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Google have Android. is Android not a platform like Windows/IOS ? its used on phone expand to tablet and Chromebook. "Android has an incredible 97 percent mar

Google have Android. is Android not a platform like Windows/IOS ? its used on phone expand to tablet and Chromebook. "Android has an incredible 97 percent market share in India". https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/02/androids-new-oem-rules-in-india-swap-requirements-with-revenue-sharing/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/02/androids-new-oem-rul...

PaulHoule 3y ago
Android is strange. Google and the phone vendors only take on half the responsibility of publishing an operating system as you are pretty lucky if you get software updates never mind the kind of major updates an iOS device gets. It is exhausting to explain to people how to scan a QR code on Android because the built in camera app doesn’t do it so they have to go to the app store and download some free QR reader that looks like spamscam and have a slightly different name every time you try it. (And no giving them a QR code to get the app.) That’s the inattention to detail that pervades the platform and it is made worse by the outright vandalism of Samsung or Verizon filling up your home screen with lots of twisty little app icons that all look alike and certainly don’t lead anywhere you’d want to go. Google doesn’t get paid for Android, Asian companies in corrupt economies seem to lose money making Android phones but there is some social status to be had by being a leader in 21st century technology so they do it anyway. Apple probably profits more from Android because Android keeps them out of trouble with antitrust regulators but Android is a ‘spoiler’ that keeps any real competitive OS out of the market. Hypothetically Android keeps mobile safe for advertising but it is possible Google could be selling as many ads on somebody else’s OS without the expense and moral hazard of keeping a zombie OS ‘alive’.
- georgeecollins 3y ago
  They make money on it by forcing Android phone manufacturers to include the Chrome and the Google Play Store. The Play Store is the dominant Android App Store and it makes Google a nice chunk of money. It's not nearly as good as search, but way better than say Twitter.
AbrahamParangi 3y ago
When I say they’re not a platform company, I mean that they aren’t paid to be one. No doubt they have many, very impactful products, but that’s not how they make their money and thus not the incentive of the business.
int0x2e 3y ago
Does Google really have Android though? Android is open source with a flexible enough license that if Google ever tried to tighten their grip too much, they'd lose the dev community quickly. They own the Play store and Google services, but you can create an AOSP device (a non Play/Google services device) with no issues, and some chinese/low-end players already do that exactly to avoid some of the licensing costs and requirements. They may have had a very good handle on Android talent in the start, but now every facet of Android engineering has a non negligible community outside of Google. I'm not saying it's like Google has nothing, but their position in the Android universe is one or two bad moves away from slipping from their grip at any moment. It's not a hard link like Apple's.

PaulHoule 3y ago

Android is strange. Google and the phone vendors only take on half the responsibility of publishing an operating system as you are pretty lucky if you get software updates never mind the kind of major updates an iOS device gets. It is exhausting to explain to people how to scan a QR code on Android because the built in camera app doesn’t do it so they have to go to the app store and download some free QR reader that looks like spamscam and have a slightly different name every time you try it. (And no giving them a QR code to get the app.) That’s the inattention to detail that pervades the platform and it is made worse by the outright vandalism of Samsung or Verizon filling up your home screen with lots of twisty little app icons that all look alike and certainly don’t lead anywhere you’d want to go. Google doesn’t get paid for Android, Asian companies in corrupt economies seem to lose money making Android phones but there is some social status to be had by being a leader in 21st century technology so they do it anyway. Apple probably profits more from Android because Android keeps them out of trouble with antitrust regulators but Android is a ‘spoiler’ that keeps any real competitive OS out of the market. Hypothetically Android keeps mobile safe for advertising but it is possible Google could be selling as many ads on somebody else’s OS without the expense and moral hazard of keeping a zombie OS ‘alive’.

georgeecollins 3y ago
They make money on it by forcing Android phone manufacturers to include the Chrome and the Google Play Store. The Play Store is the dominant Android App Store and it makes Google a nice chunk of money. It's not nearly as good as search, but way better than say Twitter.

AbrahamParangi 3y ago

When I say they’re not a platform company, I mean that they aren’t paid to be one. No doubt they have many, very impactful products, but that’s not how they make their money and thus not the incentive of the business.

int0x2e 3y ago

Does Google really have Android though? Android is open source with a flexible enough license that if Google ever tried to tighten their grip too much, they'd lose the dev community quickly. They own the Play store and Google services, but you can create an AOSP device (a non Play/Google services device) with no issues, and some chinese/low-end players already do that exactly to avoid some of the licensing costs and requirements. They may have had a very good handle on Android talent in the start, but now every facet of Android engineering has a non negligible community outside of Google. I'm not saying it's like Google has nothing, but their position in the Android universe is one or two bad moves away from slipping from their grip at any moment. It's not a hard link like Apple's.