Facebook will always be around, at least for some people who own Samsung smartphones.
Some Samsung devices come preloaded with a Facebook app that owners can’t remove; the app can only be disabled.
Facebook told The Washington Post on Wednesday that the disabled version of the app acts as if it has been deleted and does not collect data about a user’s activity or send information to the social network. But that may sound like cold comfort to users who don’t want Facebook on their phones, or to other app developers whose software doesn’t come automatically installed on popular smartphones.
Facebook said it has partnerships with other phone manufacturers, mobile operators and operating systems to pre-install its app. But the company would not disclose the names of the other companies it has such agreements with and declined to share the financial details of the partnerships. Facebook said the preinstalled app allows users to hop on the social network right out of the box.
Bloomberg first reported on the preinstalled app.
Samsung told The Post on Wednesday: “We’re providing a preloaded Facebook app on select smartphone models with the option to disable it. The app is no longer running when it is disabled.”
