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From Wikipedia: In their Statement of Objections, the European Commission accused Google of the breach of EU antitrust rules in three ways: - by requiring mob

by pdw 8y ago

From Wikipedia: In their Statement of Objections, the European Commission accused Google of the breach of EU antitrust rules in three ways: - by requiring mobile manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and Google Chrome browser and requiring them to set Google Search as default search service on their devices, as a condition to license certain Google proprietary apps; - by preventing manufacturers from selling smart mobile devices running on competing operating systems based on the Android open source code; - by giving financial incentives to manufacturers and mobile network operators on condition that they exclusively pre-install Google Search on their devices.

xg15 8y ago
My understanding is that the "certain Google proprietary apps" most importantly contain the Play store. Yes, in theory you could install FDroid - however if you, as a manufacturer, don't want to break the "install our app" flows of basically every website, you need the Play store - and therefore you also need to install Chrome, default Google Search and never sell a phone with Lineage OS installed ever again. Not sure if the same licensing also applies to Google Play Services - if yes, this might make it difficult to even run the apps without getting the license, no matter which store is used.
- cornholio 8y ago
  The margins of the Play Store are huge and it's quite easy to disrupt with a copy cat - the developers will flock to an alternative store with similar functionality and 2% fees. And of course customers. The Play store is the crown jewel and protecting that massive revenue stream is paramount, it could well become the most important software market in the world.
  - beerlord 8y ago
    So a copycat needs: -Developers -Customers -To be able to survive on fees less than it costs for a credit card transaction -To be installed on something better than Android And you call all this easy? ;-)
    - cornholio 8y ago
      The only thing a copycat needs is that manufacturers be allowed to install it as the default app store, without ruining their relation with Google. Once that happens, copy cats will pay manufacturers to preinstall, leading to customers, leading to developers who want to tap that still uncrowded market. And once multiple app stores bootstrap, a price war is inevitable - margins of 30% would be undefendable since they would be passed on to the consumer who would switch to a cheaper app store. It's very clear why Google would want to prevent such a race.
- codedokode 8y ago
  That proprietary software is probably Google Play Services because replacing Play Store is relatively easy. For example, in Russia Yandex wanted to make its own store and in China (where Google is blocked by the government) there are several competing app stores. Google Play links on websites are not the problem because on Adroid an app can use App Links [1] to start an alternative store instead of opening a Play Store page in a browser. [1] https://medium.com/@ageitgey/everything-you-need-to-know-about-implementing-ios-and-android-mobile-deep-linking-f4348b265b49 https://medium.com/@ageitgey/everything-you-need-to-know-abo...
beerlord 8y ago
Google have left themselves open to this. 1. They should release a heavily locked-down version of Android, which manufacturers and carriers cannot modify - apart from basics like bundled apps, widgets and wallpapers (uninstallable). Update would come direct from Google, and hardware support would be limited to specific components. 2. Make all of Android closed source and shut down AOSP. What is the point of it anyway? This would solve the fragmentation problem, and be better for consumers since they would get updates quicker and for a longer time. Paradoxically it would lead to less 'choice' for consumers.
- tjelen 8y ago
  Re 1: Isn't Android One that version?

by pdw 8y ago

xg15 8y ago

My understanding is that the "certain Google proprietary apps" most importantly contain the Play store. Yes, in theory you could install FDroid - however if you, as a manufacturer, don't want to break the "install our app" flows of basically every website, you need the Play store - and therefore you also need to install Chrome, default Google Search and never sell a phone with Lineage OS installed ever again. Not sure if the same licensing also applies to Google Play Services - if yes, this might make it difficult to even run the apps without getting the license, no matter which store is used.

cornholio 8y ago
The margins of the Play Store are huge and it's quite easy to disrupt with a copy cat - the developers will flock to an alternative store with similar functionality and 2% fees. And of course customers. The Play store is the crown jewel and protecting that massive revenue stream is paramount, it could well become the most important software market in the world.
- beerlord 8y ago
  So a copycat needs: -Developers -Customers -To be able to survive on fees less than it costs for a credit card transaction -To be installed on something better than Android And you call all this easy? ;-)
  - cornholio 8y ago
    The only thing a copycat needs is that manufacturers be allowed to install it as the default app store, without ruining their relation with Google. Once that happens, copy cats will pay manufacturers to preinstall, leading to customers, leading to developers who want to tap that still uncrowded market. And once multiple app stores bootstrap, a price war is inevitable - margins of 30% would be undefendable since they would be passed on to the consumer who would switch to a cheaper app store. It's very clear why Google would want to prevent such a race.
codedokode 8y ago
That proprietary software is probably Google Play Services because replacing Play Store is relatively easy. For example, in Russia Yandex wanted to make its own store and in China (where Google is blocked by the government) there are several competing app stores. Google Play links on websites are not the problem because on Adroid an app can use App Links [1] to start an alternative store instead of opening a Play Store page in a browser. [1] https://medium.com/@ageitgey/everything-you-need-to-know-about-implementing-ios-and-android-mobile-deep-linking-f4348b265b49 https://medium.com/@ageitgey/everything-you-need-to-know-abo...

beerlord 8y ago

Google have left themselves open to this. 1. They should release a heavily locked-down version of Android, which manufacturers and carriers cannot modify - apart from basics like bundled apps, widgets and wallpapers (uninstallable). Update would come direct from Google, and hardware support would be limited to specific components. 2. Make all of Android closed source and shut down AOSP. What is the point of it anyway? This would solve the fragmentation problem, and be better for consumers since they would get updates quicker and for a longer time. Paradoxically it would lead to less 'choice' for consumers.

tjelen 8y ago
Re 1: Isn't Android One that version?