Credit: Jenu Prasad / Google
At a time when version updates are becoming less of an issue and major phone makers are finally starting to promise years of updates, Google may have found a way to eliminate the Android cookie time and time again: by turning it into service.
The signs are there. On February 11, Google announced that several “Pixel-first” features in Google Photos – Portrait Blur, Portrait Light, and Color Pop – will certainly not come to all Android phones as expected. Instead, Google offers them to the benefit of Google One subscribers, effectively putting them behind a payroll wall along with what Google says is “the new effects of machine learning.”
IDGSome Google Photos features are locked behind a Pixel or Google One payroll wall.
By permission, these aren’t great features, and most people may not care whether you have them. Google Photos is a few steps removed from Android. But Google’s decision to put them behind a paywall suggests a move on how the company will deal with future Android app and system updates.
The Pixel as a platform
The Google Pixel phone itself seems to be turning into a service. Ever since its release in 2016, the house brand has been a showcase for the latest software and hardware enhancements from Google. It started with the Pixel Launcher and Google Search bar widget, and continues through the latest Pixel Feature Drops, which bring new system and app features to Google’s own phone before reaching other vendors ’phones.
The Portrait Blur feature that is now part of Google One, for example, was unveiled by the first Pixel Feature Drop in December, 2019. It has always been free for Pixel owners , but it has always technically been a paid feature.
Michael Simon / IDGThe Pixel phones were never about the hardware, but it’s even smaller than that now.
Android features also seem to be a priority for the lineup of Google phones, rather than the specs or screens of the phones themselves. Things like 5G and wireless charging are nice, but that’s not what makes the Pixel a great phone. This is the purest experience without Android, which you will not find anywhere else. Whether you pay $ 699 for the Pixel 5 or $ 349 for the Pixel 4a, you’re buying into a platform. And now Google might want to sell it to everyone else as well.
Hardware is secondary
The best Android features do not depend on the hardware at all. Adaptive Charging, Extreme Battery Saving, Call Screen, Car Crash Proof, Recorder, and all the camera features work across all Pixel phones released over the past few years. You will not need the latest model to take the best photos or enjoy the best features, you just need to upgrade to the latest version of Android.
Michael Simon / IDGAndroid is the real reason the Pixel is there.
You can see where this could go. Just like the Google Photos features that now come with Google One accounts, Google could offer a standalone Pixel launcher that will work with any Android phone, not just Pixels. Then subscribing could unlock features and apps that are not available to users who are not invested in the Pixel ecosystem. It would be similar to Android, but as a service that is independent of the phone you choose.
When you boil it down, that is no different from how things are now. Assuming you update your phone every two or three years and pay for online storage, you are already paying $ 10- $ 20 per month for your Android phone agad. In that context, the idea of offering a membership for Pixel Launcher that you can put on your Galaxy S21 is not so deceptive.
Pay to play
New Pixel phones are already coming with three months of Google One, so it’s no stretch for Google to turn the Pixel itself into a service. Google could charge $ 15 per month for the Pixel Launcher and 200GB of Google One storage, as well as a promise of three years of updates.
Michael Simon / IDGThe Pixel is already an Android membership service.
By turning the Pixel and its features into launchers, Google would basically eliminate version cracking. There would be no worries about when or if your phone would get Android 13 or 15 – the Pixel Launcher would bring all the features you need and leave security updates to the usual system updates. This is probably the last Android fork that doesn’t care what phone you’re using.
The new Google Photos features may be nothing more than the benefit of Google One to make up for the general lack of perks. But it could also be the start of a new strategy that will take the phone out of the Pixel and free up Google to do what it does best.
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