Is the partnership between Samsung and Google ruining the Android ecosystem?

jerry.hildenbrand@futurenet.com (Jerry Hildenbrand)
2025-01-25 11:00:00
www.androidcentral.com

The Galaxy S25 is yet another product from the Korean tech giant that has access to some features from Google that other phones don’t yet have. It’s not the first time this has happened; we’ve seen it in previous Galaxy phone launches, and even the “new” Wear OS seems completely like a Samsung/Google joint effort. The partnership between the two has never been stronger.

I’ve seen a few people claim that this is ruining Android. I disagree and think, if anything, this is less of a partnership and more like Google exploiting Samsung because Samsung allows it.

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I’m not talking about any sort of internet slap-fighting between overzealous but misguided brand loyalists. Samsung didn’t sell bad displays to other companies or purposely sell exploding batteries to ruin the reputation of the Android ecosystem. Frankly, that kind of thinking shows a person has no idea how the smartphone industry even works, and I stay away from it all. OnePlus sold millions of phones and a handful of them using Samsung displays had a green line. Samsung sold millions of Note 7s, and 10 or so had critical battery issues, prompting a recall. Nothing was intentional.

What I’m talking about and where much of the discussion about Android’s ruined reputation stems from how closely the two companies seem to work together to give Samsung first access, or even exclusive access, to Google features.

HTC One M7 and One M8 being held together

(Image credit: Android Central)

This is a change to how Android started. Having one company able to get Google software when other companies can’t is a slap in the face of Android’s “open” days. There was a time when Motorola and HTC were atop the Android mountain and Samsung would have been displeased if Google gave either exclusive access to features. Rightly so, thus I realize that to some people this change has ruined Android.

The thing is that Android was never really open and this isn’t Samsung’s doing. Blame Google if you need to point the finger.

The Google/Samsung relationship isn’t equal, and that is Samsung’s fault. Samsung depends on Google for the software that powers most of its mobile products and has given up trying to change that. Devices that ran Bada and Tizen were not good and had miserable sales numbers compared to any of Samsung’s more recent Android-powered devices. They were Samsung’s own, though, and I wish active development and products using them were still around. Competition is good, ya know?

Google seems to consider Samsung its own personal marketing division and product showcase department to me. Google didn’t allow Samsung to have so many Pixel-esque AI features on the S25 because it wanted to help Samsung. It does it because it knows Samsung can sell hundreds of millions of phones every year, and it wants people to have access to these features so it can collect more data. As long as Google stays in control, it doesn’t care that people think Gemini is a Samsung product. It cares that more people are using it.

View of the lock screen on the Galaxy S25 Ultra

(Image credit: Andrew Myrick / Android Central)

Google does this by having two different Androids. There is the Android Open Source Project that you or I can download and use on whatever device we like, making any changes we want as long as the open-source licenses are honored. Then there is the locked-down version of actual Android (yes, the name itself is trademarked) that Google controls with a tight grip. Licensing and platform access agreements mean if your company wants to sell a phone running Android with access to any of Google’s software, you will toe their line.

This is the Android that Google uses like a carrot on a stick for device manufacturers. What Google does here is extremely distasteful to me, but it means companies like Samsung or OnePlus don’t have to develop their own equivalent. Even though they probably could. If Amazon can do it, Samsung can do it.

Samsung has grown dependent on Google. Some fragments show what Samsung could do, like Good Lock. It seems likely Google forces Samsung to prevent the integration of Good Lock into OneUI, saying it would create some software fork, and that means you have to go to the Galaxy Store and install it like an app.

Simply put, if you believe that Google and Samsung are working together to create exclusivity, you’re probably right. It’s a change from the Android of yesteryear, and you might think it’s ruining things — some people dislike change.

Don’t blame Samsung for it because it’s 100% Google’s doing.

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