Samsung will reportedly be cutting much of the bloatware from its TouchWiz Android overlay.
This is great news for most people, with Samsung's software being largely disliked by many. Could this spell the beginning of the end for Samsung's TouchWiz?
Samsung will still be offering these features to users who want them, but the idea is that they will be available as extra features.
What this means is that things like S Voice and S Translator will be pushed to the Google Play Store or Samsung's store. This is great considering the general dislike for many of Samsung's services on the Galaxy range.
Samsung will still develop TouchWiz, only that TouchWiz will come with fewer apps out of the box.
Samsung has been dialing back on TouchWiz for a few years now. The past few versions of the software have been a little less intense or different from stock Android than previous versions.
It seems as though Samsung has been trying to reinvent Android every time it releases a new flagship smartphone. The latest news suggests that Samsung has realized that the current setup isn't the most viable option for users.
The company releasing its apps to the Google Play Store as options -- rather than including them by force in the software -- is a rather humble move by Samsung, which is slowly realizing that the general user does not want many of its apps on its smartphone.
TouchWiz will not disappear completely since it is part of Samsung's smartphone identity. It distinguishes Samsung from other Android phone manufacturers. Samsung is, of course, trying to make its smartphone more appealing to customers than its rivals are, such as HTC with its Sense Android overlay.
Many people, in fact, like Samsung's TouchWiz. Those who don't simply buy a stock Android device from Google's Nexus line. The ability for users to decide which apps they want included may help increase the customizability of Samsung's devices. This may also be appealing to users.
While there's no official list of apps that won't be included in future versions of TouchWiz, speculation suggests that many core apps, such as S Health, will remain part of the software.
Samsung is the largest Android manufacturer; however, it has begun to struggle over the past few years. A rebranding of TouchWiz, or at least the ability to make it what the user wants, could help the company remain on top.
