4 ms·

Well it would be the phone manufacturers at that point

babypuncher 3y ago
The phone manufacturers don't have much of a choice unless they are willing to ditch support for all the proprietary Google parts of Android. People probably won't buy android phones without play store access.
- Jensson 3y ago
  I just bought an android, there was no default search on it and playstore works. As I booted it up it asked me what search engine I wanted, Google wasn't on top or preselected. So yes, phone manufacturers have a choice here, they don't have to make Google the default.
  - babypuncher 3y ago
    I'm surprised, what brand is it?
    - Jensson 3y ago
      Was a Xiaomi Redmi. I wouldn't recommend it for privacy, but them giving me the choice means manufacturers can do this if they want.
      - beebeepka 3y ago
        What android brand would you recommend "for privacy"? I agree Xiaomi loves their data collection to the point of selling pole fan that require an app to operate - I saw that one in one of their stores. So what else is there?
        i5-2520M 3y ago
        Pixel or maybe Nokia / Fairphone / Motorola (Stockish Android) if you are a regular user, but you will have to change a few options for sure, modded Pixel if Privacy Nut.
        dartharva 3y ago
        Motorola has notoriously unreliable hardware though. I have only had bad experiences with the brand.
        i5-2520M 3y ago
        This is the same as any laptop discussion. If you mention any brand someone is bound to say how negative their experience was. Probably there were a few bad models, but Im not aware of any common issues with moto phones.
        dartharva 3y ago
        OnePlus is still reliable and boasts decent build quality and (relatively) non-intrusive software. It has abandoned its "budget phone" shtick though.
    - jsnell 3y ago
      It's likely not about the brand, but about the location. As a result of the Android anti-trust lawsuit in EU, Google has shown a search engine choice screen at initial setup since (I think) 2018. They also unbundled Chrome and Search from the other proprietary apps. See https://www.android.com/choicescreen/ https://www.android.com/choicescreen/

The phone manufacturers don't have much of a choice unless they are willing to ditch support for all the proprietary Google parts of Android. People probably won't buy android phones without play store access.

Jensson 3y ago
I just bought an android, there was no default search on it and playstore works. As I booted it up it asked me what search engine I wanted, Google wasn't on top or preselected. So yes, phone manufacturers have a choice here, they don't have to make Google the default.
- babypuncher 3y ago
  I'm surprised, what brand is it?
  - Jensson 3y ago
    Was a Xiaomi Redmi. I wouldn't recommend it for privacy, but them giving me the choice means manufacturers can do this if they want.
    - beebeepka 3y ago
      What android brand would you recommend "for privacy"? I agree Xiaomi loves their data collection to the point of selling pole fan that require an app to operate - I saw that one in one of their stores. So what else is there?
      - i5-2520M 3y ago
        Pixel or maybe Nokia / Fairphone / Motorola (Stockish Android) if you are a regular user, but you will have to change a few options for sure, modded Pixel if Privacy Nut.
        dartharva 3y ago
        Motorola has notoriously unreliable hardware though. I have only had bad experiences with the brand.
        i5-2520M 3y ago
        This is the same as any laptop discussion. If you mention any brand someone is bound to say how negative their experience was. Probably there were a few bad models, but Im not aware of any common issues with moto phones.
      - dartharva 3y ago
        OnePlus is still reliable and boasts decent build quality and (relatively) non-intrusive software. It has abandoned its "budget phone" shtick though.
  - jsnell 3y ago
    It's likely not about the brand, but about the location. As a result of the Android anti-trust lawsuit in EU, Google has shown a search engine choice screen at initial setup since (I think) 2018. They also unbundled Chrome and Search from the other proprietary apps. See https://www.android.com/choicescreen/ https://www.android.com/choicescreen/