I find this paractice disgusting and it made me attempt to return my Note 8. But it seems like it allows you to use the app for a week or so before forcing this on us and because I wasn't able to set up my phone for a week after I got it, I was 2 days too late for the return window when this happened. The issue is that once you agree, which I reluctantly did, Mcafee does not even show up anywhere for you to uninstall it. It is literally a hidden app. I had a Samsung rep looking at my phone for an hour and there was nothing he could do besides installing a package disabler and trying to find it there to disable. By the way, it doesn't show up as Mcafee there either.
The other problem with it is even if you decide to do a factory reset on your phone, that app has already been backed up with Mcafee enabled and installed so you will end up in the same position. I honestly am wondering if there is a class action lawsuit waiting here. We have a 1000 dollar device that according to samsungs software, needs to be optomized by their app to run correctly,, but in order to do that, we are forced to install an app that is hidden, can't be monitored and can't be uninstalled. Seems a bit illegal to me. Imagine toyota seeling you a car and saying the only way it will run full speed is if you use goodyear tires and then after you put them on you can never take them off. I get the feeling that wouldn't fly in the courts.
This is plain dirty and I went from being excited to come back to Android after 5 years away to a great phone, to wanting to get rid of it and tell Samsung to go ef themselves. To say I have been unhappy about this is a huge understatement. And yes, I beleive this only applies to the unlocked versions.