Do you know why Kindle Fire devices have ads on their lock screens? Do you know how much I hate this? I know you probably do too. Your Android phone’s lock screen is a personal, sacred place, and it seems Google has plans to invade it. At least not directly. In fact, Google is one of the investors (via TechCrunch) in the makers of Glance, which is itself a subsidiary of InMobi Group.
The lock screen platform is now valued at around $2 billion and is trying to break out of the Asian market, where it’s already on around 400 million phones, and into the next two months with global expansion over the next few years to come to the United States.
There’s no telling if Pixel phones, or even your next Android phone, will include mandatory lock screen ads, but since Google supports something like this, it’s understandably making everyone pretty nervous. Especially since a Glance spokesman explained that they are building a “premium offer” for the USA. Does that mean their services will be tied to carriers? I think we’ll just have to wait and see.
It is also possible that Google itself has endorsed this company’s product, as it is about to release a smartphone with a custom operating system in collaboration with Jio in India. While there’s no reason to jump to conclusions about their intentions in the western market, I don’t see many Kindle owners complaining, so I just don’t want this to become an accepted standard part of the Pixel and Android experience becomes. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and whether you agree with it or not.