All phones sold in India will be pre-installed with a state-owned 'security' app that needs access to all phone permissions — and you can't delete or uninstall it

What you need to know • The Indian government's Department of Telecommunications is ordering phone manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app. • Android device manufacturers need to pre-install the app on all future phones, and roll out an OTA update that installs it on existing phones. • The government set a 90-day deadline towards this order, and Apple is also mandated to include the app on iPhones.

Android phones have bloatware issues as it is, without getting governments installed, and the situation is particularly annoying in India, where apps play fast and loose with device permissions. To add to it, the Indian government just mandated all phone manufacturers to pre-install its Sanchar Saathi app on all future phones. Not only that, the government is ordering manufact