A lot of people hate bloatware, even though there isn’t a lot of agreement about what exactly counts as it. Is any preinstalled app bloatware? Are OEM alternatives to Google apps bloatware? Are Google apps themselves bloatware? There’s no universal agreement on what counts as bloatware, but I think most of us will agree that apps silently installed in the background without your knowledge or consent count. Google seems to agree as well, as they’re working on a new feature in Android 14 that tracks apps installed in the background so you can uninstall them.

Android 14 DP1 has a hidden “apps installed in the background” menu that isn’t accessible by default. You have to flip a hidden developer flag to make it appear, and even then, it doesn’t appear in the regular version of Settings. Instead, it appears in a special version of Settings called “Spa” that’s also gated behind a developer flag. I’m not sure what “Spa” refers to, but it seems to be some kind of refactoring of the settings app, as when the feature is enabled, a different version of a few existing Settings activities opens up that still have the same UI.

In any case, this new “apps installed in the background” interface is powered by a new system service called “Background Install Control.” I actually spotted evidence of this service’s existence through an AOSP commit a few months back, and at the time, it was noted that this system service will be used not only for a new Android 14 feature (ostensibly the “apps installed in the background” page shown above) but also “several upcoming Android V [Android 15]” features.

So what does this “Background Install Control” feature actually do in Android 14? As you can see in the above screenshots, this page lists any apps that were silently installed in the background so you can uninstall them if you want.

“Your device manufacturer may install apps on your device in the background, or allow your carrier and other partners to do so. Any apps listed here aren't required for your device to function normally. You can uninstall apps you don't want.”

Under the hood, it seems that apps installed by ADB or by apps running in the foreground won’t appear in this list. That makes sense since developers often install apps using ADB, which requires manual effort, and apps running in the foreground would count app stores like Google Play. So far, I haven’t seen any apps appear in this list, but it could be useful on certain devices where inserting a carrier’s SIM card triggers the background installation of over a dozen unwanted apps.