One Redditor was fuming after a new app was installed on their Samsung device during a software update.
To make matters worse, there appeared to be no way to ditch the unwanted addition.
"Just updated my phone, saw this," they shared in the subreddit r/a******design, posting a photo revealing the installation of Temu, an online marketplace that claims people can "shop like a billionaire."
"I can't opt out. I can't uninstall Temu either," the original poster added in a comment.
Many people have specific preferences about the applications they allow on their phones, so it was no surprise when other Redditors were outraged on the OP's behalf.
"Ew, bloatware," one person wrote.
"This sort of thing should be banned," someone else said.
While unwanted apps are a nuisance, taking up precious storage space, some people were also frustrated by the inability to escape what felt like excessive promotions by the company.
"I feel like this app came out of nowhere and was able to afford tons of Super Bowl ads, now this. Clearly they're backed by a huge company," one person observed.
"It's like they have [an] unlimited budget the way you just cannot escape their advertising," another wrote.
Samsung did not respond to TCD's email request for comment on the app installation process.
Advertising not only negatively impacts mental health — in part by depicting "an unrealistic picture of happiness," as detailed by Adfree Cities — but it can also promote overconsumption.
More than 100 million tons of textiles are already sent to landfills every year, and some of the material waste ends up polluting other areas as well.
Many of those items were produced by fast-fashion brands, which churn out high quantities of products for minimal cost. The industry has also been criticized for exploitive and unethical labor practices.
Infuriatingly, while some unwanted advertising appears to be unavoidable, a number of commenters offered potential solutions for the OP.
"I've never seen this happen. … However, I did opt out of everything during setup, so there's that," one Redditor wrote.
"Have you tried moving to the EU, they are about to ban not being able to uninstall stuff on phones," another commenter said in jest.
"I had the same problem with Verizon installing unwanted apps on my phone. The way I stopped it was to disable the Verizon App Manager app," someone else wrote in a Reddit thread shared by a commenter on the original post.
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