Google has announced that it is changing the way its suite of applications (G Suite) is distributed through Android in Europe.
The news came after one a fine of 5 billions dollars in Alphabet by the EU anti-trust regulators, although it is already in the process of appealing to a court of appeal.
The story so far
In May 2015, the European Commission (EC) formally accused Google of using its dominance over search results, after a four-year research για το θέμα. Ταυτόχρονα, η Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή αποκάλυψε ότι ξεκίνησε μια νέα έρευνα για το Android εξετάζοντας τον τρόπο που αναγκάζει κατασκευαστές smartphone και tablet να συνδέσουν ορισμένες υπηρεσίες της Google, όπως το Gmail, το Goοgle Search και το Goοgle Play στις Android συσκευές τους.
Google has long argued that manufacturers are free to do whatever they want with Android, which seems to be correct, because Android is released under an open source license. code. As we've seen, Amazon has used a special version of Android on the Kindle Fire through which it sets its own default apps. However, this limits Amazon's access to some native Google apps, such as YouTube.
In short, if a manufacturer wants to use Android and pre-install Google applications, he should use the entire suite. He can not choose some of these. If he wants to include Google Maps, Gmail, and YouTube, for example, it should include Google Play, Chrome, and Google Search by default. This is something Europe regards as anti-competitive.
So Google has finally unveiled its response to Europe's complaints: a new licensing model for manufacturers who wish to distribute phones and tablets in the European Economic Area (EEA) with their applications installed.
From 29 October 2018, Google said it would allow manufacturers to distribute Google applications to special versions of Android in the EEA.
"We are updating compatibility agreements with mobile device manufacturers that define how Android is used to develop smartphones and tablets," said Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google's senior vice president for platforms and ecosystems. publishing on the blog of the company.
Android partners who want to distribute Google apps can also create incompatible or forked smartphones and tablets for the European Economic Area.
However, this will cost.
Η Goοgle θα διαχωρίσει τώρα το Google Search και το Chrome από την υπόλοιπη σουίτα εφαρμογών, όπως τις Maps, YouTube, Gmail και Google Play Store, και θα προσφέρει ξεχωριστές άδειες για κάθε “πακέτο” τις οποίες θα χρεώνει. Φαίνεται όμως ότι οι κατασκευαστές που κάνουν εγγραφή για να προεγκαταστήσουν υπηρεσίες Goοgle, όπως το Play, το Gmail, τους Χάρτες και το YouTube, θα μπορούν να εγκαταστήσουν δωρεάν το Goοgle Search και το Chrome. (Πείτε ευχαριστώ!).
This completely changes how Android will be distributed in Europe, as it gives manufacturers more choices in the default apps they install. For example, we can see Bing and Firefox as the default search engine and browser respectively.
Probably the model announced by Google has something to do with it reset revenue it will lose from Google Search and Chrome installations.
"As the pre-installation of Google Search and Chrome, along with our other applications, helped fund the development and free distribution of Android, we will introduce a new paid licensing agreement for smartphones and tablets shipped to the EEA." , says Lockheimer.
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