Phones without an assistant or bloatware...

[DavidBoren]

Do you know of any phones that do NOT have a stupid freaking assistant? No siri, alexa, bixby, cortana... none of it. I don't want it. I don't want to disable it or uninstall it... I don't want it there to begin with. Is that possible?

And bloatware... how do I avoid this phenomenon? Do I need to change phone providers? Why do apps that I have already disabled come back when I update the phone? I can't avoid updating the phone, but it just brings me a bunch of $#!+ I don't want. Turns on stuff that I already turned off. Every time I have to mess with the stupid apps... I have to rearrange my entire homescreen setup. They explode my groups, suddenly Google search and weather are back from wherever I already sent them. I hate it.

Like email... I promise I already have my own, I don't need or want Samsung freaking email. I definitely don't need or want it to be permanently installed on my phone without a way to remove it. In fact, I don't need or want anything from Samsung other than this device, itself. I don't want Samsung Pay, or freaking anything else. I am perfectly capable of choosing the apps I want. I don't need help or recommendations from the phone or service provider.

Here's the real kicker... I don't want to deal with rooting my phone. I shouldn't have to attach it to a computer just to get rid of the bull$#!+ that it apparently came with... because it doesn't really work anyways. From what I have read, even when you root your phone and do all the backwards .com/uninstall crap, it's still actually there. Just hidden and dormant. Which is better, but not better than nothing. I want the nothing. I want the BS to GO AWAY entirely, or not exist in the first place.

Games, like real games, pre-installed... I don't want this BS.

So, what phone and/or service provider offers me the absolute least possible amount of extra included horse$#!+ that I will have to delete, disable, and uninstall on a regular basis? After every single system update, I am tired of going through every single app in alphabetical order to turn off permissions (again), force stop (again), uninstall updates (again), disable (again)...

[moving_target]

every android has at least google assistant on it as far as I can think of. so you're basically SOL there as far as assistant is concerned. as for bloatware etc, there are quite a few. but again. you will always be at least stuck with google base.

NOW, if you are willing to get a little weird, there are a few distros that may have assistant off or are even linux based but those are very hit or miss in terms of quality since they're volunteer based and/or very early in development.

THAT SAID. if you're looking for closest to clean/whatever, a google phone or a one plus is unfortunately your best bet as far as bloatwear, they're fairly minor in the bloat, though it sounds like what you're looking for is a step beyond what you're going to get even from them possibly

[Rusty Brass]

An unlocked Google Pixel is the closest you're going to get.

[JonM]

Unless you want to go with an older phone that's no longer supported, you're going to have to do some work to make this possible. Since most phones these days come with either IOS or some form of Android, you'll need to be comfortable with installing your own Linux based OS on a device. If you want this kind of experience out of the box, you're out of luck. Any alternatives are going to take some degree of tech proficiency to get running.

[fullofpaint]

A OnePlus or a Pixel that's unlocked and ordered from the manufacturer, not bought at the corporate store are pretty much your only options.

Currently rocking a OP8 Pro and it has pretty much no bloatware besides OnePlus's own messaging app, community forum, file manager, weather app, and game center. Haven't bothered uninstalling them since I have more storage than I'll ever need but a quick google makes it look like you can't. Also, If you're on VZ, you have to get the specific version sold in Verizon stores or you can't make full use of 5G thanks to Verizon using a unique radio band for some of it's 5G coverage. Not a huge deal since 5G rollout right now is basically nothing, but depending how long you keep it might be frustrating.

I haven't used the newest Pixel but the 3 XL had pretty much the same pre-installed apps, just the google versions.

[Grendel]

You are essentially asking for something that does not exist. The goal of the cell phone industry is to get their hooks into you and be able to market to you and use you as a marketing asset. Apple iOS wants to be the ubiquitous option so they can effectually leverage that monopoly to ensure future sales of their echo system products. Google developed Android and made it open source as a loss leader for where they really make their money (data). So neither of the two dominating OS providers for mobile devices (and not not so mobile) have no motivation not to include their OS specific "bloat" and "assistance" nor do they want to allow you to permanently disable their data collection resources. To get what you are asking for you are going to have to take control in your own hands and that means rooting/jail breaking your device and put a friendly version of OS on the mobile device. There are stripped down "Android" and Linux options out there but no manufacturer is going to provide or sell you that product. The big suggestions here seem to be Pixel [which is Google so every "spying" tool will be there that they can put into it because again data is their money maker] and OnePlus which uses and Android based operating system so I assume will again be rife with "spying" data collection tools just not sure if it is in cooperation with Google Android or OnePlus's own version. These manufacturers are not making their money off the sale of the cell phone most are loss leaders the goal is to get you hooked on their echo system and siphon off your data.

[punkncat]

It really sounds like you should shop flip phones. There is a still a market for them and some really robust models out.

[cellophane]

You could also root your phone and install an OS of your choosing. The difficulty of rooting will depend on the phone, but I believe the newer phones aren't as bad. There are even some open source alternatives:

https://itsfoss.com/open-source-alternatives-android/

https://lineageos.org/ (appears to have spun off from Cyanogen Mod when it stopped development)

I had Cyanogen running on my original Nexus for quite a while and it was great.

[chrislognshot]

will not find one today all phones come with as part of deal made with country's. have there for people how need help and do not under stand smart phone like elderly or handicap people.

[glaman5266]

You are essentially asking for something that does not exist.

Bingo.

I had a thread on MCB 2.0 about this very topic. Like you, I wanted nothing on the thing & wanted it to behave EXACTLY how I wanted. I had to come to terms with the fact that the phone I want (w/o rooting & installing a different OS) simply does not exist.

I tried a newer flip phone, the Sonim XP3. Used it from November last year 'til about 6 weeks ago. Not a bad phone. Reception and voice clarity was excellent & the thing was damn near bulletproof. The camera and texting functions were lacking though, even considering it's a flip phone. If you don't mind a few operational/behavioral issues with texting (shortcuts & button responses suck) it's a solid phone.

Newer flip phones simply aren't what they were 10-15 years ago. No one I'm aware of makes a truly high-end flip phone. After all, why put high-end features in a phone whose sales pale in comparison to smart phones? If I could buy a brand new LG Helix & go back to the 2G network (yes, 2G...) I 100% would. That was the best phone I ever had. Had it for 11 years & was still on the 2G network until last November. The only reason I got something new is 'cuz I was starting to lose button functionality & I didn't want to be up a creek if/when it finally crapped out. I still use it for an alarm clock though.

I finally got a smartphone about 6 weeks ago because, again, no one makes a truly high-end flip phone & if I'm gonna be stuck with 3G or newer networks (with their f***ing tracking BS) then I may as well go all-in. I weighed the pros/cons, including possibly buying an older phone for a Linux OS, and settled on the new version of the iPhone SE. Basically an iPhone 8 w/the iPhone 11's processor. Was released last April with a $400 price tag. I chose an Apple phone because their app store is better curated, I have more control over permissions and there is surprisingly little bloatware. I have US Cellular for a provider & they have NO apps/services/recommendations of their own built into the phone. Yes, there are Apple-specific apps/bloat, but you can remove those. I'd also rather have Apple tracking me than Google. F*** Google. Well, f*** both of 'em, but Google more so. I also didn't want the bloatware associated with Samsung phones & didn't want to mess with rooting/installing a different OS. Apple phones have their quirks, but I find them easier to work with than Android phones. So far I'm reasonably happy with it. The only thing I really don't like is the interface isn't as customizable as an Android phone (apps/icons are in a grid pattern, can't change that). I can still remove search bars, wedgits, turn off Siri & recommendations, etc., so I can deal with the lack of home screen customization. Apps are easy to remove, even the Apple-specific apps. I also turn off location services & I only sign in to my Apple account to use the App Store and back up my phone. I stay logged out 99% of the time.

As for providers, I can only speak about US Cellular. Again, there's no provider-specific bloatware on my iPhone. The main downside to US Cellular is they are a CDMA network, and as such their phones aren't really transferable to other networks (aside from iPhones) & they almost require you to get a phone through them to use their network. I've had customer service issues (including one major one), but their signal/reception are pretty good around here (WI).

If you don't want to deal with ANY of the BS in the current mainstream phones then your best option is to find one that you can root & install the OS of your choice. Others have posted good options, but they have Google/Android for an OS. If you're against Android, and if you're willing to learn to deal with a few quirks, I recommend a lower-end Apple phone. For me it's a happy medium between Google/Android & the hassle (rooting) and uncertainty (support/future-proofing) of using an OS of my choice.

EDIT: Something that may help in dealing with smartphone use is to try & change your mindset. Someone on the previous forum (I think it was seajay) recommended that I don't think of it as a phone with computer functions, but as a computer that has phone functions. It's simply going to function differently than a traditional cell phone. Not sure if that will help or not...