Google tells Samsung to scale back customisation and homegrown apps in future devices

Setting most of their differences aside, Google and Samsung have reportedly met up to discuss Android’s future, with emphasis on how the OS will look on Samsung phones. On the agenda for the companies is bringing Samsung’s view of Android in line with how Google envisioned it.   Re/Code reveals that the companies have been meeting up several times in the past few weeks, with some meetings even worked around the CES held earlier this month. High on the agenda was how Samsung is customising Android with Samsung’s Magazine UX for the Galaxy Tab series. The Magazine UX looks like a cross between Flipboard app and Microsoft’s Modern UI for Windows and Windows Phone, but with added Android elements like app shortcuts and dynamic dashboards. The reimagined Android user interface alarmed Google executives enough to sit down with Samsung.   The meeting also probably came thanks to Samsung actively trying to test Android boundaries. When Samsung released its Galaxy S4 flagship last year, it managed to load the phone with an app store of its own called Samsung Hub and that’s not to mention the loads of gimmicky features, some of which have been said to take a toll on the user experience and the battery life. Google reportedly told Samsung to stick to the pure Android experience as much as possible without drastic departures. Samsung’s own media services were also discussed including the likes of WatchON, a handy remote control for TVs, and the pretty popular messaging app ChatON.   Essentially, with Samsung’s alternatives to Google’s core apps, a user has to choose between Google’s apps or Samsung’s, something the Internet giant is against. The two companies have already shared strained relationships over the past couple of years now, **as we have spoken about before** .  **Reports early last year** suggested Google had been keeping a nervous eye on Samsung’s growth. The possibility that brand Samsung would end up becoming larger than brand Google or Android, didn’t sit too well with Google higher-ups. Google has enough reason to worry. In the third quarter of 2013, Samsung controlled 32 percent of the global smartphone market, and that’s not just Android smartphones.   For Google, the scary part is that even while Samsung is trying to pull away from the stock look and apps, two-bit Chinese manufacturers don’t even bundle Google’s Play services suite in their Android phones (that means none of the preloaded apps such as Gmail, Maps or the Play Store), relying on thrid-party app stores. This obviously impacts Google’s bottomline and it doesn’t want the biggest Android manufacturer to follow suit. However, Re/Code says that the Samsung-Google relationship has been through “a huge change, a sea change” in the past few weeks. The two even announced a broad patent cross-licensing deal, a clear indication of an improvement in the relationship.   What all this means is that we may well see Magazine UX meet a swift end, as a sacrifice for the revitalised friendship. We may also end up seeing Samsung curbing its design instincts to see a more stock-like UI on the next Galaxy flagship. To The Verge, Samsung said that it would “continue to identify and provide differentiated and innovative service and content offerings on our mobile devices.” That does not mean that Google has not impressed upon the company its vision for Android.