The HTC Desire Froyo update train hasn’t reached Vodafone yet but the arrival of a hefty download today got owners hopes up. Rather than an early Android 2.2-shaped present, it was a Vodafone firmware update with customisation from the network, bookmarks and several new apps. Cue furious HTC Desire owners…

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Vodafone customers who’d been eagerly awaiting the HTC Desire Froyo update have taken to the network’s forums to slam the firmware as “bloatware”. It includes a new Vodafone branded splash screen, changes the homepage to Vodafone 360 and installs new bookmarks including one for dating site Match.com.

The Vodafone update also adds the People, My Web and Vodafone 360 Shop apps to the HTC Desire as well as other Vodafone 360 features that can’t be removed by the user.

The arrival of the sizeable download as they wait for the HTC Desire Froyo update hasn’t gone down well with many Vodafone customers. ??NickMark on the Vodafone forums says: “It’s pretty ironic that quite a few of us are running low on space and waiting for Froyo to help alleviate that and Vodafone push out branding and additional apps that take up more precious memory.”

Vodafone has responded to the complaints. It says: “We customise phone software to optimise customers’ experience of the device on the Vodafone network and to enable access to our services…in other instances our customisation is more extensive such as preloading of services.”

While the HTC Desire Froyo update has arrived on Three and unlocked phones, Vodafone has not announced a time frame for its rollout yet. For a rundown of what the update delivers, try our rundown of the HTC Desire Froyo update secret features.

Let us know: does network branding on your phone bother you? Gnashing of teeth and venting of frustration is positively encouraged in the comments section below…

Out now | £free | Vodafone

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  • Nick

    I'm extremely dissapointed with vodafone. I saw that the update was 18mb so i removed lots of apps to compensate and what do i get? I lovely vodafone logo when turning on my phone along with loads of pointless voda 360 software!!!!!!

    NOT IMPRESSED!

  • Sharonm1972

    Bugger… I thought I was getting 2.2 and my download took 20 mins over HSPDA as my WiFi was down. I had to delete apps to install it and now I discover not only is it NOT 2.2 froyo update but its filled my phone full of crap I don't want or need. Vodafone never used to force their services on my old phones but recently their customer service leaves a lot to be desired! Sort it out!!

  • http://twitter.com/sciamachy Sciamachy

    Frankly I don't want their bloatware or their bookmarks or access to their crap 360 services – I bought an Android phone because I use Google services & that's what I want. I do not want this crappy “upgrade” – but it won't even install! I download it, then it reboots & tells me I haven't enough space because after the reboot it's mysteriously started a bunch of apps that aren't on a default startup. If I try to kill them it keeps popping up the window asking if I want to carry on with the install, so I have to discard it to close the apps, then re-download, whereupon it reboots, tells me I haven't enough space, and round & round it goes. You would think Vodafone would at least test that before unleashing this crap on us.

  • http://twitter.com/rrt23 Rick Nolastname

    “We customise phone software to optimise customers’ experience of the device on the Vodafone network and to enable access to our services…in other instances our customisation is more extensive such as preloading of services.”

    No. They customise phone software to optimise their profits. If they were trying to “optimise customers’ experience of the device” then why dont they allow uninstalling for those customers who feel their experience would be optimized by not having all this bloatware?

    A quick look at the forums shows many customers experience has been degraded by this update. When the froyo update comes along people will have to uninstall apps just to be able to update android… Disk management shouldn't be so complicated on a mobile phone.

    Rather than taking it on-board and either A) making customized updates optional or B) allowing these silly updates to be uninstalled by the user. They put out a statement making them sound like digital pimps – “hey, we're only aggressively pushing our products on you because it makes it easier for you”

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