Complaining that Cortana uses Bing is like complaining that Google Now uses Google. What prevents Google from writing a drop-in replacement for Cortana on Windows like how MS can promote Cortana on Android as an alternative to Google Now?
Or is it like Internet Explorer, too deeply embedded in the OS to be able to remove?
One of my goals is to not share any data with a company I can’t trust – so I write my own tools for all these purposes, my own apps, and self-host these things.
I already have a several GB large archive of my mail as I self-host it, why shouldn’t I be able to write software to parse it and remind me?
Why do I always have to use services of a company when I buy a device, instead of being able to hack together my own?
When you bought IBM PCs, they didn’t force you to use Windows with Notepad either – instead, people could write Linux, GNU, and Emacs for their own usage.
This is what I expect from an open system, like Android.
Unfortunately, it's really the chipset builders and the lack of UEFI/BIOS or something similar in ARM (and other non-x86 mobile platforms) that locks it out even further.
And having to write my own smartlock provider as a system app isn't great either.
It'd be great if in addition to everything being AOSP, they'd also allow changing more at runtime.
If I use root to remove the Google app forcefully, I get a black box with the text "widget failed to load".
EDIT: Within of 10 minutes the comments go from +2 to -3? Seriously? Leave a comment instead of downvoting, please.
You're the 10TH PERSON THIS WEEK telling me this, and NO, IT DOES NOT WORK, CAN NOT WORK, WILL NOT EVER WORK.
The search bar IN THE RECENTS MENU is provided by the SystemUI.apk and can NOT be changed without modifying the base os.
You are talking about the search bar ON THE HOME SCREEN, which, yes, CAN be modified by replacing the launcher.
But NO, the search bar in the RECENT APPS SCREEN, which is SEPERATE FROM THE LAUNCHER, can NOT be modified by replacing the Launcher.
Here, THIS http://core0.staticworld.net/images/article/2014/11/android-... http://img.wonderhowto.com/img/03/61/63551918823389/0/quick-... is the one I am talking about.
It can NOT be modified at all on Android L. You can remove all Google apps with root, install the fucking ADW Launcher, but no, it does NOT change that search bar.
I’ve tried to explain it before, too. Please listen to what I say and don’t suggest the same stuff everyone else has suggested before again when I already explained why it will NOT work.
Do you mean Google apps like gmail, play store and youtube because I think it should totally be up to the Google to distribute those apps on platforms.
Because, otherwise you can get Google-free Android. Just look at Amazon FireOS or CyanogenMod.
Or, in fact just go ahead a grab a copy of the source and make it how you want it to be.
ive got an archos 55 platinum. would love to do this but cant find any way I'd trust to even root it.
As long as Google forbids OEMs from producing both FireOS and Google Android devices, I can’t buy a CyanogenMod device from Motorola, or similar.
And no, I don’t think Google should be able to hardcode any of their services into Android – instead each service should be provided via a standardized API, so users can select defaults (like it already is done with many apps on Android).
Google has to treat all competing services the same as their own on Android or Search – in general, in all markets where they have a majority.
Microsoft had to add BrowserChoice.eu, and Google will have to add the same for Android, too. Microsoft was prevented from forcing OEMs to install Windows everywhere, and Google’s Anti-Fork Anti-Kindle clause will be declared invalid, too.
This is the law, and if Google wants to avoid doing so, they’ll have to avoid operating in the EU.
It is hardcoded to access the Google app, and if you remove the Google app, it just shows an error.
There are several such cases.
For example, Doze will terminate all apps – except for Google Play Services’ GCM service, that one can stay. This is, again, hardcoded.
The only way to modify these things is by actually recompiling SystemUI.apk and framework.jar. Which no normal user can do.
IE is too deeply embedded in the OS to remove, sure. That doesn't mean that I ever use it, or need it for the things it does. I just leave it there, mostly ignored, and go use another browser for my Web surfing needs.
Or if we're talking mobile devices, there they do have a bit more control over their garden. But still, meh. Microsoft has no power in the mobile space.
Don't mean to pick on you in particular, but this drives me nuts on HN. The parent probably really just wanted to know if there was an API and figured fostering discussion would be nicer than simply googling for the answer.
I did not get the impression the parent was making a comment about Microsoft with any political valence attached; there are genuine technical and taste reasons to wonder if you can swap out a search engine or a browser on a computer for a given task.
Is it? Apple's Siri lets you choose your search engine.
And? I hate that Google Now forces you to use Google as well!
Not really at all. People use Google because it provides superior search results. Bing takes longer to crawl new sites and doesn't crawl them nearly as often as Google does.