Samsung’s Preloaded Israeli App Sparks Controversy

Samsung’s practice of preloading its Galaxy M, F, and A series smartphones in India with an application called AppCloud is drawing increased attention and concern. While the name might suggest a cloud storage utility, AppCloud actually functions as an installer that promotes third-party applications during the initial device setup. Users encounter this tool as part of the onboarding process and must either make installation choices or select a “later” option to proceed. Even after postponing, a persistent notification remains until the user either completes the selection or manually disables the application.

For a long time, many customers viewed AppCloud as just another piece of bloatware, an annoying but generally harmless addition used by Samsung to supplement hardware revenue, especially in the highly competitive Indian market where Chinese brands are particularly aggressive. However, recent investigations by the non-profit organization SMEX indicate that AppCloud may carry greater risks than previously believed.

The situation has intensified as Samsung expanded AppCloud’s preinstallation to its A and M series phones across various West Asian and North African markets starting in 2022. This move has triggered privacy alarms, largely because AppCloud is linked to ironSource, a firm originally founded in Israel and now under the ownership of U.S.-based Unity. Although the app can be disabled, completely removing it typically requires root access, which is not feasible for most users. Compounding these concerns, the privacy policy for AppCloud is not readily available online, raising serious questions about transparency, user consent, and the types of data the application might be gathering.

IronSource’s own history adds another layer of unease. The company previously managed a program called InstallCore, which became notorious for installing software without obtaining clear user consent and for circumventing security warnings. This behavior led to widespread criticism and blacklisting by multiple anti-malware programs.

Regional political sensitivities further complicate the issue. In several West Asian and North African countries, Israeli companies are legally prohibited from operating. Given the ongoing Israel–Palestine conflict, the presence of a preloaded application connected to an Israeli-origin firm like ironSource becomes especially contentious. While ironSource’s Aura technology, which similarly surfaces apps, content, and services on smartphones, has been used by Samsung in Europe, Russia, and Southeast Asia, as well as by U.S. telecom operators, AppCloud itself is conspicuously absent from ironSource’s official website. This omission is a major source of concern, even though the parent company is now American.

At present, no concrete evidence suggests that AppCloud is currently engaging in dubious data practices. Still, the combination of an inaccessible privacy policy and ironSource’s controversial track record is generating significant anxiety among consumers and advocacy groups.

Privacy advocates and concerned users are now calling on Samsung to take clear and immediate action. They are urging the tech giant to provide an easy opt-out for AppCloud during setup, to publish a transparent and readily available privacy policy, and to halt the preloading of this application entirely in politically and legally sensitive regions.

(Source: Sam Mobile)