Summary
Samsung’s custom Android skin is packed full of extra features you won’t find on Google Pixel phones, but One UI is bloated for the same reason. Buy a Galaxy phone, and you’ll notice duplicate apps. You get the Google apps that are pre-installed as part of the Android Open Source Project release, plus any first-party Samsung apps — even if they both have the same functionality. Those that like to keep their phones clean and lean might find it tricky to decide which apps to keep, and which to get rid of. There are some Samsung apps and features that I depend on daily, and there are some that I remove or disable from my Galaxy phone immediately. These seven apps fall into the latter camp, and I can’t wait to uninstall them after setting up a new Samsung Galaxy device. Samsung Health Use Google Health? You don’t need this app Samsung Health is a critical app for any Galaxy Watch or Galaxy Ring owner, and it could be worthy of a spot on your Galaxy phone. However, if you use third-party wearables from Google, Whoop, Oura, Garmin, or another brand, Samsung Health becomes an unnecessary duplicate app. I use Google Health instead of Samsung Health, as it pairs with my Fitbit Air and provides a consistent experience across every Android phone I use — and every iPhone I use, for that matter. Samsung Calendar Google Calendar handles all my needs Samsung Calendar links with your Google account and provides exclusive customization features you won’t find in Google Calendar. It’s specifically optimized for foldables, the S Pen, and Samsung DeX experience. That’s valuable for some die-hard Galaxy users, but for many, Google Calendar is the sensible pick. In my use, I’ve found Google Calendar to fit my needs perfectly. It integrates well with Gmail and Google Meet, as is to be expected. More importantly, Samsung Calendar’s cross-platform support is extremely poor. There’s no iOS app for Samsung Calendar, and there isn’t a web client either. If you have to leverage Google or Microsoft account sync to make Samsung Calendar usable in a cross-platform state, you might as well use one of those first-party calendar apps instead. Samsung TV Plus I don’t need more ad-supported television Samsung TV Plus is a pre-installed app on Galaxy phones that most users overlook. It’s designed to provide free on-demand streaming and live TV broadcasts to Galaxy users through an ad-supported model. That sounds good on paper, but the app leverages those ads and personalized tracking to deliver free content. The model is also better executed by apps like Pluto and Google TV. For most Galaxy users, it’s an app taking space on their phone that they’ll never open. Samsung News Google News and Discover are all I need Samsung News is a basic news app like any other, and that’s the problem. It pulls content from over 250 trusted sources, serving as a news aggregator. The Samsung News app tries to understand your interests and curate a daily feed of news content. Sound familiar? It’s the same purpose Google News and Google Discover serve, and these apps are built right into your Android phone already. Samsung Find Google Find Hub is the better tracking solution Samsung’s own SmartThings ecosystem of devices and accessories can be found with the Samsung Find app. You can use the crowdsourced tracking app to locate your Galaxy gadgets. I’m a regular user of these helpful tracking apps, like Apple’s Find My. However, Google also has a similar app with more active devices and better ecosystem support: Find Hub. With the Google Find Hub app, Samsung Find quickly becomes redundant. Bixby Gemini is Android’s best voice assistant Samsung’s voice assistant, Bixby, is well-known for all the wrong reasons. It may be a fine voice assistant, and one that has recently been supercharged with AI features. Galaxy AI surely helps Bixby shine, but it still pales in comparison to Gemini. I make sure Gemini is the default voice assistant on every Galaxy phone I set up, and after that, I have no use for Bixby. Samsung Internet Thanks, but I’ll stick with Chrome Your Samsung Galaxy phone ships with two browsers by default: Google Chrome and Samsung Internet. Samsung’s own browser is actually compelling, with plenty of customization features and superb support for ad blockers and anti-tracking features. The browser natively supports extensions, which is something Google Chrome lacks. That said, many Galaxy users prefer the familiarity and cross-platform sync of Google Chrome. If you never plan on using Samsung Internet, you might as well uninstall it. Should Samsung cut down on duplicate apps? Samsung recently killed off Samsung Messages in favor of Google Messages, and personally, I loved the move. Now, no matter which Android phone you choose, you can expect Google Messages as your default messaging app for a consistent experience. Unfortunately, that hasn’t led to Samsung purging some of its other duplicate apps. In the future, I’d like to see Galaxy phones avoid duplicating apps in specific cases when it’s clear Google apps do it better. As a compromise, Samsung could stop pre-installing certain apps, but still make them available for manual download via the Galaxy Store.