Do WPs from microsoft store come without carrier bloat?

[Mike Medick]

So thinking about getting the lumia 925, but I'm not sure if I should wait for it to be available from the Microsoft store.

I know that the carrier bloat can be uninstalled, but I'd rather never have it on there in the fist place. The main reason being when I wipe the phone to go back to factory I don't want the carrier bloat in there.

Anyone know if the Microsoft store sells their phones without bloat in the image? I called the Microsoft store and the guy said there's "no bloat on windows phone" but that's a BS answer because he didn't know the real answer to the question.

 

[Chris_Kez]

I'm almost positive the Lumia 920 I bought at the MS store came with AT&T apps pre-installed, but let's see if anyone else can confirm. You might try calling back and using a slightly different approach. Rather than asking about "bloatware", which is likely to put an associate on the defensive immediately, ask whether carrier-exclusive apps (e.g. AT&T Family Map, U-Verse Live TV) come pre-installed or if they need to be downloaded separately.

 

[spaulagain]

I'm almost positive the Lumia 920 I bought at the MS store came with AT&T apps pre-installed, but let's see if anyone else can confirm. You might try calling back and using a slightly different approach. Rather than asking about "bloatware", which is likely to put an associate on the defensive immediately, ask whether carrier-exclusive apps (e.g. AT&T Family Map, U-Verse Live TV) come pre-installed or if they need to be downloaded separately.

They come preinstalled. However, you can uninstall/reinstall them any time you want.

As far as MS store goes, I'm not sure. If it's a phone specific to a carrier, I would assume it does.

 

[HeyCori]

If it's not listed as unbranded then expect some "bloat." Not really a deal breaker IMO because all that bloat can be deleted in a few minutes.

 

[a5cent]

I called the Microsoft store and the guy said there's "no bloat on windows phone" but that's a BS answer because he didn't know the real answer to the question.

Actually, that answer isn't as stupid as you thought, although the rep probably wouldn't know why.

There actually is almost zero bloat in the image/ROM. Preinstalled apps are "preinstalled" only in the sense that the firmware contains a configuration file listing which apps should be downloaded from the app store during initial setup. If you delete such an app from your phone, it is effectively removed and entirely gone

This is unlike Android, where deleting a carrier app doesn't actually delete anything, but rather causes the app launcher to hide the icon (because carrier apps are baked into the image).

On WP such apps are just normal apps. After deletion, all that remains is that configuration file, which is never touched/opened again, unless you do a factory reset. IMHO that can barely be counted as bloat.

 

[NTUser]

I've been to an MS store and have seen bloatware on both AT&T and VZW phones there.

I was messing around with a 920 (felt so good in my hands), and noticed an AT&T app on it. I long-pressed from the app menu, and hit uninstall. It was gone! I didn't even know how to uninstall apps either, it just felt natural to do that, and it worked.

Whatever bloatware is on the phone, no matter where it comes from, you'll be able to remove it easily, just like any other app.

Thank you WP!