Android 11 Won’t Allow Third Party Camera Apps as Default; Is Google Limiting Indie Devs?

Google’s approach is similar to what Apple does on iOS right now. While it has opened up iOS in recent times to allow third party email and browser apps to become the default service, it still uses its own camera app as the default camera service. If users wish for an alternative, they can still launch a third party camera app from the home screen and use it for their photo and video needs. Given how we intentionally open our camera apps to shoot, Google’s decision to not allow third party camera apps from becoming default may not particularly impact how these apps are used, since they are not being restricted on the user end.

However, according to a report by The Verge, camera app developers have not taken too kindly to it, and believe that the move “does not make sense”. A bigger point of concern here, however, would be Google’s anti-competitive issues – the tech giant is already accused of plenty of biases for forcing users to rely on the Play Store for apps (hence creating a biased playing field for small time app developers in terms of revenue sharing), as well as promoting their own services by leveraging their power. By further restricting the ability for users to set a default camera app of their preference, smaller developers may raise a point that Google is yet again promoting their app over others by using their dominant position over smaller vendors.

Nevertheless, while the anti-competitive angle is for a completely different debate, starting with Android 11, you will seemingly see more of your phone’s default camera app, even if that’s against your wish. That said, if it does help restrict services that indirectly get access to your location data, it might just be a sacrifice worth making.