While it’s true, the Android lock screen can be a bit of a thrill since Apple revealed It’s not what we think it does for iOS. according to TechCrunchmobile advertising company Glance plans to launch its screen lock platform on Android devices in the US within the next two months.
Glance is reportedly in talks with US wireless carriers and plans to launch it on several smartphones next month. TechCrunch’s source is a person “familiar with the matter” who requested anonymity because “discussions are ongoing and confidential.”
Glance did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment, and we’ll update this post when we hear back.
Glance is a subsidiary of InMobi, an India-based mobile marketing platform. It was named the first in India unicorn startup for fundraising success. He was even able to secure Google as an investor a few years ago.
Glance comes pre-installed on Android devices overseas, including Samsung’s line of budget smartphones. It’s not an Android app in the traditional sense, meaning you can go to the Google Play store and download it. Instead, it sits on top of the Android OS as a kind of overlay. Glance is also a key part of Pragati OS, a custom version of Android made for smartphones priced to match between Google and Jio. Jio Phone Next.
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Glance exists primarily as a dynamic lock screen. Once you turn on the phone screen, you’ll see updated content, like a different wallpaper, news headlines, and video. But it also displays advertisements, and although they’re not blaring on the screen like the pop-up ads of the internet yesterday, they are annoying enough that you can quickly surface message board topics of users trying to disable the ability. While browsing this story I even came across this Realme India support account Twitter apologizes for not having the ability to completely disable Glance.
While you can unlock the phone to bypass content, View is programmed to let you keep scrolling to interact with different panels that feature content you might actually want, like news and original video. In addition to its captive audience approach, the company believes it has potential with its “get you to stay a while” model. Glance earlier this year has been activated The Android TV experience for Indian customers promises users the ability to “connect directly with their favorite stars on their TV home screens in real-time”.
Despite its perceived success in other parts of the world, Glance’s focus on the United States is troubling. Low-end and mid-range device users already get the short end of the stick when buying a smartphone through a carrier. The phone models offered tend to be underperforming and delayed in major software updates. Imagine seeing all of this on top of bloatware ads and unwanted content that you can’t untangle or turn off.
Nothing was officially announced by Glance, but the presence of advertising on Android smartphones has become a real concern in the last few years. To provide an anecdote, I’ve been using the OnePlus 9 since last summer and the official company app is constantly pushing through promotions and such in the notification shade. The same thing happened to some Samsung devices, which showed the ad appearing in all of the company’s stock apps, including Samsung Health and the Galaxy Store. Fortunately, Android 13 has a fix that blocks all unwanted pings in the notification shade that pops up the minute you install an app, but it doesn’t solve the underlying problem.
If more companies find that users are willing to tolerate such intrusive ads, it could damage the Android platform’s already tarnished reputation. This could be good news for Apple, which has managed to maintain parity between the “cheap” iPhone models and its latest models on iOS while gaining market share. Google is primarily in the advertising business, and the Android platform is at least partly about data collection that enables ad targeting. Getting users to invest in an Apple phone that isn’t loaded with bloatware one who really does not need it can be his own.
