So we finally had an Android manufacturer who understood that Android is best presented to the customers in its pure, unadulterated look, with just a few things that stock Android is missing added over the top for the best experience possible. But then, we also had a carrier who refused to see the light and insisted on still getting in a custom skin and some bloatware in with stock Android.
By reading the title you have already guessed that it is Motorola and Verizon we talk about. After being bought by Google, Motorola decided to forego their horrible MotoBlur UI and focus on putting in stock Android with a few improvements here and there on their devices, but according to Senior Vice President, Product Rick Osterloh, shipping devices with completely stock Android is held back by the carriers, saying “”Our partners sometimes want customizations. […] Our interest is to make it as close to Android as possible and generally we negotiate somewhere in the middle.”
Keep in mind that Motorola’s custom skin is still a lot more acceptable compared to other manufacturers’ skins (I’m looking at you Samsung and HTC), which will also help Motorola in providing faster and timely updates to their smartphones, but it is apparent that carriers will continue to cause problems and insist on some bloatware being added to devices.
Considering how Verizon can delay updates to even a Nexus device though, I’m not sure Motorola is going to be able to do much about providing faster updates to their Verizon branded devices. But it is good to see that Motorola is thinking in the best interest of customers, and maybe one day we will see carriers understand the “customers come first” philosophy as well.
