Europe Just Screwed over Android (And You, Too)
The European Union and Google aren’t on good terms
It started with a European Union antitrust investigation into Google Shopping in 2017, which resulted in a €2.42-billion fine. This July, Google received yet another fine from the EU: a record €4.34 billion for “serious illegal behavior” due to the way Google requires Android phone manufacturers to bundle their apps, by default, on every device.
Things went quiet for a while after that ruling, with Google appealing the decision. Now, in lieu of a resolution, Android is about to be ripped apart, and it’s going to hurt all of us—not just people living in the European Union.
All this is happening because of a skewed perspective from European regulators about how Android actually works.
Until now, Google distributed Android as a free, open-source operating system that any manufacturer could use, with a catch. If the manufacturer wants to provide access to the Google Play Store, the gateway to billions of Android apps, they must sign a licensing agreement that requires them to bundle Google’s apps along with it and set the company’s search engine as the default.
Phone manufacturers have a clear incentive to use the Play Store: It provides them access to the full library of Android…
