[PudRocks]

Was told by At&t that the customer is not allowed to change any setting on phone. Problem is now they are asking me to delete all photos games and Contacts to update my Samsung galaxy express 3.
The internal memory is full of there old updates.
Can't download anything right now.

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Which settings was AT&T referring to? The user can certainly change many system settings on any phone, but carriers will sometimes lock down certain settings on their own carrier-locked phones.

Who's asking you to delete things? Are you saying that there's an update for something available, but the phone doesn't have enough free space to do the update?

[PudRocks]

The only setting I can change are Google's play store all the rest are locked. AT&T sent a download for the phone and they are the ones telling me to delete things. The download is some 857.28 mb. The phone only has an 8gb memory.
I have my games and photos on a sd card .
And with the sd card removed I still don't have the memory for any download..
The last download they did added programs I don't use.

[B. Diddy]

This doesn't quite make sense to me. Even for prepaid phones, the user should still be able to adjust most system settings. Could it be that you have a floor or demo model? If the phone is on but you're not doing anything for a little while, does a store demo video start?

If that download is a system update, then you'll have to clear up your internal storage to install it. Moving apps to the SD card only moves a portion of the app -- much of it remains on internal storage. So you may have to uninstall a bunch of apps to clear up enough space.

Also, you have the Galaxy Express 3, not the Galaxy S3, so I'm going to move this thread from the S3 forum to the More Samsung Phones forum.

[PudRocks]

Well At&t calls it a system update but the last one they added all the following apps. Full screen, Directv, Uber, YP. These are programs they want you to use. They are not system up dates. And you can disable them but you can not delete them.
As for this new update I have no idea what other apps they will be adding. The only reason I can think of for this is they are making money off your phone. Two way you are paying to us there service and you are making them money with free advertising.

[B. Diddy]

When carriers send a system update to the phone, they might also add (or sometimes delete) bloatware. They'll tell you it's to "enhance your experience," but bloatware is often related to deals they make with the app developers to include those apps. Part of it is to make money off your phone, but keep in mind that it's also a way to offset the cost of the phone -- that's partly how the carrier can offer the phone to you for "free" (or for a very low cost to you). If they didn't have these deals, you might have to pay a few hundred dollars for the phone.

Regardless of the bloatware, you still shouldn't be locked out of your system settings. That's the most puzzling part of your problem to me.

[PudRocks]

Well I may of found the answer to the lockout. Seems my number was a recycled number.
And have gotten many texts and calls for someone I don't know. Could also be a good reason for many dropped calls to me from friends.
I guess the best thing to do now is change cell phone companies. And I am not keeping the cell number.
Another problem it could be is each time I went back to the At&t store the first thing they would do is delete my anti virus. Telling me you don't need that. The phone works better without it.

[B. Diddy]

That sounds like something that AT&T should be able to take care of -- but I agree, if they can't or won't, then go to a different carrier.

I actually agree that 3rd party antivirus apps are largely unnecessary. These are my thoughts on antivirus apps:

For the most part, it's still quite difficult to get an actual virus on your phone, because malware requires you to manually accept the installation (which is why they try to fool you into thinking you're installing something legitimate). Use common sense:


1. Avoid shady websites that deal with things like porn, gambling, and "free" (aka pirated) apps/music/movies.


2. Never ever tap on a link that appears in a popup while browsing, especially if they're warning you that your phone is infected -- they're just trying to scare you into installing some bogus "antivirus" app that is probably malicious itself.


3. Only install apps from well-established app sources like Google Play Store or Amazon Appstore. Read a bunch of app reviews before installing an app to look for any complaints about adware or suspected malware.


4. Turn on Google Play Protect features in Settings>Google>Security. This allows Google to periodically scan your phone's apps to look for malware.


5. Turn off "Unknown Sources" in Settings>Security. This prevents any app that wasn't obtained from Google Play Store from being installed (which could include malicious apps that are inadvertently downloaded).