Loading...
The Financial Express

Google lifts ban on alternative versions of Android

| Updated: October 19, 2018 15:24:37


Google lifts ban on alternative versions of Android

Google is dropping restrictions it imposed on Android-device-makers, following a clash with the EU.

It is ending a ban on manufacturers having a line-up that includes tablets and phones powered by alternative versions of the operating system to its own as well as ones that feature Google's own apps and Play Store.

It will also allow some of its services to be pre-installed without others, reports BBC.

But Google continues to appeal against a related €4.3bn (£3.8bn) fine.

The European Commission announced the penalty in July, after ruling that the US company had been using Android to illegally "cement its dominant position" in search.

Google announced the changes to its policies in a blog.

It said the new licensing arrangements would come into effect on 29 October and apply to devices shipped to the European Economic Area (EEA) - which includes Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein in addition to the EU.

Until now, Google insisted that if handset- and tablet-makers pre-installed apps such as YouTube and Google Maps, they also had to pre-load its web browser Chrome and Search apps.

Chrome and Search will no longer be bundled in this way.

Share if you like

Filter By Topic