Android One page stuck in 2019
If Martin Luther King would have been alive, he would probably be fighting for Mobile OS equality and his speech would go something like this: “I have a dream that one day every Android phone will have unified UI, that people won’t be divided by skin, then we will become ONE…”. If he would have preached OS UI equality, he would probably still be alive but definitely not a prominent public figure. But, he might be using a Nokia smartphone, who knows.
Android One was a nice idea when it was announced. This program was intended to help Google attract manufacturers and offer them cheaper and easier to maintain UI that would have Google apps everybody like and use. But, the dream collapsed, even though not like the Symbian ecosystem. Android One used to be utilized by many manufacturers, and now it is only being used on Nokia devices. Please correct me if I’m wrong I wanted to check this info but the official Android One page is stuck in 2019, and so are the list of the phones. You can find there Nokia 9 PureView carrying the whole program, Xiaomi A3, Nokia 8.3, Nokia 7.2 and even Nokia 5.3 as a nice affordable midranger (great phones though).
If Google forgot to update the official Android One page, maybe it is finally time for Nokia Mobile to forget about it and create its skin on top of stock Android. I know that it will never happen, but the Nokia Z launcher would be a perfect UI for Nokia devices.
Android One was a nice project that was bringing many useful things to the owners of phones from within the program like unlimited Google Photo storage, two years of OS updates with regular security updates and preinstalled Google apps that people are using regularly, without any bloatware. This was cool for 2019, but the smartphone industry moved on and almost every decent manufacturer or brand is offering 2 or even three years of OS updates on their smartphones, monthly security patches and Google apps.
To make a custom skin, Nokia Mobile would have to invest in some good software engineers and R&D labs, but that might not be feasible now, so they rely on Android One as long as they can to concentrate on making low-end devices meant for the market saturation. This is still a good business tactic, but it could cost Nokia Mobile its community, and Nokia is made by it. Android One could be kept for low end and affordable midrange segment, but one propper affordable flagship and a flagship could come with something more profound than Android One that even Google doesn’t care about. Give the world a reason to trust, love and keep Nokia smartphones and brand.
It is funny to see Nokia 9 Pureview on the Android One site with a moto “Secure, up-to-date and easy to use”.
Cheers SirFaceFone for the tip 😉
