Comment by cyberax
1 day ago
At this point, an Android phone without Google Play Services is mostly useless. You can't use maps, you can't even use notifications!
1 day ago
At this point, an Android phone without Google Play Services is mostly useless. You can't use maps, you can't even use notifications!
No one is forcing these other companies to make and sell phones. They don't even have the choice with iOS.
I'm really struggling to see where the consumer harm is.
> No one is forcing these other companies to make and sell...
> I'm really struggling to see where the consumer harm is.
Imagine a world where it's illegal to grow crops unless you use a particular brand of seeds. Nobody is forcing you to make cereal, but you're going to have a bad time if you can't get the needed components for it.
It's not that far off base, either. Heard of Monsanto? Google is basically going down the same path.
So companies should just bow down to Google to produce phones? That's the definition of monopoly.
As opposed to bow down to Apple and oh, still can't make an iOS phone?
6 replies →
Google Maps must be the biggest value-add Google has built for their phone ecosystem, full stop. I see no reason they should give that away no strings attached. I am no Google fan but it's one of the few things they have done which positively impacts me almost daily.
Other rather crucial functionality also depends on GPS. E.g. background tasks, notifications, etc.