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Google actually had a program that addressed this head-on a few years back, where it retailed 'Google Play Edition' versions of flagship phones like the Galaxy

Google actually had a program that addressed this head-on a few years back, where it retailed 'Google Play Edition' versions of flagship phones like the Galaxy 7, updated directly from Google, with their own factory image and no bloatware. For whatever reason, they killed the program without it really going far or being marketed well, which was a real shame: https://www.xda-developers.com/discontinued-a-look-at-google-play-edition-phones/ https://www.xda-developers.com/discontinued-a-look-at-google...

on_and_off 7y ago
probably killed because of a mix of bad results and leadership changes, like almost all of Google hardware efforts.
stefan_ 7y ago
I guess the successor is Android One, though those are still vendor images, not made and maintained by Google. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_One https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_One
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
kwanbix 7y ago
You have Android One today.
- notatoad 7y ago
  My Android One phone has xiaomi apps installed on the system partition. IIRC, the google play edition phones did not have any third-party apps.
  - eitland 7y ago
    My Nokia Android One had only a support app (visibly) installed. It was still slow and updates took longer than I wanted to arrive. I bought the cheapest new iPhone I could get last black Friday (around $600) and for the first time since my Galaxy SII in 2011 I got a phone that I have actually enjoyed. FTR, phones I have not enjoyed: - Samsung SIII (two, one was terrible, probably a defect part, luckily it bricked itself so I got a replacement, the second wasn't terriblę just disappointing), - Note (at least one, can't say for sure which), - Sony Z3 (screen detached from body - this might be my fault for disconnecting the charger half asleep many times, but more importantly installed Amazon adware during Android upgrade), - Samsungs S7 Edge (slow, microlag, generally disappointing) - and finally Nokia 6.1 Android One (slow, updates took long time to arrive even if in was Android One certified, spyware concerns - I'm not sure if mine was affected.)
    - kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
      The Nokia 6.1 camera app phones back to Facebook on every startup even if you don't have any account with them. Other than not being rootable, it's a reasonable device.
      - eitland 7y ago
        I tried to find out more about the issue where it phones back to Facebook but wasn't able to in a reasonable time. Do you have pointers?
        kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
        Install NoRootFirewall. You'll see the camera app making Facebook requests on startup.
rchaud 7y ago
the best feature of the GPE phones was that they came with the bootloader unlocked.
boutad 7y ago
and ~~no~~ Google's bloatware. Google Play Music, Google Play Books, Google Play Games, Chrome, Gmail, etc.

on_and_off 7y ago

probably killed because of a mix of bad results and leadership changes, like almost all of Google hardware efforts.

stefan_ 7y ago

I guess the successor is Android One, though those are still vendor images, not made and maintained by Google. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_One https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_One

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

kwanbix 7y ago

You have Android One today.

notatoad 7y ago
My Android One phone has xiaomi apps installed on the system partition. IIRC, the google play edition phones did not have any third-party apps.
- eitland 7y ago
  My Nokia Android One had only a support app (visibly) installed. It was still slow and updates took longer than I wanted to arrive. I bought the cheapest new iPhone I could get last black Friday (around $600) and for the first time since my Galaxy SII in 2011 I got a phone that I have actually enjoyed. FTR, phones I have not enjoyed: - Samsung SIII (two, one was terrible, probably a defect part, luckily it bricked itself so I got a replacement, the second wasn't terriblę just disappointing), - Note (at least one, can't say for sure which), - Sony Z3 (screen detached from body - this might be my fault for disconnecting the charger half asleep many times, but more importantly installed Amazon adware during Android upgrade), - Samsungs S7 Edge (slow, microlag, generally disappointing) - and finally Nokia 6.1 Android One (slow, updates took long time to arrive even if in was Android One certified, spyware concerns - I'm not sure if mine was affected.)
  - kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
    The Nokia 6.1 camera app phones back to Facebook on every startup even if you don't have any account with them. Other than not being rootable, it's a reasonable device.
    - eitland 7y ago
      I tried to find out more about the issue where it phones back to Facebook but wasn't able to in a reasonable time. Do you have pointers?
      - kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
        Install NoRootFirewall. You'll see the camera app making Facebook requests on startup.

rchaud 7y ago

the best feature of the GPE phones was that they came with the bootloader unlocked.

boutad 7y ago

and ~~no~~ Google's bloatware. Google Play Music, Google Play Books, Google Play Games, Chrome, Gmail, etc.