Shovelware

What Does Shovelware Mean?

Shovelware is a derogatory term used for software that has either been quickly developed without regard to quality or function and features, or software that has been forced on customers such as those that are preloaded on laptops or smartphones by their respective carriers.

Techopedia Explains Shovelware

Shovelware refers to low-quality software that falls into three categories:

• It’s Quickly Developed: These are meant to be developed fast. There is often no regard to function or usefulness and the goal of the testing may be simply that the software works most of the time. This mostly applies to games that are developed for consoles or the Web.
• It’s Forced Onto Customers: Preloaded software on laptops and carrier-distributed phones tend to come with shovelware. It’s also called "bloatware" because it just serves to slow down the device and take up valuable storage space. Some of these programs cannot be removed from the device. Other examples are those that install with other software Web browser bars.
• It’s Filler: In the days when software usually came in CD and DVD ROMs, shovelware was meant to fill the rest of the space on the disk.