OnePlus 8 smartphones come with pre-installed Facebook services and users can’t delete them

OnePlus smartphones are popular also thanks to their OxygenOS. It’s a custom overlay from a Chinese company that users have come to love for its clean look, smart features, and—most of all—the lack of unnecessary pre-installed apps.

But that has changed with their flagship, and more and more people are starting to notice it. OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro will start installing Facebook apps on their own as soon as you turn on the system. The latest alert came from Max Weinbach, a well-known account on Twitter.

OxygenOS and bloatware

One of the main reasons why so many people like OxygenOS is clearly the absence of bloatware, meaning an excessive number of pre-installed apps that some users may not want. At least until now.

OnePlus 8-series phones, in fact, will start installing Facebook apps as their main ones right after turning the device on—like Instagram or Pages Manager. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t uninstall them; the bloatware is hidden somewhere else.

The issue was also noticed by Max Weinbach, a well-known editor from XDA-Developers.com. He commented with the words: “I can’t stand it this much!”

Max Weinbach also points out that if, for example, Instagram gets a new update, it won’t happen in the usual way via the Google Play Store, but directly through Facebook services. That’s how their apps get their own space on the device.

Services you can’t remove

As we mentioned, you’ll be able to uninstall the apps themselves like Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp, but what you can’t get rid of are the installation services. Specifically, it’s Facebook Services, Facebook App Installer, and Facebook App Manager.

According to findings from Android Police, this is an agreement between OnePlus and Facebook directly. The Chinese giant itself confirmed it.

What does somewhat redeem this not-so-great decision is the option to disable the installation services, but they will still remain in the system since they can’t be uninstalled.

What do you think about this move by OnePlus? Unfortunately, even a company whose strategy at the start was to go exactly against the style of big corporations—and to deliver flagship killers—is gradually turning into the exact opposite. We’ll just hope that with these Facebook services it started and will end right away too.