Setup your AT&T Nexus 6 without SIM Card to avoid carrier bloatware

[techbeck]

A while back, word got out that Google equipped carriers with the ability to have their apps automatically installed on the Nexus 6 or any other device with Android 5.0 Lollipop during the setup process. In the case of the Nexus 6, many cringed at the thought of having devices meant to be ?pure? loaded up with obscene carrier apps, and for good reason ? some of them just go absolutely overboard when it comes to bloatware.

 

Thankfully it seems you can avoid the bloatware altogether. Testing out our Nexus 6 units, we found that the installation will only be triggered during the setup process while a SIM card is inserted. To test this, Phandroid?s Derek Ross had a friend use a Straight Talk SIM (working on AT&T?s network) before setting up a Nexus 6. As reported, AT&T?s apps popped right up (they opted to include two apps that help you manage your account and monitor usage).

 

Derek decided to go through the setup process on a different Nexus 6 unit before inserting a different Straight Talk SIM (again, via AT&T?s network), and sure enough there were no extra apps to deal with. Inserting the SIM into the Nexus 6 after the process was over didn?t trigger any installs either, so it appears this step will only occur if you?re going through the initial setup process while the SIM is inserted.

 

More...

http://phandroid.com/2014/11/20/att-nexus-6-apps/

[PGHammer]

A while back, word got out that Google equipped carriers with the ability to have their apps automatically installed on the Nexus 6 or any other device with Android 5.0 Lollipop during the setup process. In the case of the Nexus 6, many cringed at the thought of having devices meant to be ?pure? loaded up with obscene carrier apps, and for good reason ? some of them just go absolutely overboard when it comes to bloatware.

 

Thankfully it seems you can avoid the bloatware altogether. Testing out our Nexus 6 units, we found that the installation will only be triggered during the setup process while a SIM card is inserted. To test this, Phandroid?s Derek Ross had a friend use a Straight Talk SIM (working on AT&T?s network) before setting up a Nexus 6. As reported, AT&T?s apps popped right up (they opted to include two apps that help you manage your account and monitor usage).

 

Derek decided to go through the setup process on a different Nexus 6 unit before inserting a different Straight Talk SIM (again, via AT&T?s network), and sure enough there were no extra apps to deal with. Inserting the SIM into the Nexus 6 after the process was over didn?t trigger any installs either, so it appears this step will only occur if you?re going through the initial setup process while the SIM is inserted.

 

More...

http://phandroid.com/2014/11/20/att-nexus-6-apps/

The same trick works with ANY smartphone that allows setup via wi-fi, and regardless of carrier.  Before mom took her Galaxy Nexus to the local VZW store, I fully charged it and set up the wireless portion by connecting it to our dual-band N router.  The quirk was I used MY GMail account for this - not hers.  I was able to ADD hers (and direct it properly to the priority Inbox) after she got back from VZW - however, not all smartphones that connect via wi-fi allow this trick (the LG Lucid does not, for example - it can't be set up until a SIM card is installed).  In other words, it's the SIM card that triggers the bloatware addition.