Google previously said it would not return mailed-in devices using “unauthorized” parts.
Keep in mind that policy changes can be reverted at any moment in time, so this is only good as long as people pay attention.
Google doesn’t care what end users scream about (such as YouTube ads) but I have a feeling some lawyers had an emergency meeting to explain why this was a crap idea.
I feel like this change is here to stay for a while.
There are evisting federal laws, right to repair laws, and plenty of attorny generals who will get involved.
So that in 15 or so years, a class action lawsuit completes where Google now provides you with a whole $10 coupon to the play store and a check for $0.65.
They only did this because mainstream news sources picked this up and shamed them
Vote with your wallet on avoiding pixel
It’s really sad since I want to avoid Google altogether, and the best way to do that is Graphene OS which requires a Pixel.
And, ironically, pixel phones have great replacement part availability. At least so far
They’re just kicking the can down the road until the heat dies down.
