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Google Mobile Services (GMS) is a collection ofproprietary applications andapplication programming interfaces (APIs) services fromGoogle that are typically pre-installed on the majority of Android devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. GMS is not a part of theAndroid Open Source Project (AOSP), which means an Android manufacturer needs to obtain a license from Google in order to legally pre-install GMS on an Android device. This license is provided by Google without any licensing fees except in the EU.[1][2][3][4]
The following are core applications that are part of Google Mobile Services:[5]
Numerous European firms filed a complaint to theEuropean Commission stating that Google had manipulated their power and dominance within the market to push their Services to be used by phone manufacturers.[6] The firms were joined under the nameFairSearch, and the main firms included wereMicrosoft,Expedia,TripAdvisor,Nokia andOracle.[6] FairSearch's major problem with Google's practices was that they believed Google were forcing phone manufacturers to use their Mobile Services. They claimed Google managed this by asking these manufacturers to sign a contract stating that they must preinstall specific Google Mobile Services, such as Maps, Search and YouTube, in order to get the latest version of Android.[7] Google swiftly responded stating that they "continue to work co-operatively with the European Commission".[8]
Thethird-party Android app storeAptoide also filed an EU competition complaint against Google once again stating that they are misusing their power within the market.[9] Aptoide alleged that Google was blocking third-party app stores from being on Google Play, as well as blocking Google Chrome from downloading any third-party apps and app stores. As of June 2014, Google had not responded to these allegations.[9]
In May 2019,Umar Javeed, Sukarma Thapar, Aaqib Javeed vs. Google LLC & Ors. theCompetition Commission of India ordered an antitrust probe against Google for abusing its dominant position with Android to block market rivals. In Prima Facie opinion the commission held that mandatory pre-installation of the entire Google Mobile Services (GMS) suite, under Mobile Application Distribution Agreements (MADA), amounts to the imposition of unfair conditions on the device manufacturers.[10]
On July 18, 2018, the European Commission fined Google €4.34 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules which resulted in a change of licensing policy for the GMS in the EU. A new paid licensing agreement for smartphones and tablets shipped into the EEA was created.[11] The change is that the GMS is now decoupled from the base Android and will be offered under a separate paid licensing agreement.[4]
At the same time, Google faced problems with various Europeandata protection agencies, most notably In theUnited Kingdom andFrance. The problem they faced was that they had a set of 60 rules merged into one, which allowed Google to "track users more closely".[8] Google once again came out and stated that their new policies still abide byEuropean Union laws.[8]
After surveillance and privacy concerns, several custom android distributions have been implemented, such asGrapheneOS,LineageOS,CalyxOS,iodéOS or/e/OS, and they come either without any GMS installed by default or withmicroG, that adds a compatibility layer.[12]
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