Google starts locking down OEMs in Android Marshmallow with Doze Mode

It’s been said for a while that Google has been planning to summon power over Android the way that Apple has over iOS, and Android Marshmallow looks to be the beginning of Google’s new “reign” and the end of a large size of power for Android manufacturers. In Google’s own words about Doze Mode, the search engine giant’s new battery-saving mode that’s said to be better than the battery improvements prior to it, Android OEMs cannot modify Doze in any way:

All apps exempted from App Standby and/or Doze mode MUST be made visible to the end user. Further, the triggering, maintenance, wakeup algorithms and the use of Global system settings of these power-saving modes MUST not deviate from the Android Open Source Project.

In other words, Doze Mode is a must for the Android Marshmallow experience, and OEMs will not be allowed to modify it to their own ends. In the Galaxy S5 and Android 5.0 Lollipop experience, for example, Samsung chose to deny the battery-saver mode to its customer base – instead sticking with its own Power Saving and Ultra Power Saving Mode for battery assistance. The code was modified to such an extent that no Samsung Galaxy S5 or Samsung Android Lollipop user could even find the battery-saver mode on his or her smartphone. Apparently, Google’s decision to mandate that Doze remain unchanged was designed with Samsung in mind.

Doze is said to provide twice the battery life as compared to the old battery-saver mode when the device is at rest and not being used, but is it better than the battery-saving capabilities of Samsung devices? The verdict is still out on that one. Nevertheless, Google is now flexing its muscles as the owner of Android, which may be a large reason behind Samsung’s decision to grow Tizen.

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