OnePlus used to be one of the very few OEMs to avoid pre-installing bloatware on its devices, but that changed in August when the company pre-installed Facebook bloatware on the OnePlus 8 series and the OnePlus Nord. With this move, OnePlus faced criticism and backlash from its customers and the company has now confirmed it won’t continue this practice anymore.
The confirmation comes through a new Input report where an OnePlus spokesperson confirmed the company’s decision. According to OnePlus, the newly-launched OnePlus 8T doesn’t come pre-installed with Facebook services. That said, the company declined to confirm if the bloatware removal will stay forever.
The issue was first brought to attention when Max Weinbach took to Twitter to share a few screenshots where Instagram auto-updated via Facebook’s services instead of the Play Store. Soon after, Arjun from our team started a Reddit thread where a significant number of users confirmed the presence of Facebook bloatware on their OnePlus devices.
OnePlus, however, didn’t confirm if it will remove Facebook services from its current devices. It is no mystery that the company will face backlash again if it continues with such sneaky partnerships, especially with brands like Facebook whose track record for protecting user privacy is certainly not why it is known for in the tech industry.
So, if you’re someone with an OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro, or OnePlus Nord wondering how to remove the Facebook bloatware, you’re in luck. All you have to do is follow the steps in our guide to remove Facebook bloatware from OnePlus phones.
