Android smartphones may soon have the Glance app installed by default in the US. This software overlay offers dynamic lock screens with sometimes advertising. This should only concern smartphones purchased from carriers.
Would you agree to have advertising on the lock screen of your Android smartphone? In any case, this is what many Americans could suffer in the coming months, according to TechCrunch. The website claims that operators will install the Glance application by default on smartphones.
According to the site, the Indian start-up Glance is in talks with various local operators to install its application “out of the box” on several Android smartphones sold in stores. The deal could take effect within two months. Bad news for buyers.
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Glance is not an application strictly speaking, users cannot uninstall it since it is present in the form of an overlay. It mainly offers a dynamic lock screen. Your smartphone can thus display information such as the latest news, photos, online wallpapers, videos… but also advertising. For the moment, we have no more information on the deal itself, Glance having made no comment. However, one can imagine that the service is available on entry-level and mid-range Android smartphones for financing reasons. We will have to wait for confirmation to be sure.
In any case, Glance has already proven its success abroad, especially in Asia. The application is available by default with operators in many countries. A way to lower the cost of the product. As a reminder, Glance is a subsidiary of InMobi Group and was valued at $2 billion.
Bad news for future American buyers, who will have to use this application even if they don’t like it and above all suffer from advertisements. If they are prepared to tolerate them, it could set precedents that would whet the appetite of many start-ups. For the moment, this deal does not concern Europe. Hope it lasts.
