--- title: A big win for Android interoperability | daily.dev description: The European Commission, under the Digital Markets Act, has ruled that Alphabet must open 11 Android features to third-party developers on equal terms with... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/a-big-win-for-android-interoperability-cuh4d5iee twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: A big win for Android interoperability | daily.dev og:description: The European Commission, under the Digital Markets Act, has ruled that Alphabet must open 11 Android features to third-party developers on equal terms with... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/a-big-win-for-android-interoperability-cuh4d5iee og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/CuH4d5IEE.png og:image:alt: A big win for Android interoperability og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # A big win for Android interoperability **[Hacker News](https://daily.dev/sources/hn)** · 11 min read · 5 upvotes · 2 comments ## Summary The European Commission, under the Digital Markets Act, has ruled that Alphabet must open 11 Android features to third-party developers on equal terms with Google's own services. Key among these is always-on wake word detection via the DSP chip — a feature Google had restricted to its own Gemini assistant. The Open Home Foundation, which develops the Home Assistant Android app, contributed to the EC consultation that led to this decision. The ruling requires Google to implement these changes in Android 18 (by August 2027), including battery-efficient DSP-based wake word detection, concurrent multi-assistant wake word support (Android 19, 2028), sandboxed audio processing for privacy, and structured access to Google apps like Gmail and Calendar. The decision also decouples third-party assistant access from the default assistant role, meaning users won't have to give up Gemini to use alternatives like Home Assistant's 'Okay Nabu' wake word. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community take How the wider developer community reacted, aggregated from 2 discussions and 72 comments across hackernews (as of 2026-08-03). **TL;DR:** The HN community broadly welcomes the EU DMA ruling forcing Google to open 11 Android features to third-party AI services, but many commenters argue it doesn't go far enough — particularly around remote attestation, mobile wallet access, and competition between mobile OSes rather than just within Android. **Sentiment:** 35% positive · 40% mixed · 25% skeptical **The case for** - The ruling opens up key Android APIs (App Functions, Computer Control, on-device models) to third-party AI services on equal terms with Google's own. - Commenters see this as strengthening Android overall and potentially boosting competition in the AI assistant space. - Some view the EU as the most effective counterbalance to entrenched tech power, with real enforcement teeth. **The pushback** - Remote attestation remains unaddressed, which commenters identify as the deeper anti-competitive mechanism blocking alternative OSes like GrapheneOS from banking apps and tap-to-pay. - The ruling is limited to GMS APIs, not AOSP, so third parties still must register with Google to benefit. - Critics note the EU is simultaneously entrenching the Android/iOS duopoly by baking remote attestation into the EUDI wallet reference implementation. - No open solution for mobile wallets exists, and this ruling does nothing to change that. - Locked bootloaders and DMCA-style anti-circumvention rules still prevent small businesses from selling phones with alternative OSes. **By community** - hackernews (mixed): Commenters appreciate the DMA ruling as a meaningful step but are largely frustrated that deeper issues — remote attestation, mobile wallets, OS-level competition — remain untouched. **Hottest debate:** Whether physical cards or digital wallets (Google/Apple Pay) are superior in practice, spanning security, privacy, convenience, and ecosystem lock-in. **Open questions** - Will the EU ever address remote attestation and Play Integrity as anti-competitive mechanisms? - Can GrapheneOS or alternative OSes ever gain enough users to force banks and payment networks to accept their chain of trust? - Does this ruling apply symmetrically to Apple/iOS, and if so, when will enforcement happen? - Will Motorola's partnership with GrapheneOS meaningfully shift the landscape for alternative Android ROMs? **Highlights** > Indeed. This ruling seems to be targeted at AI specifically. It is a great ruling, because it allows proper competition of other assistants with Google's (and Bixby). However, IMO the bigger evil is all the anti-competitive stuff that make it impossible for competitors to Android/iOS to enter the market, including European products like SailfishOS, such as remote attestation and the things that flow from it (e.g. no tap-to-pay support with most banks). The EC seems very pre-occupied with competition inside Android/iOS, while completely forgetting about competition between mobile OSes. It is also pretty jarring to see the EU talk a lot about sovereignty, but then further entrenching the Android/iOS duopoly by baking remote attestation into the EUDI reference wallet (and copied into the national wallets), effectively shutting out alternative systems yet again. Yes, I know that the EU consists of a lot of bodies and sometimes the right hand doesn't know what the left hand does. But man, sometimes I wish there was a stronger single, long-term vision. Somehow they seem to have forgotten about January this year (Greenland threats) and that as long as we fully depend on Android/iOS, etc. the US could shut down pretty much all modern communication infra. But instead of solving these vulnerabilities now and pouring money into alternatives, we (as the EU) drag ourselves down into battles of just how much we can do on the terrain of some feudal overlords. It seems like there is a short window where we still have AOSP systems that could be workable for the large population (outside remote attestation, pretty much all apps run on GrapheneOS, microG, etc.) and Google's strong arming through developer verification and remote attestation could still be put back in the box. But the EC does nada, nothing (presumably). > — [microtonal on hackernews · 2 comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49142880) > I don't think the upcoming Motorola phones will change this by themselves. As far as I understand, Motorola will not directly sell GrapheneOS phones. They will make phones that fulfill the hardware requirements and work with the GrapheneOS team to make the firmware available, etc. It will still be up to the user to install GrapheneOS. That has benefits - you do not have to trust Motorola not to ship stuff that you wouldn't want in the image. They are pristine images that the GrapheneOS project provides. But it also probably doesn't get Motorola in hot water with Google, since they partially do the same as Google does (provide phones with unlocked bootloaders) and what Google used to do (open drivers, device trees, etc.). Plus there are other OEMs that have similar partnerships with other projects (e.g. Fairphone). into accepting their chain of trust It's GrapheneOS who will sign the images, not Motorola. Speaking of Europe, Motorola is probably not big enough here to strong-arm parties. Besides that, I don't think they will do that, since they have to stay in good graces with Google for distributing GMS Android. I think for Motorola, there are three wins: 1. GrapheneOS has hundreds of thousands of users now, for a smaller OEM capturing some of that market is a significant addition; 2. they want to have a security-focused offering; GrapheneOS can provide that; and 3. they probably want to strengthen their position towards Google. Samsung has their own app store, device finding ecosystem, etc., this tells Google - if you take too much power, we can go our own way. If the Motorola-GrapheneOS experiment is successful, this could provide a similar contingency plan that might hold Google from trying to reign in OEMs too much. This is a real risk for Google - Pixel is so small in terms of marketshare that if, say Samsung, would go on its own, Google Android is pretty much dead. At any rate, I think Motorola-GrapheneOS can have more of an indirect effect. I think Play Integrity remote attestation will fall if GrapheneOS can quickly get so many users that they become a force to reckon with. In the past, it helped when GrapheneOS users e-mailed an app developer that switched to strong Play Integrity. This will be much more powerful if the GrapheneOS user base grows 10x and more growth is probably possible if there are non-Google devices (especially because part of the potential user base does not want to give a cent to Google). Getting the EU to ban Play Integrity as-is probably has a much larger chance of succeeding though. This is why I always recommend people to file a DMA complaint/contact the DMA team when some app gets blocked on alternative ROMs due to Play Integrity. The DMA team needs to see/feel that this affects a lot of real people. > — [microtonal on hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49143555) > Very nice, here are the 11 Android features that must be made accessible to third party's: https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/developer-portal/in... My favorites: > 6. Structured on-device integration > AI services will be able to easily interact with other apps installed on the device and perform tasks on behalf of the user within those apps, for tasks that the apps and the user have chosen to make available to AI services. These tasks include “send a message”, “create a note”, “schedule a meeting”. This includes access to certain Google apps (i.e.Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Maps, YouTube, Messages and Phone) that Alphabet will make available through operating system-level integration channels. > [...] > For instance, Android implements structured on-device integration through App Functions, which developers can enable for their apps, and which can be accessed by AI services without being reserved anymore for Google services, such as Google Assistant or Gemini. > 7. Screen automation > AI services will be able to automate multi-step tasks within apps, on behalf of the user upon their consent. They will do so by imitating user behaviour in a separate virtual window, which makes it possible for the assistant to complete the task in the background, while the user can do something else. [...] > Android implements screen automation via Computer Control, which can automatically access apps, and which is currently reserved for Google’s services, such as Gemini. > 9. System-level on-device models > AI services will be able to call on existing on-device models (“ODMs”), including the Gemini Nano ODMs, that are part of the DMA designated operating system, already preinstalled on Android devices and already made accessible to third parties. As a result of the measures, third-party AI services will have guarantees of equal access (for example, in terms of performance) to ODMs, as Google’s services. [...] > 10. On-device model implementation > Third parties will be able to install, run and use on-device models (ODMs) under the same hardware‑resource and background‑execution conditions that Google’s own models enjoy, and will allow their ODMs to be shared centrally with other apps. [...] > — [nolist\_policy on hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49142482) > I'm starting to come the the same conclusion, but not for practical reasons. My thinking is about privacy. If I buy some chocolates from retailer X (with or without their loyalty system), these parties will know what I purchased and where: The retailer, the bank, the merchant (visa/mc), wallet provider (Google/Apple/Samsung). Any upstream 3rd parties for analytics, big data warehouses, ai companies (fraud detection, spending predictions), marketing companies, research companies, manufacturers. Then there are bluetooth beacons, microphones, cameras, facial recognition, keyboard/screen capture (Gboard, Samsung Keyboard, Whatsapp texts). Then there is sms and popup notification on device that gets ingested by x amount of systems too. So the whole pipe just exists to gather as much as possible data to sell me more stuff. Having a card will take some of them out of the loop or less rich metadata than using a digital wallet. > — [BatteryMountain on hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49143403) > This is all smoke and mirrors. The core issue is not "Google not allowing a feature", it's that small businesses cannot buy phones, install a patched version of Android without a restriction and sell them to make money. Until this problem is solved, everything else is palliative. > — [aboardRat4 on hackernews · 4 comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49142621) **Source threads** - [hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49131812) · 3 points · 0 comments - [hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49124051) · 57 points · 72 comments ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@petermrozek** · 2 upvotes > A win's a win - I'll take it. Still, the devices will never be truly customizable as long as Play Services remain solely in Google's hands. Until there's an open spec for that, that'll allow custom implementations for other Android-based OSes, Google will be Android's gatekeeper. **@deepjoshi\_dev** · 0 upvotes > That's what I wanted for so long. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Europe Wants Android to Be More Than Just Gemini’s Home](https://daily.dev/posts/europe-wants-android-to-be-more-than-just-gemini-s-home-6lsq0gxxl) · Medium · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [EU prepares to force Google to open Android to ChatGPT and Claude under Digital Markets Act](https://daily.dev/posts/eu-prepares-to-force-google-to-open-android-to-chatgpt-and-claude-under-digital-markets-act-sbibhrigl) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [EU forces Google to share its toys with the other AI and search kids](https://daily.dev/posts/eu-forces-google-to-share-its-toys-with-the-other-ai-and-search-kids-xhdlkxy9y) · The Register · 1 upvotes · 1 comments - [EU forces Google to open Android under Digital Markets Act](https://daily.dev/posts/eu-forces-google-to-open-android-under-digital-markets-act-hc7ohjq4j) · The Next Web · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [Empowering Service Providers and Hardware Partners with Gemini for Home](https://daily.dev/posts/empowering-service-providers-and-hardware-partners-with-gemini-for-home-gk2oftzhm) · Google Developers · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#android](https://daily.dev/tags/android) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/a-big-win-for-android-interoperability-cuh4d5iee) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"A big win for Android interoperability","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/a-big-win-for-android-interoperability-cuh4d5iee","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/a-big-win-for-android-interoperability-cuh4d5iee"},"datePublished":"2026-08-02T09:06:45.899Z","dateModified":"2026-08-03T11:21:53.520Z","description":"The European Commission, under the Digital Markets Act, has ruled that Alphabet must open 11 Android features to third-party developers on equal terms with...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/990e736a193745168713804a26c30c65?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/990e736a193745168713804a26c30c65?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Hacker News","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Hacker News","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/hn","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/hn"},"commentCount":2,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/a-big-win-for-android-interoperability-cuh4d5iee","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":5},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}],"keywords":"android","timeRequired":"PT11M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hacker News","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hn"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"A big win for Android interoperability"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/a-big-win-for-android-interoperability-cuh4d5iee","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"A win’s a win - I’ll take it. Still, the devices will never be truly customizable as long as Play Services remain solely in Google’s hands. Until there’s an open spec for that, that’ll allow custom implementations for other Android-based OSes, Google will be Android’s gatekeeper.","datePublished":"2026-08-02T09:29:06.691Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/CuH4d5IEE#c-NejBGmgDs","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Peter Mrożek","url":"https://daily.dev/petermrozek","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--pBfYX68K--/f_auto/v1769247960/avatars/avatar_Qz65P1nVw3Bu6C5YwaZgA?_a=BAMAMiiu0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"That’s what I wanted for so long.","datePublished":"2026-08-03T14:36:48.980Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/CuH4d5IEE#c-3FwKhElH3","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Deep Joshi","url":"https://daily.dev/deepjoshi_dev","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--TdY8j8Aa--/f_auto/v1776506972/avatars/avatar_aSUkzUQS97QJpQRxKMe49?_a=BAMAMiWQ0"}}]} ```