Have you enjoyed OEM skins? Well you won't see them on Wear, TV, Auto

image from +Gizmodo
http://gizmodo.com/5921220/every-major-android-skin-compared
It's probably one of the things we as Android users like to display the most, it's customizability... but that open-ness has led to something we 'enthusiasts' have not been a big a fan of... the OEM skins.


If you're a single brand user, it's not too bad... but if you jump around between skins, it can be a bit disconcerting have to find ways to navigate through a new set up.  Not terrible... but irksome..  Many claim that the OEM skins can slow a device down... so not having a skin they say will make it faster.

Well, in the recent announcement of new Android products a skin won't be anything we have to worry about.

In an interview that +Ars Technica had with David Burke (Google Engineering Director) he mentions that on these new lines OEMs will not be allowed to put a custom skin on them.

For Auto, that makes sense.  You want them to have a consistent interaction as they are going to be operating a vehicle and can't be looking for anything while driving.  Wear is going to have a very minimal display, so making any changes could potentially overly complicate.

The other side of this coin is that with the discussion with 'material design' and 'consistent display' that Android is trying to take more control over the Android devices.  We'll have to see.

What do you think about this decision?

Source:  http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/06/android-wear-auto-and-tv-save-you-from-skins-and-oems-from-themselves/



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