So Much for Digital Wellbeing, Eh?

In late 2017, Google updated its developer policy, disallowing lockscreen ads. To quote them, the updated policy said that apps “may not introduce ads or features that monetize the locked display of a device.” Well, those days are long behind us, with Google-backed Glance set to make its way to the US here in the upcoming months.

Glance, already installed on over 400 million Android devices in Asia, lives on your lockscreen, feeding you what appears to be social media-like content once you click on the “Glance Now” button. It’s all designed to make you want to click. For the US, it is reported Glance is readying a premium option, as we as American consumers are more likely to utilize in-app purchases.

Glance is said to be working with unnamed carriers to introduce the app onto several Android phones in our market. If we had to guess, it’s likely low to mid-range devices getting the Glance treatment and not the high-end devices, but we just don’t know for sure. Carriers are notoriously bold and can be overly aggressive when it comes to making money.

Glance currently partners with the largest Android OEMs in the world, including Samsung and OPPO, so do note that no Android brand is likely off limits. Even Google invested millions of dollars into this company back in 2019, pushing the service’s valuation to over $1 billion. Meh.

I believe that people are free to do whatever they like, but Glance is something I will never cease to tell people to disable or not use. When you lock your phone and place it down, it shouldn’t continue to push content down your throat. Coming from a company that preaches Digital Wellbeing, it’s really quite disgusting.

// TechCrunch