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I have purchased my HTC One mini for a full price from an independent store. I have connected it to MegaFon (Russian cellphone operator) and now there is a carrier's app on a phone and it is recognized as "MegaFon HTC HTC One mini".

I don't want my phone to be carrier-branded. How did it happen and how do I remove it?

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  • Did you get some kind of system update?
    – Volker Siegel
    Commented Apr 9, 2014 at 12:34
  • It's possible that the phone you bought was originally designed for the same carrier, and simply unlocked by the seller. Can you contact the store you bought it from and find out for sure?
    – Chahk
    Commented Apr 9, 2014 at 13:19

2 Answers 2

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SIM card subsystem is more complex than most people realise.

SIM cards can store applets, which can be run silently (without user acknowledgement) when a phone is booted with a sim installed. It would in theory have privileges to perform system actions like install an app or boot animation.

If the branding is being initiated by the SIM card, then you have no way of stopping it other than using a different network, or rooting and overwriting the customizations.

Having said that, while it is possible, it is uncommon and unlikely that is what happened.

It is also possible that the ROMs in the Russian market contain code which checks your sim card and performs some carrier-specific device customization.

It does seem more likely that the store sold you a branded device from the outset, but which only became activated once the SIM was installed.

It would be great to know what happens if you do a factory reset and install a sim from another network!

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How it works is that mobile companies buy the rights to the Android OS to change the boot screen menu. Thus allowing them to set a brand logo on the start-up menu.

You are going to have to contact MegaFon to unbrand the device as it is a clear indication that the phone was branded to be locked by them.

OR

You are going to have to uninstall the Android OS and re-install it again.

This OS versions can be found on the Android homepage.

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    I still don't understand: how can this happen if I'm not buying my phone from a carrier? (MegaFon) What's a boot screen menu?
    – Nickolai Leschov
    Commented Apr 9, 2014 at 13:10
  • You can also try and hard reset the mobile. youtube.com/watch?v=IlvaMAgtn78
    – melkie89
    Commented Apr 9, 2014 at 13:20
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    Sometimes the smaller companies get a kickback from the bigger companies to buy their mobiles that is branded as it is free marketing and they are still making money on the product.
    – melkie89
    Commented Apr 9, 2014 at 13:21

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