If you’ve ever heard the term Stock Android & been ashamed to admit that you had no idea what it was about, then this guide is for you.
Stock Android is the unadulterated, original version of Android shipped by Google — also widely known as ‘‘Vanilla” Android.
Exactly what is it?
Many phone manufactures use Android on their devices, but they usually add their own ‘brand’ to the item by shipping Android as a specifically designed ‘skin’, which bares their hallmarks. A manufactures’ ‘release’ might include a set of apps, which they believe add value to their devices, and offer an improved experience to their users.
Why you should care
Generally, the apps included in a manufactures’ release of Android, are only ‘Home Screen’ located copies of apps any user could download from the Play Store if they chose to. Manufactures such as Samsung & others believe that by highlighting certain apps they make their devices’ distinctive & more competitive. That’s all good for them, but for the user it means duplication. Duplicated apps such as mail & note taking systems, which they all seem to include, take up space on a users’ phone, which means that there’s less option to allocate space for apps a consumer might actually prefer. What’s worse – these Home Screen apps can never be deleted.
An Android device using the Stock version does not include any additional duplicates.
Secondly, if your phone is running Stock Android, you are automatically queued for the latest security & speed updates released by Google. Often, a manufactures’ version of Android must be manually updated & rolled out to users after thorough testing, which means that users reliant on ‘skinned’ versions, seldom accrue the benefits that Stock Android users obtain by default.
Ultimately, this means that you don’t have to buy a new device just to upgrade your operating system, which is not what many manufactures out there are offering right now.
How do you get it?
As with most things Android, there’s an app to solve this problem. Users can choose to download an app that reproduces a Stock Android experience on their phones. Also, certain phones such as Google’s Pixel(Lenovo & some Motorolas), use Stock Android without adjustments, so you could buy one of those. Users may also choose to root their device, a process similar to jailbreaking a phone, which gives total control over the operating system, so that all manufactures’ additions can be eliminated & the device can be returned to its original Stock Android format.
