Google has always promoted Android as free. They have always gone on record to say that Android will remain a free entity. But it seems that things are changing around at Google. Google seems to be exercising a bit more control over smartphones running Android and its services. As per reports, Google is now making it mandatory for manufacturers to put an “Powered by Google” logo on devices using Google services like Play Store, Gmail etc..
According to latest reports, Google has started asking manufacturers to show up a “Powered by Android” logo on the boot screen. It seems if a manufacturer wants to use any of the Google services, they will have to use the logo.
Google has been starting to exercise a bit more control in the recent past. There were reports suggesting Google had asked Samsung to tone down its Magazine UX because it felt a lot different in user experience than Android. Google has also made all the manufacturers use white icons in the status bar with Android 4.4 KitKat.
We think Google has started to feel insecure lately about loosing control of its open-source operating system. That insecurity can be blamed a bit on different skins used by Android manufacturers, which kind of skin what stock Android looks like. With a “Powered by Google” logo, a user will always know that they are using an Android smartphone.
