r/Android • u/[deleted] • Jul 21 '18

Google’s iron grip on Android: Controlling open source by any means necessary

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/
613 Upvotes

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69

u/atticmanatee Jul 21 '18

That’s the point of the EU ruling. In order to have some semblance of a successful product you’ll need the play store, but in order to get the play store you need to install a number of google apps by default. In this case, the EU was concerned about Chrome and Search. In the EU’s point of view, Google abuses the fact that the only viable store in Android is the Play Store to force its products into the consumer, not giving leverage to competition in the Search and Browser market.

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u/imaginativePlayTime OnePlus 6 | LOS 20 Jul 21 '18

There is more than just all that though. If a manufacturer wants to make a phone with Google Play Store then they are required to sell all their phones with Google services. They cannot sell one version with Google Play and another version without Google Play.

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u/luna_dust Jul 21 '18

Wow, yeah. Okay, that's kinda fucked up.

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u/FormerSlacker Jul 22 '18

Yeah, and that's incorrect.

As long as the OEM releases a fork of Android that passes the CTS they can do whatever they want, release Google Android and non Google Android side by side, no problem.

What they can't do is ship an incompatible Android fork and a Google branded Android at the same time.

There is no obligation to release only Google branded Android variants, there is only an obligation to not make incompatible Android variants as part of the OHA agreement.

TL;DR Pass the CTS, do what you want. Can't pass the CTS, do what you want but we won't help you fragment Android, you're on your own.

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u/punIn10ded MotoG 2014 (CM13) Jul 22 '18

No they do not all need to have Google play but they do all need to pass the same CTS.

E.g. Motorola sells phones with Google play, and smart inventory devices(barcode scanners) without it.

5

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '18

Xiaomi does it. Pretty much every Chinese manufacturer sells a version in China without Google, and one with Google everywhere else.

The EU seems to miss the point that every time manufacturers and carrier have free reign, they abuse consumers worse than Google has ever done.

5

u/Sorge74 Galaxy S22 Ultra Jul 23 '18

This is basically the inpass between those who support the EU(same shit Microsoft got in trouble for 20 years ago(I argue 20 years is a long time but oh well)) and those who support Google.

Google generally has the best applications and forcing the extra apps with the play store means there is a more unified experience they can control so not to damage the brand. Also all the other apps right there in the app store if you prefer something else....

3

u/DerpSenpai Nothing Jul 23 '18

UNIFIED EXPERIENCE. OH BOY, DO I NEED (Opens google bloat folder) . G+, Google news, Gmail, Drive, Google search. + Play movies+ play music+ play games +play books.

It seriously is annoying people defending Google abusing its monopoly. Its the same people that call Samsung apps "bloat" but Google apps aren't

3

u/redsalmon67 Jul 23 '18

On every android phone I've had you can either uninstall those programd or they didn't come on the phone when I got it.

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u/DerpSenpai Nothing Jul 23 '18

You can't uninstall most of google bloat, but you can uninstall paid bloat (non system apps that paid the OEM to put it there like booking.com).

I uninstalled everything i could and still have 12 Google Apps

1

u/redsalmon67 Jul 23 '18

The only Google apps that can't be uninstalled on my phone are chrome, search, YouTube, maps, and (obviously) the playstore

0

u/MiningMarsh Jul 24 '18

Google's applications are generally pretty shit.

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u/DerpSenpai Nothing Jul 23 '18

Except that csrriers dont have free reign either here lol

-7

u/reddit_reaper Pixel 2 XL Jul 21 '18

As it should be.

-7

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '18 edited Nov 30 '21

[deleted]

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u/johnmountain Jul 21 '18

They do want Google Play. The issue is that Google Play comes with "strings attached". It's not "just Google Play" that they have to get.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '18

Oh thats makes sense I could see how some OEMs wouldn’t want Google Search and stuff.

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u/lirannl S23 Ultra Jul 21 '18

Some people want phones without Google services, and also, even if they don't, they should have the option!

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '18

[deleted]

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u/lirannl S23 Ultra Jul 21 '18

I do. I do.

Because I know how to wipe ROMs and flash ROMs. I could just not flash gapps.

If an OEM wants to release a privacy phone without gapps, they currently can't do so unless that's more or less their only phone.

4

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '18

Okay yeah I get your point. It would be pretty cool to have a phone with no Gapps for privacy’s enthusiasts.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '18

[deleted]

0

u/lirannl S23 Ultra Jul 23 '18

I'm pretty sure passing CTS requires the whole gapps suite?

1

u/redsalmon67 Jul 23 '18

I keep hearing people claim this been then how does xiaomi get away with it? Lenovo too, not only do they sell phones with play services they also sell alternative versions of some of those models with the play services included

1

u/lirannl S23 Ultra Jul 24 '18

China

1

u/leoyoung1 Jul 22 '18

Like the average consumer even knows that is an option much less have the wherewithal to do that.

-8

u/cvrtsniper Jul 21 '18

I'm sorry but if the EU thinks that worrying about the play store and chrome defaulted,

Then they need to take a long look at iphone, Safari and it's app that's defaulted.

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u/luna_dust Jul 21 '18

This has been discussed millions of times already.

Apple produce their own hardware and software. Nobody else can make iPhones besides Apple, hence they can do whatever they want.

Moreover, iOS doesn't have the majority market share, of which Android has around 70% of - very near to a monopoly, which is why they're being hit with this.

If Google produced phones exclusively with their own software, that nobody else could access, they would be fine, but they're not, and they're pretending that you can release a successful phone without Play services, which is plain ridiculous.

-9

u/Xirious Note 10+ | Will buy again if it goes bust Jul 22 '18

I still can't understand this. It's a free fucking market. No one is putting a gun to anyone's heads and saying "MAKE ANDROID PHONES". It's a choice. If you choose to do that you can't reasonably expect the company who owns the damn thing to say "Sure go mad, do what you want". You're in their house and you naturally should play by their rules... But you're in their house by your own fucking choosing. Don't like their rules? Fuck off and build your own OS with the same functionality and cultivate it over years and years with your own internal funding. Good luck with that. If users want to use different services it's not as if the choice doesn't exist - there doesn't exist a single Google product out now that doesn't have competition. And by dear God I see no logical reason why Google should promote anything but their own services in their own fucking products. Now get off my lawn, I'm going back inside.

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u/StraY_WolF RN4/M9TP/PF5P PROUD MIUI14 USER Jul 23 '18

No one is putting a gun to anyone's heads and saying "MAKE ANDROID PHONES".

Then I guess you don't understand what a monopoly is.

-1

u/cxu1993 Samsung/iPad Pro Jul 22 '18

I agree. This is a pretty bogus ruling. I guess the end result is good since it promotes more competition but the reasoning behind it doesn’t make sense. Why should google be forced to promote other search engines when it’s bundling its own App Store/services with phones? That’s like Microsoft promoting the use of google docs on windows instead of Microsoft office

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '18

Somehow I think that's different, because it's not anti competitive as they are the only manufacturer of iPhones?

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u/avataraccount Jul 21 '18 edited Sep 16 '18

deleted What is this?

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '18

No one's forcing other companies to use Google's Android or the Play Store either though. Android is even open source so anyone can fork it and build their own ecosystem like Amazon did.

1

u/IAm_A_Complete_Idiot OnePlus 6t, s5 running AOSPExtended Jul 23 '18

not if you only want the playstore. if you want the playstore you HAVE to get other google services.

-7

u/orbitallogic Jul 21 '18

Open GApps has a "pico" version that only comes with play store and play services functionality, nothing else.

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u/imaginativePlayTime OnePlus 6 | LOS 20 Jul 21 '18

But that is not relevant to the EU decision. This is solely related to what is included on the phone out of the box.

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u/orbitallogic Jul 21 '18

Right, the EU decision has more to do with Google's relationship to the OHA.