| Android in China - die Zukunft bei uns? |  |
The Verge hat heute zwei interessante Artikel zum Umgang von chinesischen Firmen mit Android gebracht, verbunden mit der Fragestellung, ob es dank der EU bei uns nicht auch dorthin gehen könnte - weg von Google Services:
#1:
"Enthusiasts call this “stock Android,” ostensibly meaning Android as Google designed it. But the reason Android gathered such traction in the first place is because manufacturers and carriers could obtain it for free and customize it to their liking (...).
The situation is very different today. Companies like Samsung take a more restrained approach, and Google Play Editions no longer exist. The concept of stock Android is now blurrier, with Google’s own Pixel line running exclusive software not found on the company’s canonical stripped-back OS, Android One. And the open-source version of Android offered through AOSP (Android Open Source Project) is no longer a viable operating system in its own right, with very little support for the built-in apps and APIs. All mainstream Android devices in the West now license Google Play services to provide essential smartphone functionality, while also having to use Google’s suite of modern apps such as the Play Store, the Chrome browser, Maps, search, and so on.
The problem for Chinese handset makers, of course, is that all of those services are blocked in China, so supplementing open-source Android with Google software simply isn’t an option. If you’re a Chinese phone company that wants to sell to Chinese customers, the most sensible thing to do is use AOSP as a software base for compatibility with the world’s most popular operating system, then build China-specific features, services, and an app store on top of that.
(...) There is one Chinese company that stands apart from its competitors in the software experience it delivers, and it also happens to be the one with the biggest enthusiast following in the US. OnePlus has built a name for itself with high-specced, reasonably priced devices that hew closely to Google’s take on Android with excellent performance and the occasional smart new feature."
[http://www.theverge.com/2018/10/17/17988564/chinese-phone-software-android-iphone-copy-ui]
#2:
"By the end of the month, Google will charge a licensing fee in Europe for the Play Store and apps like YouTube and Gmail in order to comply with the European Commission’s antitrust ruling. Device makers will soon have to decide whether using Google services is worth the fees, while Android as an operating system will remain free to use. With these new conditions, the future of Android in Europe could dramatically transform, becoming a pared-down version that retains the OS but offers fragmented alternatives to what were once cornerstone Google services.
So what would that look like? The clearest example to point to is in China where Google is outright banned. Instead, each smartphone company (that isn’t Apple) runs some version of Android, but there are over 400 app stores in China in place of the Google Play Store. Of the some 400 stores, 10 capture most of the country’s market share."
[http://www.theverge.com/2018/10/17/17984976/android-europe-future-china-play-store-european-commission-antitrust]