Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan | Hacker News Reader

Google risks OEM wrath for unified Android UI plan

theregister.co.uk

17 pointswreel11 comments

Blatant misinformation. At the beginning of this article, they suggest Google is going to impose a single UI, as though Sense and Motoblur would no longer be allowed. By the end, they acknowledge that they're only hoping to make the default UI so good that it discourages other manufacturers from rolling their own, which we already knew. Terribly, if not manipulatively written.

they're only hoping to make the default UI so good that it discourages other manufacturers from rolling their own

This sounds a lot like the rational for the Nexus One. Google will a set a standard so high it will become the baseline for everyone else, minimizing fragmentation (if not eliminating it).

It didn't work then and I'm not sure why they think this is going to work now. Handset makers do not want to become "box makers" for Google, period. If that means splintering Android into a million pieces, so be it.

Google has painted themselves into a corner. The most touted benefit of Android (that it's "open") is proving to be its biggest drawback. But now the question is how do they can maintain control of their platform without mimicking Apple?

It seems to me that the "risk" is overblown.

The biggest "issue" that I've read about is scaling the screen for different resolutions, this could be solved by an update with an intelligent scaling algorithm.

It seems to me what Google is trying to do is improve the native applets so that OEMs are less likely to want to create their own.

Also, nothing says that Google is banning these vendor additions, just discourage them.

Remember Android is an open platform.

>>>Remember Android is an open platform.

That might be so, but the Google bits of it aren't. And if Google says its UI must be used in order to get the Google bits, that's where the conflict will begin. Owners of the Archos 5 Internet Tablet are well aware of what Android minus Google is like.

Yes, but doesn't google limit google apps to approved devices? If google wanted to they could probably use these to force OEMs to use the default UI or loose the right to distribute google apps. Of course, the article doesn't say that, so google probably isn't even doing that.

I wonder if it's even possible to address this through improving the default UI. That seems to make the assumption that Motorola/HTC/etc use their UIs to address deficiencies in the base product ("Android UI inferiority complex"?), when really they're mostly there to differentiate their products. Who wants to be a clone maker?

>>>Who wants to be a clone maker?

Given the success of Windows, I'd say many wouldn't mind being one as long as the money flowed in, as it did with Windows.

A certain base UI is needed so that the user experience is mostly consistent across hardware. When you get to tablets, there's no need for the four buttons required by a handset -- yet there's nothing in the current software that does that.

Google would be wise to let vendors differentiate with the main home screen as a sop to HTC and Motorola's customizations. It's the main home screen that makes people notice a handset from a distance on a store shelf.

Given the alternative is having several different shoddy (manufacturer specific) UIs it seems like Google is making the right choice.

After all, the iPhone UI is pretty fantastic and Google really needs to achieve some sort of parity on this front.

It does seem like the carrier UIs are holding Android back. I've heard them cited as part of the reason some phones are so slow to receive updates. If this is correct, it seems like Android could afford to be more innovative and release more updates without them.

The article cites TechCruch as the source several times, but doesn’t seem to include any links.

They're probably referring to this article:

http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/16/android-team-laser-focused-...

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