While the Android vs iOS battle has been in the tech spotlight for ages, there is a different battle that has been going on within the Android circle for years now — the clash of the Android Titans: Stock vs. Skinned. There is a deep conflict within the Android community which often leaves the Android world divided, making users pick between skin or stock side.
Plain vs flavoured, stock-y vs skin-ny: The great Android battle
Quite a long time ago, stock Android was seen as the Holy Grail of Android. It was the ultimate Android and putting a layer on it was often considered to be tantamount to tainting the sanctity and purity of ‘pure’ Android.
Stock Android definitely had a pedestal where it rested and looked down upon other Android skins dismissively. However, after a brief phase of popularity (mainly during the return of Motorola with mainstream Moto G and Moto E-series devices), stock Android found itself in the back seat while different feature-rich UIs took over the steering of the Android automobile. These fully loaded UIs have pretty much ruled the Android world for years now. All while stock Android or pure Android has been sitting on the sidelines.
There is a reason why Android skins are so popular. These branded UIs come loaded with features and options that are often missing on a stock Android device. These features allow you to do more with your phone without having to get additional apps for it.
On a plain Android device, you might have to download a third-party application to use a feature that may come pre-installed in a device with a company’s UI layer on top. For instance, a phone with an Android skin might have a more detailed camera interface or more image and video editing options, which one might have to add separately to a stock Android device. These extra apps and features in the UI do lead to accusations of “bloatware” from the stock Android loyalists, but they have their place in the Android ecosystem.
Not everyone loves downloading apps or customising their device endlessly. Many just want a phone which comes with everything on it right out of the box.
The stock Android edge
While there was always a set of hardcore stock Android fanboys that believed in pure Android supremacy, this chunk was never considered to be numerically relevant as the loaded Android skin users outnumbered stock Android fans quite heavily.
Even then, this never seemed to shake their faith in stock Android, and for good reason. It might appear dull and featureless in comparison to many UIs, but stock Android has a number of merits up its sleeve, not least of which is the fact that it is an unadulterated version of Android, and comes directly from Google, the parent of Android.
Skinned Android versions are often looked down upon because of all the bloatware they bring along. Many UIs from smartphone brands come preinstalled with third-party apps which can often be more counterproductive than anything.
While some of these apps may be useful, many are actually just there to add to the numbers, while placing more burden on the device. Which is one reason why many consider stock Android better. It comes with no third-party apps, making it the users’ call as to which app to install and which to avoid. The absence of third-party apps leads to stock Android phones’ delivering smoother, faster performance, even while other phones often tend to get sluggish.
In layperson terms, you can think of stock Android as an empty cart being pulled by a person whereas Android with the company’s OS can be considered as a cart loaded full of different items. Now it is pretty easy to guess which of these carts will be easier to pull.
The same is the case with stock Android. With no bloatware to deal with, a phone running stock Android will almost always perform more smoothly as compared to a phone with the same specs but with added apps and bloatware.
Stock Android’s stock is rising once again?
While all these reasons to love plain Android have existed for a while, it seems as if the smartphone industry had forgotten about the plain Android perks…until now.
All of a sudden stock Android phones are making a buzz in the tech world again. After years of feature loaded UIs, we are now hearing more and more of plain, uncomplicated UIs that are as close to stock Android as possible. In fact, three of the most talked about phones launched in July came with interfaces that would delight the stock Android faithful — the Nothing Phone 1, the OnePlus Nord 2T, and the Pixel 6a.
While OnePlus is a brand that always believed in minimalistic Android appeal and had showcased the same with its OxygenOS, the launch of the Nothing Phone 1 and the Google Pixel 6a in the market and the attention each has gotten, seems to show that the soft spot for stock Android that had vanished is resurfacing.
The Nothing Phone 1 runs on Android 12 out of the box and comes with a skin on top, the Nothing OS. But Nothing co-founder Carl Pei has time and again mentioned how he believes that plain Android is pretty perfect as it is and how he does not want to toy around with it too much. Hence, Nothing OS is as close to stock Android as possible, and comes with no bloatware whatsoever.
OnePlus has been speaking this OS language for a long time now. Its OxygenOS is very much like stock Android with a handful of additional features and very few third party apps, making sure that the experience remains as clutter-free as possible. In the past, OnePlus devices (like stock Android) used to be few in number but this year has seen the brand bring its minimalistic OS approach to a wide range of phones across different segments. This has made stock Android-like interfaces much more mainstream and not just the preserve of a tiny geek squad.
For the first time since 2020, the Indian market has also seen an Android phone from Google — the Pixel 6a. While a lot of attention is being paid to its cameras, one of the biggest attractions of the phone is also its pure Android interface. Suddenly the most hyped phones of recent times are actually preaching to the stock Android choir.
Stock Android is now getting more attention than it has seen in a long time.
Does this mean that the days of stock Android are back? Well, we cannot say for sure as it is too early in the day to make such a broad prediction, but one thing that we are quite certain about is that minimalistic Android approach is definitely gaining momentum once again, perhaps for the first time since the Moto G surge of 2014. Whether it will graduate to becoming a major market trend or will again splutter out in the front of an Android skin-ny onslaught, only time will tell.