Android device owners will soon see fewer Google-branded apps on their smartphones. The company has altered its requirements and phone makers will no longer be forced to stick Google+, Play Games, Newsstand, and Play Books on their smartphones, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal.
The change comes in response to an investigation the European Commission is conducting into Google’s potential monopolistic business practices. Google has long required handset makers to include a series of core apps, such as Gmail, Google Maps, Calendar, and the Play Store.
The list of these required apps has grown over the years. Unwanted apps — especially those that cannot be deleted — are often referred to as bloatware.
The EU saw the presence of these unwanted and unremovable apps as unfair competition to third-party apps that do the same (or similar) thing. Google has not commente
