Google is afraid of Samsung, which is why the Pixel 4 is lackluster.

[Mike Dee]

The battery capacity thing is kind of a problem when the Pixel 4 has a teeny battery and a sub-par battery life. There is a correlation between battery capacity (e.g 2800mAh) and battery life (e.g 3 hours of gaming screen time).

Specs do matter and the public/consumers will pay attention to them, but it depends heavily on marketing. Google’s marketing for the Pixels doesn’t really mention any specific specs, while Samsung’s and Huawei’s mention them a lot more.

It depends on advertising strategy. Some sell the sizzle, and some sell the steak.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I agree that Samsung needs Google more than the reverse. Imagine if your next phone didn't have most of the apps that you use. Your buying choice would be a lot different.

Edit: Google makes money off ads more than selling devices. I agree with another post that Samsung could have left Android a long time ago. They didn't. Probably because trying to convince their user base to leave Android is more daunting an effort than they care to focus on.

 

[dejanh]

That's my opinion. Samsung has teased starting their own phone operating system several times, always to stay with Android. Samsung is the giant market leader in sales, over 20% each quarter worldwide. Apple usually 10-14%.

If Google introduces a killer phone that crushes Samsung in hardware, Samsung would simply launch their own OS and kill off Android. Android would be left with LG and Motorola. Samsung would probably switch browsers too, further hurting Google.

There is obviously some agreement between Google and Samsung, that the Pixels will stay a year or two behind Samsung in hardware, and simply compete with their camera software.

Btw, I know Microsoft tried this and failed, but they didn't have brand loyalty, hardware infrastructure, production facilities, or experience to do it right, nor the existing market reach into every major retail store.

Yeah, no, there is no chance of this happening. BlackBerry had a killer OS, years ahead of both Android and iOS at the time when they launched their BlackBerry 10 devices yet they don't exist any more. The chief reason are apps. They could not get developers to write apps for the OS despite even having an Android emulator to boot. Hardware market share does not matter as much as ecosystem control.

 

[Mike Dee]

I agree that Samsung needs Google more than the reverse. Imagine if your next phone didn't have most of the apps that you use. Your buying choice would be a lot different.

Edit: Google makes money off ads more than selling devices. I agree with another post that Samsung could have left Android a long time ago. They didn't. Probably because trying to convince their user base to leave Android is more daunting an effort than they care to focus on.

Also, why bother to leave Android? Samsung is doing just fine with the status quo. You don't take a successful formula and change it for the sake of change.... You just don't.

 

[mustang7757]

Also, why bother to leave Android? Samsung is doing just fine with the status quo. You don't take a successful formula and change it for the sake of change.... You just don't.

Good point

 

[LeoRex]

If Samsung decided to abandon Android and go with their own solution, if give their mobile phone division maybe two years before it was shut down. They will not be able to get the app support needed to compete.

Think about it... The most powerful software company in the world tried to take on Google and Apple and got their teeth kicked in when they couldn't get anyone but themselves to develop apps for them. Now? Microsoft has quietly built an impressive mobile ecosystem that is increasingly invested in the Android operating system.

And if Samsung left Android, that would only create a hole that would allow someone else to rise and fill the void. It's happened before... It can happen again.

Plus, it's trivial for a Samsung Galaxy user to replace their phone with one from another Android OEM. Yes, they have some Samsung only apps and services, but most all of them suck and none of them come even remotely close to locking in their users (such as what Apple has with iMessage, for instance).

With regards to Huawei... That mess is temporary, and nothing to do with the relationship between Huawei and Google. Neither company wanted to sever their connection... They were forced to. So Huawei is going to limp along until the bans clear and they go back to normal.

 

[mustang7757]

If Samsung decided to abandon Android and go with their own solution, if give their mobile phone division maybe two years before it was shut down. They will not be able to get the app support needed to compete.

Think about it... The most powerful software company in the world tried to take on Google and Apple and got their teeth kicked in when they couldn't get anyone but themselves to develop apps for them. Now? Microsoft has quietly built an impressive mobile ecosystem that is increasingly invested in the Android operating system.

And if Samsung left Android, that would only create a hole that would allow someone else to rise and fill the void. It's happened before... It can happen again.

Plus, it's trivial for a Samsung Galaxy user to replace their phone with one from another Android OEM. Yes, they have some Samsung only apps and services, but most all of them suck and none of them come even remotely close to locking in their users (such as what Apple has with iMessage, for instance).

With regards to Huawei... That mess is temporary, and nothing to do with the relationship between Huawei and Google. Neither company wanted to sever their connection... They were forced to. So Huawei is going to limp along until the bans clear and they go back to normal.

They would have to rival Google with software and App Store ...I wish them good luck

 

[LeoRex]

They would have to rival Google with software and App Store ...I wish them good luck

Right... Microsoft, a company that actually knows how to write software, couldn't pull it off. Samsung's strength is hardware and their software is more often then not a hot mess...

They've been developing their own flavor of Android for over a decade now and when reading reviews about it, the main takeaway is usually that they've managed to screw things up a little less than the previous version. The less code Samsung develops, the better.

Samsung knows this. They've had a replacement OS in the can for years and it's only shows up on their watches, a platform where third party app support is even necessary, nevermind critical.

 

[Mike Dee]

Right... Microsoft, a company that actually knows how to write software, couldn't pull it off. Samsung's strength is hardware and their software is more often then not a hot mess...

They've been developing their own flavor of Android for over a decade now and when reading reviews about it, the main takeaway is usually that they've managed to screw things up a little less than the previous version. The less code Samsung develops, the better.

Samsung knows this. They've had a replacement OS in the can for years and it's only shows up on their watches, a platform where third party app support is even necessary, nevermind critical.

Samsung's TV software isn't very good either

 

[Golfdriver97]

They've had a replacement OS in the can for years

Almost a decade if memory serves. I'd love to see a Samsung run AOSP out of the box. Get rid of the UI skin, add some of the features into the base OS, the Samsung apps, and see how it does.

 

[mustang7757]

Right... Microsoft, a company that actually knows how to write software, couldn't pull it off. Samsung's strength is hardware and their software is more often then not a hot mess...

They've been developing their own flavor of Android for over a decade now and when reading reviews about it, the main takeaway is usually that they've managed to screw things up a little less than the previous version. The less code Samsung develops, the better.

Samsung knows this. They've had a replacement OS in the can for years and it's only shows up on their watches, a platform where third party app support is even necessary, nevermind critical.

Samsung came a long way and the newer phone out are step in right direction, they have pretty cool built in functionality and shortcuts but still can improve . I really don't see anyone taking over Google anytime soon in software or their App Store .

 

[SupraLB]

Announced today, Samsung's Tizen OS is now expanding to let other TV makers use their operating system and app store. Moving to complete directly with Android TV.

Tizen also runs Samsung's smartwatch's, with apps supported there. Slowly and quietly, more popular apps are being built to run on Tizen because of Samsung's enormous TV market share.

Samsung is the by far the largest TV maker, with 20% worldwide share. LG with 12%. Sony with 7%.
Tizen is currently running on 100 million television sets.

https://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-offers-tizen-competing-manufacturers

 

[cardboard60]

Samsung's TV software isn't very good either

I bought a Samsung TV.
Could hear it. They said get a sound bar. No!

I like samsung phones

Took it back and got a vizio.
If I get a new TV, think it will be a LG.

I'd hate to see samsung phones disappear.

If they come out with their own software.
It would probably be Bixby.
I hate Bixby.

 

[Mike Dee]

Announced today, Samsung's Tizen OS is now expanding to let other TV makers use their operating system and app store. Moving to complete directly with Android TV.

Tizen also runs Samsung's smartwatch's, with apps supported there. Slowly and quietly, more popular apps are being built to run on Tizen because of Samsung's enormous TV market share.

Samsung is the by far the largest TV maker, with 20% worldwide share. LG with 12%. Sony with 7%.
Tizen is currently running on 100 million television sets.

https://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-offers-tizen-competing-manufacturers

How long has Samsung been using Tizen on their TV because if its what Samsung has on my TV it's horrible.

 

[SupraLB]

How long has Samsung been using Tizen on their TV because if its what Samsung has on my TV it's horrible.

Not sure, but the Android TV on my Sony is terrible too. But my Nvidia Shield with Android is phenomenal.

 

[bhatech]

How long has Samsung been using Tizen on their TV because if its what Samsung has on my TV it's horrible.

They have been using it for a while and it's crap. Honestly anything the TV manufactures do by themselves is horrible and filled with junk. I tend to prefer Apple TV and got the new Nvidia Shield pro which is working great. Or I also suggest people to go with fire TV if they are in Amazon ecosystem.

 

[Mike Dee]

They have been using it for a while and it's crap. Honestly anything the TV manufactures do by themselves is horrible and filled with junk. I tend to prefer Apple TV and got the new Nvidia Shield pro which is working great. Or I also suggest people to go with fire TV if they are in Amazon ecosystem.

The thing that killed it for me the most was the lack of support for apps from 1 model year to the next. We don't change TVs like we do phones. I can't get the same apps on both my Samsung TVs.

 

[Golurk]

Honestly I think that all this complaining about Samsung bloatware is overblown (ha). Most of the apps are pretty good (in my opinion) although some of them should have an option to be installed upon setup, not being there by default. It’s really easy to delete them as well. OneUI is great (TouchWiz was a mess, I agree)...stock Android is overrated in my opinion and so is iOS.

As for Huawei’s situation, it’s incredibly unfortunate that they have had to sever cooperation with Google. They will suffer in markets like Europe but so far they have remained unaffected (revenue wise) due to strong growth in China (which doesn’t have Google). Fingers crossed they can use Android and Google apps/services again soon, though I’m curious to see what Harmony OS turns out to be. Allowing Huawei back into Android/Google is good for Huawei, Google and us consumers (more choice). Huawei mobiles don’t present a security risk.

 

[anon(50597)]

stock Android is overrated in my opinion and so is iOS.

Im going to disagree.
Stock Android and iOS run much smoother and efficiently because they are cleaner. That’s my experience anyway.

 

[Apple2Droid]

Honestly, I'll never try it. They lost my business years ago with all the BS they packed into they phones. It's not about they sell you a phone. V they have to ram all kinds of crap applications down your throat. I'm perfectly fine with pixels. There's nothing that Samsung offers that I need that the Pixel doesn't have...

There's something else they force on you, and that's forcing you to willfully hand over access to your contacts. Wel all know that they could steal anything off our devices that they want, so there is a very specific legal reason that they force you to grant them this access in order to use completely unrelated apps om the device, i.e. the Members app. I had a Note 10 for 5 weeks and I mostly loved it, though I never understood why all of the extra Samsung system stuff on top of Google. I felt like I needed to find an online manual just to learn the UI. I had two final breaking points though . . . I was trying to add to add the very expensive Preferred Care for the device but the only way to do so was by signing into the Members app. Doing so didn't actually take you to a sign-in screen; it took you to a screen requiring you to grant access to your Contacts so that they "could see if you're currently logged in." –WTF???

There was no way around it, not even calling them to add Preferred Care over the phone. Nope, you can't do that, you can only do it through the Members app bottleneck. This was a hard no from me. I thouht about keping the phone and just using it in "renegade mode," i.e. never loggin into Samsung, but this issue really worried me. But the final straw was when I realized that the phone doesn't even have the AptXHD audio codec that I use with my high res Audio-Technica BT headphones. How odd that a flagship, especially THE flagship lacks this high res audio codec considering how much emphasis they place on the display. I had traded a Pixel 2 in on this device so it was already gone. I picked up a 128GB Pixel 3 and didn't look back, thought I thought I would. I think I had taken my lowly P2 for granted but I'm glad to be back in the land of PIxel . . .