Users have been encountering soft-preload apps during the setup process of their OnePlus 12. According to the brand, this is all an “error,” adding it “has been rectified as of 6 May.” However, it seems this is not the end of the pre-load issues in OnePlus devices, as a recent discovery shows the company is planning to push it in a future update.
Recently, the OnePlus 12 has started showing a specific “Review additional apps” page during the setup process, wherein it offers four pre-selected apps that users can install. The items are labeled as apps “from OnePlus,” and they include LinkedIn, Policybazaar, Block Blast!, and Candy Crush Saga. Thankfully, the items can be easily unchecked, albeit they could be ignored by some users, which will lead to their inadvertent installation.
When Android Authority asked the company about the matter, OnePlus shared that the page was just an error, saying it was already resolved.
The soft-preloads on OnePlus 12 was an error made during testing and has been rectified as of 6 May. The OnePlus 12 does not come pre-loaded with any of these apps and will continue to remain light, fast and smooth.
In line with this, in spite of admitting to pre-installing the Instagram and Agoda apps on the OnePlus Nord CE4, the smartphone manufacturer promises that it has always been working “at keeping OxygenOS bloatware free.” According to the brand, it respects the users’ choices, and “they do not need these pre-installed apps at the moment,” and “it is also easy to uninstall them.”
Interestingly, despite the assurances, the reports about the page appearing during the OnePlus 12 setup process still persist. Even more, evidence of the company’s plan to push more bloatware items to its devices was spotted in the latest OnePlus 12 OxygenOS 14.0.0.610 firmware. In a post shared by leaker @1NormalUsername on X, these several third-party apps under the folders “Must Play” and “More Apps” are named:
- Fitbit
- Bubble Pop!
- Word Connect Wonders of View
- Tile Match
- Amazon India Shop
- Amazon Prime Video
- Amazon Music
- Zomato
- Agoda
- Swiggy
While this is alarming, it is important to note that the soft-preload page of these apps is not yet live, indicating that the matter is still being planned. Unfortunately, it is unknown what OnePlus intends to do next.
This issue, however, is not exclusive to OnePlus 12. It is also a problem in the OnePlus Open, which is filled with tons of bloatware, including the Meta App Installer, Meta App Manager, Meta Services, Netflix, various Google apps, and more. If you want to know the full list of these bloatware apps and how to remove them, we have a detailed article for this.
