heavy TouchWiz user interface of the past. The latest software on the Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone may feature only two applications by the Korean manufacturer, according to a report by tech website SamMobile.

Samsung’s devices are known for having a host of special software features, which are intended to simplify various tasks on a handset. However, many of those features have ended up being novelty aspects as opposed to necessary applications.

Galaxy smartphones have included features that allow users to scroll a page up and down using their eyes, or to flip through a photo gallery by just waving a hand over their phone, to name a couple. But Samsung may do away with all of these features on the Galaxy S6. Users may find only the S Voice personal assistant app and the S Heath fitness tracker app on the Galaxy S6 when it launches, presumably sometime between late-March and Mid-April.

The Galaxy S6 may instead host vital applications from other manufactures. The device is expected to primarily feature Google apps, which would give the Galaxy s6 a user experience similar to Google’s Nexus devices, which feature no bloatware applications. The Galaxy S6 may also feature a number of applications from Microsoft, including One Drive storage app, One Note word processor app and the Skype messaging app as well as Facebook, WhatsApp social media apps and the Galaxy App store.

Overall, Samsung’s apps have been a source of frustration for consumers who complained that the features took up too much internal storage on their devices. Without all of the extra features, users would have more space on their devices for their personal files.

But Samsung may not be getting rid of its applications all together. Prior reports have suggested that Samsung might make its apps available for download on the Galaxy App store, so users who want the features can still access them.

The Galaxy S6 will be announced on March 1 at a press event in Barcelona preceding the World Mobile Congress.