this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2025
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Google confirms it's 'combining' Chrome OS and Android into a single platform (www.androidauthority.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by askat@programming.dev to c/android@programming.dev
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  • A Google executive has reportedly confirmed that the company will combine Chrome OS and Android into a single platform.
  • This news comes after we reported in November that Chrome OS will be merged into Android.
  • This also follows Android 16’s release, which brings several desktop-themed features to the platform.
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[–] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 16 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Which I read as:

Google deals the final blow to custom ROMs.

[–] amino@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

they didn't announce they're stopping AOSP, only that Chrome OS is getting merged into it. unless you have conflicting sources?

[–] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Because Google is expert at making open source stuff become increasingly out of touch with their mainline, closed source releases, while remaining nominally open-source.

AOSP itself used to be 80% open-source Android, and 20% Google's proprietary shit on top of it made it Google's Android. Then slowly, over the years, Google quietly moved the open source stuff into their proprietary stack - or rather, they let the open source versions become stale and innovated only in their proprietary versions. As a result, AOSP is a shadow of its former self, and on the verge of becoming irrelevant in a world where apps all but require Google's stack to function.

They did that totally on purpose: the early days of open Android ensured its success, and now that the market is solidly entrenched, they're closing it and pushing the open players out.

The same will happen with this ChromiumOS-AOSP frankenmonster (I'm assuming they meant ChromiumOS will be merged into AOSP, not ChromeOS, obviously...): it'll be nominally open-source but practically unusable, or at least undesriable to use. And since both will be merged, Google will be able to deprecate both at the same time with no escape path for either of the former halves for the open-source players.

Google never does anything that doesn't serve their best interests. And at this point, usable, open AOSP or ChromiumOS ecosystems are not in their best interests.

[–] amino@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I'm not denying anything that you outlined and also share your concerns about Google exploiting the FOSS community.

GrapheneOS seems to be able to side-step Google's fuckery while also having an Android OS that keeps Android's most important functions usable.

I guess we'll see over time if the projects that don't have the funding that GOS has will be able to keep up with an increasingly hostile AOSP.