It is free and open supply software program; its source code is called Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which is primarily licensed under the Apache License. About 70 percent of Android smartphones run Google’s ecosystem; competing Android ecosystems and forks embrace Fire OS (developed by Amazon) or LineageOS. However the “Android” name and brand are trademarks of Google which impose requirements to limit “uncertified” gadgets exterior their ecosystem to use Android branding. The emergence of Android created a new rivalry between smartphone producers, with Apple (AAPL) serving as Google’s chief competitor. To some, this aggressive dynamic mirrors that of the “cola wars” between Coca-Cola (KO) and Pepsi (PEP) over the past 30 years, where no clear winner or loser has emerged.
Users of custom ROMs can register their device ID to their Google account to remove this block. Critics similar to Apple Insider have asserted that fragmentation by way of …