Geek.com reported yesterday that “Powered by Android”, the sentence we have seen on the boot screen of both the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the new HTC One (M8), is a mandated change by google coming to more Android devices.
The article is quite scarce on details and tangible sources, but it states that Google has started requiring manufacturers who want access to the Play Store to add the sentence in their boot animation. This is part of an effort to make the Android brand name well-known to the millions of users worldwide.
If this is true, I can hardly see the benefit it will bring to the Android brand. It might be positioned similarly to “Intel Inside” but that was a regular sticker that was left untouched on the hardware of most computers and notebooks sold, as opposed to an ephemeral message that shows for a few seconds when you boot up your phone. After all, Android is quite stable nowadays so how often will regular users restart their phones, and will they really look at it while it’s still booting?
And if it’s a matter of brand visibility, Google is the one who put itself in the corner here. All of their Android services are clearly labeled as either Google (Keyboard, Calendar, Google+,…) or Play (Store, Music, Games,…). There was a time when Android showed up at least once in a user-facing manner under the “Android Market” but the ship sailed on it once it was rebranded as Play. Now, the only occurrence of “Android” is under Settings / About Phone, an area that no regular user will venture into.
All I see this new mandate being (in case it turns out to be true) is Google putting its foot forward, to remind manufacturers that they aren’t running the show alone. Will Samsung change its habit of announcing devices without almost ever mentioning the word “Android”? I highly doubt that. Will the regular user on the street know that Android is actually the software and not some sort of physical thing inside his phone? Will he even be so enamored with his experience that he’ll know to seek other “Powered by Android” devices in the future, or will he simply go with whatever Samsung/LG/Sony/HTC phone the store clerk recommended that also has Gmail and Chrome? I know both are the same, but will he? Will he care, will it factor in his decision?
I remember an anecdote @ClintonJeff once told of his dad being annoyed by that “Android” thing eating up all the battery of his phone and asking what it was. That’s the kind of uphill battle Google is facing if it wants to make Android a recognized brand. And a small sentence on the boot screen of the phones is hardly going to change anything.
