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Google doesn't have >80% of the market. Android has >80% of the market. Google does not control Android. Yes, Google provides a lot of services for Android user

Google doesn't have >80% of the market. Android has >80% of the market. Google does not control Android. Yes, Google provides a lot of services for Android users, but Android works fine without Google services. Everybody is so quick to forget about "Android fragmentation," but fragmentation is a clear indicator of Google's lack of control over Android.

psbp 13y ago
So who picks up the slack if Google developers aren't contributing to Android?
Joeri 13y ago
You can fork android and not license the google services, but it means doing without youtube, maps and chrome. That's a horrible experience. In reality almost everyone nicely complies with google's compatibility definition, constraining how far they can fork android, just in order to get access to google's closed source apps: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Google%20Inc.&hl=nl https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Google%20Inc... Only amazon has managed to make a viable usable fork of android that complies with legal requirements, and the amount of work it took them was prohibitive for anyone not on amazon's scale. Android as OS is open source, but android as experience is very much under google's control. Like i said though, they have been quite benevolent, because they view android as a vehicle to get you to use the google services.
- Alphasite_ 13y ago
  Depends where you live, i'm pretty sure Google's Chinese services are pretty dire compared to the native alternatives.
- fpgeek 13y ago
  > You can fork android and not license the google services, but it means doing without youtube, maps and chrome. That's a horrible experience. Not to hundreds of millions of Chinese Android users.
  - ansgri 13y ago
    Same in Russia, where Yandex presents a very viable alternative. Their maps, for instance, are better.
- katbyte 13y ago
  well at least you can say android can and has been forked, you can't say the same about iOS or windows..
- king_jester 13y ago
  > In reality almost everyone nicely complies with google's compatibility definition, constraining how far they can fork android, just in order to get access to google's closed source apps: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Google%20Inc.. https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Google%20Inc.... The point of the CCD [1] is to ensure that new devices can run a test suite that ensures they work correctly with Android as it currently exists. CCD isn't just about Google Play and Google Play Services, its about the fundamental functioning of the OS. [1]: http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/source.android.com/en/us/compatibility/android-4.3-cdd.pdf http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrust...

psbp 13y ago

So who picks up the slack if Google developers aren't contributing to Android?

Joeri 13y ago

You can fork android and not license the google services, but it means doing without youtube, maps and chrome. That's a horrible experience. In reality almost everyone nicely complies with google's compatibility definition, constraining how far they can fork android, just in order to get access to google's closed source apps: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Google%20Inc.&hl=nl https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Google%20Inc... Only amazon has managed to make a viable usable fork of android that complies with legal requirements, and the amount of work it took them was prohibitive for anyone not on amazon's scale. Android as OS is open source, but android as experience is very much under google's control. Like i said though, they have been quite benevolent, because they view android as a vehicle to get you to use the google services.

Alphasite_ 13y ago
Depends where you live, i'm pretty sure Google's Chinese services are pretty dire compared to the native alternatives.
fpgeek 13y ago
> You can fork android and not license the google services, but it means doing without youtube, maps and chrome. That's a horrible experience. Not to hundreds of millions of Chinese Android users.
- ansgri 13y ago
  Same in Russia, where Yandex presents a very viable alternative. Their maps, for instance, are better.
katbyte 13y ago
well at least you can say android can and has been forked, you can't say the same about iOS or windows..
king_jester 13y ago
> In reality almost everyone nicely complies with google's compatibility definition, constraining how far they can fork android, just in order to get access to google's closed source apps: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Google%20Inc.. https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Google%20Inc.... The point of the CCD [1] is to ensure that new devices can run a test suite that ensures they work correctly with Android as it currently exists. CCD isn't just about Google Play and Google Play Services, its about the fundamental functioning of the OS. [1]: http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/source.android.com/en/us/compatibility/android-4.3-cdd.pdf http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrust...