Motorola keeps installing lots of apps without my permission

[aishwarya]

Hi.
This may be offtopic in Technofino.

Today, suddenly whenever I connect my phone with the internet, it keeps installing different apps without my permission. Candy crush and some other games. Blinkit and a lot of games are installed without my permission. What to do? Should I reset my mobile phone? I bought this phone online (amazon) in July 2025.

 

[souvikm]

Go to settings -> applications, then any of the game apps, tap on details, scroll down to bottom.
You will be able to see what app installed that game. That app is the culprit.
Most probably its 'MotoApps', but might be different for your device.


Find that app in the same page, clear its data and disable it.

If the disable option is greyed out, you can use adb (chatgpt/claude can give you the terminal commands)

 

[aishwarya]

Go to settings -> applications, then any of the game apps, tap on details, scroll down to bottom.
You will be able to see what app installed that game. That app is the culprit.
Most probably its 'MotoApps', but might be different for your device.


Find that app in the same page, clear its data and disable it.

If the disable option is greyed out, you can use adb (chatgpt/claude can give you the terminal commands)

I don't know which app is the main culprit, but I cleared data for all the moto apps and disabled them including feedback and Moto secure. These apps don't have the permission to install apps (checked from permission manager, only Google Play services has the permission) still they could install the apps.

More than 10 such apps were installed exhausting my daily data quota. When I connected to my Wi-Fi, it started installing again. I put my phone flight mode and started searching for solutions online from my laptop. It's frustrating. Hope it doesn't start again 😞

 

[aishwarya]

Although I have uninstalled the unwanted games already, can they infect my device? In that case should I format it? Looking for suggestions.

 

[Riva]

Look for an app called "AppServices". This is the culprit. I had the same issue with my Lenovo Tab. Disabled it and everything stopped.

 

[Riva]

Lenovo has bought over Motorola, and their devices and apps are similar across devices.

 

[hender]

Although I have uninstalled the unwanted games already, can they infect my device? In that case should I format it? Looking for suggestions.

Yes , you can, and keep gate open only for Valid Entries while setting device.

 

[aishwarya]

Yes , you can, and keep gate open only for Valid Entries while setting device.

Okay. Thanks. I'll format it tonight

 

[souvikm]

I don't know which app is the main culprit, but I cleared data for all the moto apps and disabled them including feedback and Moto secure. These apps don't have the permission to install apps (checked from permission manager, only Google Play services has the permission) still they could install the apps.

More than 10 such apps were installed exhausting my daily data quota. When I connected to my Wi-Fi, it started installing again. I put my phone flight mode and started searching for solutions online from my laptop. It's frustrating. Hope it doesn't start again 😞

Google Play Services also installs apps 'recommended by manufacturer'. Seems like that is the case.
It is one-time though after you set up the device.
I faced this problem with an old Huawei device in the past, games were preinstalled by both their own appstore and the Google Play store. You can't do anything about the play store installs, they will happen once during setup.

If you format the device, you might face this issue again during setup, but just uninstall the apps after that.
Or immediately after setup, go to play store settings and turn off the auto install options.