6 ms·

Google app suite costs as much as $40 per phone under new EU Android deal

30 points by Aissen 8y ago

mtgx 8y ago
This will hurt OEMs in the short-term, but it will also incentivize them to get together and adopt some alternative solution, thus escaping Google's rule.
hadrien01 8y ago
Not sure the EU commission will like that. They're still incentivizing Google Chrome and Google Search on Android devices with these discounts
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  This is pretty much exactly what the EU asked for—Google to unbundle so that handset makers could pay for what they want and Google would pay them for what Google wants (Chrome and Search), rather than just offering one take it or leave it package.
Yizahi 8y ago
I wonder will do Samsung and OEMs with Samsung RGBG Pentile displays? Previously they were artificially increasing their PPI for marketing purposes (compared to the "true" RGB display PPI) and now they will either continue to do so and pay more or declare lower correct PPI and pay less? Pride or wallet, who will win? :)
- wmf 8y ago
  Not sure why this got downvoted; I've been wondering for years whether people can even tell the difference of these >400 PPI screes.
dishanr 8y ago
May be the OEMs can sell phones without Google apps for a lower price if they choose to increase the device price to include them. I'd buy one!
- writepub 8y ago
  Impractical. You're a tech savvy individual. Regular folks will find it friction laden to install an app store via sideloading
  - blacksmith_tb 8y ago
    True, though couldn't the manufacturer ship a phone with F-Droid installed?
    - Avamander 8y ago
      The infrastructure and user experience is too bad to do that.
      - acct1771 8y ago
        Phone manufacturer support may change that.
      - bubblethink 8y ago
        I feel that fdroid ought to be split up into two different projects. Their client and all the user facing stuff is terrible. What they are good at is compiling good apks. That should be their primary focus. ie., Building high quality apks that are free and reproducible. Someone else should do the client
        anoncake 8y ago
        When did you last try it? It's improved a lot recently. E.g. upgrading a lot of apps now requires only a single tap; you don't have to download/install/confirm install each one manually.
        bubblethink 8y ago
        I use it regularly. It's a bit better, but I really would like to bypass the client altogether if possible. I don't want to sound too critical/ungrateful for something that is free in all senses of the word, but it does leave a lot to be desired. Main gripes: Their repo is either down or slow quite often. The client will just keep spinning until force closed. The new UI is worse (when is it not ? I can't remember a recent project whose new UI is better) Too many steps to do basic stuff. Entire blank page devoted to nearby (p2p) stuff, which I have no use for. Inconsistent links for issues, changelog etc., that can lead anywhere (either the upstream project, f-droid's version of the project, or some random website). Lot of other issues too that will get too long to get into here.
Zigurd 8y ago
Tablet licenses are capped at $20. I wish I had the option of a supported Google app suite on an Amazon tablet. I'd pay a lot more than $20.
bubblethink 8y ago
Why is this fee still with strings attached ? If they are going to charge for play services, just deliver play services for the fee. They want OEMs to bundle playstore, youtube, maps etc., still pay the 40 bucks, and end-user anyway has to pay with ads and personal data. So how is this helping anyone ?
- wmf 8y ago
  It's helping other search engines which was the point. You might see phones with Bing instead of Google.
  - Justsignedup 8y ago
    While people say that OEMs now have to pay up. The reality is that Bing will be paying. The real trick is that Android has all the assistant features, which means that Android will be shipped crippled without them.
  - bubblethink 8y ago
    That seems to be a minor side-effect at best. This is generally more predatory, and closer to the windows 10 model i.e., a paid operating system that is user-hostile, and users generally don't have a way to opt out of the cost since OEMs won't really sell a machine without an OS or with linux. The $40 is still going to be passed on to the end-user here while nothing really changes.
tinkerteller 8y ago
Given average Android phone lifespan of 21 months, this leads to $2 per month charge for each Android user in EU. Not big deal for most users. However, interestingly all the fines and taxes on corporations are always passed on to customers. When will EU understand in their quest to tax and fine the shit out of tech companies?

30 points by Aissen 8y ago

mtgx 8y ago

This will hurt OEMs in the short-term, but it will also incentivize them to get together and adopt some alternative solution, thus escaping Google's rule.

hadrien01 8y ago

Not sure the EU commission will like that. They're still incentivizing Google Chrome and Google Search on Android devices with these discounts

dragonwriter 8y ago
This is pretty much exactly what the EU asked for—Google to unbundle so that handset makers could pay for what they want and Google would pay them for what Google wants (Chrome and Search), rather than just offering one take it or leave it package.

Yizahi 8y ago

I wonder will do Samsung and OEMs with Samsung RGBG Pentile displays? Previously they were artificially increasing their PPI for marketing purposes (compared to the "true" RGB display PPI) and now they will either continue to do so and pay more or declare lower correct PPI and pay less? Pride or wallet, who will win? :)

wmf 8y ago
Not sure why this got downvoted; I've been wondering for years whether people can even tell the difference of these >400 PPI screes.

dishanr 8y ago

May be the OEMs can sell phones without Google apps for a lower price if they choose to increase the device price to include them. I'd buy one!

writepub 8y ago
Impractical. You're a tech savvy individual. Regular folks will find it friction laden to install an app store via sideloading
- blacksmith_tb 8y ago
  True, though couldn't the manufacturer ship a phone with F-Droid installed?
  - Avamander 8y ago
    The infrastructure and user experience is too bad to do that.
    - acct1771 8y ago
      Phone manufacturer support may change that.
    - bubblethink 8y ago
      I feel that fdroid ought to be split up into two different projects. Their client and all the user facing stuff is terrible. What they are good at is compiling good apks. That should be their primary focus. ie., Building high quality apks that are free and reproducible. Someone else should do the client
      - anoncake 8y ago
        When did you last try it? It's improved a lot recently. E.g. upgrading a lot of apps now requires only a single tap; you don't have to download/install/confirm install each one manually.
        bubblethink 8y ago
        I use it regularly. It's a bit better, but I really would like to bypass the client altogether if possible. I don't want to sound too critical/ungrateful for something that is free in all senses of the word, but it does leave a lot to be desired. Main gripes: Their repo is either down or slow quite often. The client will just keep spinning until force closed. The new UI is worse (when is it not ? I can't remember a recent project whose new UI is better) Too many steps to do basic stuff. Entire blank page devoted to nearby (p2p) stuff, which I have no use for. Inconsistent links for issues, changelog etc., that can lead anywhere (either the upstream project, f-droid's version of the project, or some random website). Lot of other issues too that will get too long to get into here.

Zigurd 8y ago

Tablet licenses are capped at $20. I wish I had the option of a supported Google app suite on an Amazon tablet. I'd pay a lot more than $20.

bubblethink 8y ago

Why is this fee still with strings attached ? If they are going to charge for play services, just deliver play services for the fee. They want OEMs to bundle playstore, youtube, maps etc., still pay the 40 bucks, and end-user anyway has to pay with ads and personal data. So how is this helping anyone ?

wmf 8y ago
It's helping other search engines which was the point. You might see phones with Bing instead of Google.
- Justsignedup 8y ago
  While people say that OEMs now have to pay up. The reality is that Bing will be paying. The real trick is that Android has all the assistant features, which means that Android will be shipped crippled without them.
- bubblethink 8y ago
  That seems to be a minor side-effect at best. This is generally more predatory, and closer to the windows 10 model i.e., a paid operating system that is user-hostile, and users generally don't have a way to opt out of the cost since OEMs won't really sell a machine without an OS or with linux. The $40 is still going to be passed on to the end-user here while nothing really changes.

tinkerteller 8y ago

Given average Android phone lifespan of 21 months, this leads to $2 per month charge for each Android user in EU. Not big deal for most users. However, interestingly all the fines and taxes on corporations are always passed on to customers. When will EU understand in their quest to tax and fine the shit out of tech companies?