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bloatware

noun

Etymology

From bloat + -ware, originally in the sense “unwieldy software”. The sense “pre-installed software” has become predominant since the 2010s.

  1. derived from blautr
  2. inherited from blot
  3. formed as bloatware — “bloat + -ware”

Definitions

  1. Software that is packed with too many features and therefore slow or unwieldy

    Software that is packed with too many features and therefore slow or unwieldy; software that is inefficiently designed and occupies an excessive amount of memory or disk space.

    • Today’s software development cycle does not allow time to optimize and refine products, and that leads to bloatware.
    • That’s not really a surprise, considering that writing efficient software takes more time than writing wasteful code. “Bloatware” makes economic sense for software developers, if not for consumers!

  2. Unwanted pre-installed software, especially on a smartphone.

    • If consumers didn't like the bloatware that came with their phones, other manufacturers wouldn't include it, the bad actors would lose customers, and everyone would have to adjust.
    • The problem is especially bad with Android and Windows phones sold through third-party carriers, which like to preinstall all sorts of bloatware.
    • Bloatware has also introduced numerous security and trust issues in smartphones. […] OEMs, third-party app providers, telecommunication operators, and malicious parties have used bloatware apps to over-collect user data.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bloatware. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA