‘Powered by Android’ on Bootup Now Required by Google

We all know the Android OS pretty well by now. We are all also very familiar with the various skins that OEM’s place over it like Sense and TouchWiz. Google is apparently making a slight change to what OEM’s must do in order to use the Android OS in their devices. A new ground rule will require any device that is certified for Google, which means they have Play Store access and Google apps pre-installed at start-up, to display ‘Powered by Android’ on the boot-up screen. As depicted in the first boot up of the new Samsung Galaxy S5.

The new implementation won’t just be required for new devices going forward though. Previous devices that receive updates will also be getting a ‘Powered by Android’ logo added too. The logo has a detailed size, spacing and placement rule set making it easy to implement and hard to deviate from. The logo must be a minimum of 20dp and with a 10db clear space boarder where nothing else can be placed. It can be larger, but not smaller. At least that is what I am understanding from the documentation provided by Android Police. While Google has yet to confirm this, a source for AP has confirmed it and with it appear on the boot up screens for the Galaxy S5 and for the HTC One M8, we are likely to agree that it is something that we will see on all new devices.

Does this mean much to you guys? Probably not. In my eyes I see it as a good way for Google to keep Android in front of the consumers. While many people don’t turn their devices off and on often, nor do many people not know they bought and Android device, it certainly won’t hurt with keeping the branding easily in view. With so many new devices and new customers making the switches to an Android device, there is still quite a lot of confusion out there. To this day I still hear people refer to their device as “the new droid” when asked what device they have. Certainly that was due to the heavy influence and marketing of Motorola and Verizon for the Droid line of devices.

Source: Android Police & Geek.com