Google
has always allowed Android manufacturers to make their own
customizations to the software that powers their smartphones and tablets
but now evidence has surfaced which reveals that the company is
tightening requirements for manufacturing partners that want to build
Android devices. Confidential documents obtained by The Information show
that since Google wants the Android experience to be more consistent
across all the different devices available it wants manufacturers to
pre-load more of its apps and position them in prominent places.
The report claims that this has been a frequent point of contention
“particularly between Google and Samsung.” It goes without saying that
Samsung is Google’s biggest hardware partner and it is known for making
customizations like TouchWiz and placing its own native apps more
prominently as opposed to the apps by Google.
The contract, called Mobile Application Distribution Agreement, will
reportedly now require manufacturers to pre-load 20 Google apps on their
devices, that’s up from nine back in 2011. The agreement also requires
that a Google search widget be available as default on the homescreen
apart from icons for Google Play store and a separate Google icon which
contains 13 applications such as Chrome, Maps, YouTube, Gmail and
others.
If manufacturers have agreed to adhere by this agreement then we
should start seeing less customization and more of a consistent
experience across different devices as far as Google’s products and
services are concerned. Whether or not it will be received positively by
customers remains to be seen.
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