[DennisAleynikov]

What an interesting way to go about making an uncomfortable but important decision. This is Google's platform and they should do with it what they want, it's incredible how much search has changed our interaction with our phone. There isn't a day that goes by where I'm not finding everything I need with a quick google search.

If google doesn't control the searches end to end on android they would have missed out on some good innovations like instant apps and google now. I love that this is one aspect of this totalitarian control they didn't compromise on, cuz it's keeping them in the dominant position with a good flow of data coming in!

[dlbucci]

I'm not seeing how those two things are related. Google could have still developed Instant Apps/Google Now without restricting users choice of search engine. And if those users missed out on those features because they use duckduckgo or whatever, so be it. At least it was their choice, right?

[srtjstjsj]

DennisAleynikov is saying that Google's forcing everyone to use Google Search generates data that Google uses to make DennisAleynikov's search experience better, which he appreciates. Selfish, but honest.

[DennisAleynikov]

Yes you got the jist of it. Apple is trying to be the Anti-Google in this regard with privacy first defaults but they are guilty of making very agressive decisions to keep control of their phones. Safari is the only browser that can be used on iOS and it's responsible for its market share today! It's viable competition for chrome.

[greglindahl]

Yeah, the EU and the US both had a big investigation of Google and search on the Android platform, but clearly it's amazing that they made this change. Totally lovable totalitarian control.

[DennisAleynikov]

Totalitarian control of your platform is tough pill to swallow but modern tech Giants have to keep their internet services visible. Microsoft especially is like a preview of future Google gone bad, having a free/paid OS laden with Ads and restrictive defaults. Cortana is useless since it literally won't accept any other search engine!

I'm curious to see legislation attempt to tackle this, obviously more competition is good! What gives me pause is this relentless trend of killing off small startups and competition through strict defaults like only using Safari on iOS and no other browser. Even chrome on iOS is just Safari with a different navbar

[Jaruzel]

There's a new initiative called 'eelo'[1] which claims that it will be a drop-in ROM replacement for existing Android phones. Apparently it's built using a modified AOSP[2] using their own open-source software components. They are focusing on privacy and security. I'm not convinced they'll ever release anything substantial, but it's good to see another player in the Mobile OS space trying to challenge the status quo.

--

[1] https://www.eelo.io/mobile-phones/

[2] https://source.android.com/

[archi42]

Initial targets will be LeEco Le2 and Xiaomi Mi5S. They aim to also support this extensive list: https://eelo.io/img/supporteddevices.txt

Reminds me I should check out MicroG again (replaces Google services).

[nuand999]

The development seems to be in progress: https://www.indidea.org/gael/blog/leaving-apple-google-a-gen...

[Qwertie]

I use an alternative search provider on my android (custom rom) Phone and don't feel like I have lost anything other than the ability to stay sane on a stock android device.