AC: The end of Nexus: This year's Google phones to forge new path

[Ry]

The end of Nexus: This year's Google phones to forge new path | Android Central

Sailfish and Marlin aren't Nexus phones.

 

[Aquila]

Hurray! Death to Nexus!

 

[JasW]

Long live the Google, um, phone or tablet!

 

[Citizen Coyote]

Honestly, I don't really see a big change here, other than Google will be adding more of their own tweaks to "vanilla" Android. So it's not called Nexus anymore. It's still a phone with Google's vision of Android, updated faster than any other device in the Android stable.

Is that really that much different from what the Nexus line had become?

Initially, Nexus was a developer's phone; a device to allow people to mess with "pure" Android. It quickly evolved into Google's vision of what Android should be, since "vanilla" Android and AOSP diverged. The beta program for new releases of Android has essentially taken the place of the original use for Nexus phones. The last several Nexus phones have always been about Google showcasing their vision of Android.

 

[Ry]

Honestly, I don't really see a big change here, other than Google will be adding more of their own tweaks to "vanilla" Android. So it's not called Nexus anymore. It's still a phone with Google's vision of Android, updated faster than any other device in the Android stable.

Is that really that much different from what the Nexus line had become?

Initially, Nexus was a developer's phone; a device to allow people to mess with "pure" Android. It quickly evolved into Google's vision of what Android should be, since "vanilla" Android and AOSP diverged. The beta program for new releases of Android has essentially taken the place of the original use for Nexus phones. The last several Nexus phones have always been about Google showcasing their vision of Android.

Here's the thing - they've always added their own tweaks to vanilla Android.

AOSP Dialer vs. Google Dialer
AOSP Messaging vs Google Messenger
AOSP Launcher3 vs. Google Now Launcher
etc. etc. etc.

And re: developer's phone: Nexus devices has always been the device for Android application developers to test their apps against the latest release of Android (and probably Google Play Services). But after the Nexus One, they became more than that with carrier partnerships, showcasing Google's vision of Android, Google Fi, etc. etc. etc.

 

[radgatt]

Here's the thing - they've always added their own tweaks to vanilla Android.

AOSP Dialer vs. Google Dialer
AOSP Messaging vs Google Messenger
AOSP Launcher3 vs. Google Now Launcher
etc. etc. etc.

And re: developer's phone: Nexus devices has always been the device for Android application developers to test their apps against the latest release of Android (and probably Google Play Services). But after the Nexus One, they became more than that with carrier partnerships, showcasing Google's vision of Android, Google Fi, etc. etc. etc.

I don't mind Google's vision of Android. I would like to hear common customers say they want the new Google Phone vs wanting the new Galaxy phone.

Side note: I remember older phones around 2009-2011 that were released and it had the Google logo on them. Maybe this is a way to get back to Android roots somehow.

 

[Markxmlx]

As far as I'm concerned they are just changing the name and a handful of software features to differentiate it. This might be one of the first devices to implement Google's new way of partitioning system-level features compared to user facing ones so in reality having a "Nexus UI" on top of Android shouldn't make any difference to the underlying core OS and it should be able to update without changing the user facing features such as what the software buttons look like or the shade of colour used for a notification.

However I don't think Nexus in itself is dead. It might be the end of phones being branded as such but that doesn't change what is currently the Nexus program and it doesn't explain the existence of the Nexus Launcher. My guess is they will call their UI overlay something like "Nexus UI" and that it where the Nexus name will live on.

Branding something as a Google phone makes more sense since literally everyone on the internet knows what Google is.

 

[badkitties]

judging by the relative lack of interest in this bombshell news
(both here and on Google's own Nexus forums), I'd say it's
time for Google to say good-bye to the Nexus line.

sad but true.

 

[Markxmlx]

judging by the relative lack of interest in this bombshell news
(both here and on Google's own Nexus forums), I'd say it's
time for Google to say good-bye to the Nexus line.

sad but true.

Nexus is just a name. A Google branded phone will largely be the same thing as a Nexus, just a bit more marketable and mainstream. This is a much better way to go as the idea of a stock-like experience will reach more people.

 

[anon(9072051)]

I still say "Nexus" is only going away because the fools backed themselves into a corner with their "Nexus + numeral" naming convention. Ain't nothin' but expedient.

 

[Markxmlx]

I still say "Nexus" is only going away because the fools backed themselves into a corner with their "Nexus + numeral" naming convention. Ain't nothin' but expedient.

Then last year they went alphanumeric with the 6P, 5X. Just strange, strange names. Maybe Google Pixel One (homage to the HTC built Nexus One).

 

[Aquila]

I'd like a Pixel One and Pixel One Plus

 

[Davidoo]

The end of Nexus: This year's Google phones to forge new path | Android Central

Sailfish and Marlin aren't Nexus phones.

So, am I correct in that the Sailfish and Marlin renders we have been seeing will still be released but will be branded as the new Google devices, or are they not going to be released at all and the Google devices will be something else that will be released later?

 

[Aquila]

So, am I correct in that the Sailfish and Marlin renders we have been seeing will still be released but will be branded as the new Google devices, or are they not going to be released at all and the Google devices will be something else that will be released later?

As far as anyone knows that is correct.

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

So, am I correct in that the Sailfish and Marlin renders we have been seeing will still be released but will be branded as the new Google devices, or are they not going to be released at all and the Google devices will be something else that will be released later?

The first part - the Sailfish and Marlin phones will be released but not branded as "Nexus" phones.

What the extent of this name change is, we will have to see. I don't see software a little different from stock being enough to justify the rebranding, but maybe they have larger things in store as well.

 

[gendo667]

I don't think there phones were ever gonna be called Nexus. The name has been absent from any render that seems legit. Seems to me the name is suppose to live on in the launcher, which we learned about some time ago. My guess is this was the plan all along.

 

[JasW]

Nexus is just a name. A Google branded phone will largely be the same thing as a Nexus, just a bit more marketable and mainstream. This is a much better way to go as the idea of a stock-like experience will reach more people.

I have a (technically disinclined) friend who calls any Android-based phone a "Google Phone." For all I know, the Marlin could end up as the Google Phone 7 and the Sailfish the Google Phone 7x. Or Google Phone 1 and 1 x. Or the G Phone.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

I'll third a vote for a Pixel phone if they truly are abandoning the Nexus brand name.

 

[Burnsj90]

I wonder what the new name will be. I don't think they just call it a Google phone there has to be some kind of branding besides that

 

[speedlever]

I'm waiting for the Marlin to appear before I chose a phone to upgrade my old GS4. Regardless whether Marlin/Sailfish are Google phones or Nexus phones, are OS upgrades simple OTA processes like carrier OS upgrades? If so, I expect it to be even better with dual partitions for seamless updates.