Google Considering More Controlled & 'Apple-Like' Approach with Nexus Line [Rumor]

[mountainbikermark]

I'm for producing a better product.. If it means Google takes over the design and manufacturing, so be it...

I totally agree with that but it has been the manufacturers and independent developers that have pushed Google bloatware and oems to be better, not Apple like lack of choices.
Name a feature on a nexus device that wasn't already done by someone else prior as part of their skin or an app on the Play Store. I can't think of any in the last few years.

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[Narsil]

I'm always confused by the "I wish my Android phone was more like an iPhone" statements. If you prefer the way Apple does things, why are you using an Android phone? Go buy an iPhone. Those of us who still prefer the ever-diminishing freedom that Google used to represent are being left with fewer and fewer phones. In 2010, the choice of rootable phones was essentially 100%. Even just a couple years ago, there was a large choice and Samsung was developer-friendly. More and more people seem to support the "lock down every phone and if you want root, buy a Nexus" ideology nowadays.

Well, when Google goes full-retard, I mean full-Apple, where are we supposed to go?

 

[pc747]

I'm always confused by the "I wish my Android phone was more like an iPhone" statements. If you prefer the way Apple does things, why are you using an Android phone? Go buy an iPhone. Those of us who still prefer the ever-diminishing freedom that Google used to represent are being left with fewer and fewer phones. In 2010, the choice of rootable phones was essentially 100%. Even just a couple years ago, there was a large choice and Samsung was developer-friendly. More and more people seem to support the "lock down every phone and if you want root, buy a Nexus" ideology nowadays.

Well, when Google goes full-retard, I mean full-Apple, where are we supposed to go?

You make a good point, but I think part of the driving force to lock down the phones is Google wanting to get in with enterprises as well as further push wallet..Android Pay.

But you are right about the number of phones for root users diminishing. Some may argue the number of people who care about root has dropped significantly. I know for myself I wouldn't go more than 5 minutes after taking the phone out of the box before I rooted it. Now I have a Nexus 5, 6, and note 5, and the only one rooted is my Nexus 5, which I hardly use.

Though I will not argue that there are still great developers out there, we are no longer in the age where Android was so far behind Apple in apps, features, and quality that we needed developers to bridge the gap. The only thing I miss from rooting is tibu and that is a huge change from the number of root apps I had a few years ago.

For those that want to tinker there will continue to be a device or two to cater to that niche, unfortunately those devices may be mid end devices compared to the devices locked down. Plus if you look, there just aren't as many people banging on Google's door about unlocked bootloaders vs years past. I still think we will continue to be able to root a nexus but it may come with consequences of certain apps and features being disabled.

Sent from my Nexus 6

 

[cr6]

It's not the manufacturers that are locking down their devices and keeping you from developing for them, it's the carrier's. (Verizon & AT&T in particular) Samsung devices are fully rootable on other carrier's including international versions. The fact of the matter is, most large corporations in this country use Verizon & AT&T as their carrier of choice. Security is much more important to the top two carriers in this country than the ever dwindling root community.
I don't like it either but don't expect it to revert back to the days of old. Your only options left are to purchase a Nexus or switch carrier.

S5 tap'n

 

[WildcatRudy]

If the OEMs get mad and balk Google can just go ahead, buy HTC, and crank out in-house Nexus devices.

That didn't work so well with Motorola though. Although I have to say the Nexus 6 I bought a few months ago has been my favorite Nexus phone by far.

On the one hand, if Google takes more control over the hardware and software of Nexus phones, it could be a boon for reducing fragmentation and for increasing security, performance and reliability for Nexus Android devices.

I dont get the connection to the fragmentation. To me, fragmentation is 1) several hardware vendors with their own variations on Android (their own launchers, apps, bloatware, etc.) and 2) all devices that do not have an upgrade to the most current base Android OS (some phones take the better part of a year to see an upgrade to an older version, and others are never upgraded at all, whereas Nexus owners get it shortly after release).

On the other hand, it's possible that the various potential Nexus OEMs (like LG, HTC, Samsung, etc) might balk at the idea that they have to give up more control to Google.

I guess I'm saying above that if Nexus phones are already built to a hardware spec under contract, why would the manufacturers care? Android is software/firmware, not hardware. I don't see the connection. The only thing I might see is where Google might require a specific chipset or processor to enable security/privacy features but even there, it's under a manufacturing contract. And if that's the case, LG, Samsung, Motorola, etc. might see the benefits and use this themselves. Google wanting to control how its own hardware is built does not seem like much of an issue; if anything, it will only make Nexus phones more expensive.

I figure the Nexus is just one product line of competitive phones up against the giants. My only fear, though, is that if the curretn manufactuers do not play along, the Nexus line will end up with some little-known manufacturer that makes substandard hardware. But manufacturers are hungry for business, so I don't see many of them balking at it.