Israeli-founded app preloaded on Samsung phones is attracting controversy

Android bloatware and setup experience

• Several commenters describe cheap Android (often Samsung/carrier-locked) phones as effectively unusable during initial setup: hours of updates, unwanted app installs, intrusive prompts, and dark patterns.
• Even premium Samsung devices are said to ship with aggressive promotions (Bixby, “Global Goals”, app recommendations) and persistent reinstalling of removed apps after updates.
• In contrast, Pixels, some Motorolas, Fairphone, and older “Android One” devices are cited as relatively clean; iPhones are seen as cleaner too, though with their own Apple-first “bloat” bundle.

Economic incentives and responsibility

• One view: low device prices are subsidized by preloaded apps, data harvesting, and ads; carriers and OEMs are paid to ship “crapware,” leading to a race to the bottom.
• Another view: hardware is cheaper mainly due to economies of scale; advertising/data revenue is “gravy,” not a real consumer subsidy.
• Some argue this is corporate greed more than necessary economics; others note consumers actively choose “cheaper but full of crap” carrier deals.

What AppCloud does, and where

• AppCloud is reported to push unsolicited app promotions and remotely install apps, bypassing normal consent and some security checks; several label this spyware, not mere bloatware.
• Initially described as limited to Africa/Asia/MENA, users report finding and removing AppCloud (via adb) on Samsung phones in the US and at least one EU case, contradicting the article’s geographic scope.

Israeli origin and geopolitical concerns

• Part of the controversy is legal: some countries bar Israeli companies; preloading Israeli-origin software could breach local boycott/anti-normalization laws.
• Others see the focus on “Israeli-founded” as politicized or “Israel bad” framing, especially since the company is now owned by a US firm and ties between AppCloud and ironSource/Aura are unclear.
• Counterpoint: given Israel’s well-known offensive cyber ecosystem, state alignment is a legitimate threat model for states hostile or wary of Israel—analogous to concerns over Chinese or Russian vendors.
• Some note that much global tech (chips, R&D centers, cloud components) already has Israeli contributions, making pure avoidance unrealistic, but distinguish that from remotely controlled ad/spy modules.

Responses, workarounds, and trust

• Suggested mitigations: buy unlocked phones, avoid Samsung/carrier models, prefer Pixels (optionally with custom ROMs like GrapheneOS), or avoid Android altogether.
• There are calls for regulation mandating a clean baseline OS and banning remote installers.
• Broader worries surface about ubiquitous “spy apps,” surveillance capitalism, and the difficulty of achieving genuinely open, verifiable, secure consumer systems.