"Waiter, there's a Chrome in my soup!"
You purchased a Samsung Galaxy, not a Google Pixel. Why do Google apps and services seem to be everywhere?
This is a recurring sentiment in this forum. While One UI is a unique interface only available Samsung phones, at their core, Samsung phones are Android devices and Android is a Google product.
We can understand this a bit more by understanding the difference between the phoneโs "skin" and its "skeleton."
The "Skeleton" (Android)
Samsung builds the hardware and writes their own software, but that entire system sits on top of Android, which is maintained by Google.
Samsung uses this foundation so that your device can run the millions of apps available in the Play Store. Without this shared foundation, your Galaxy would face significant challenges when it comes to what apps your phone or tablet can use.
The "Skin" (One UI)
One UI is the custom interface you actually interact with. It is designed specifically for Galaxy hardware and has great features that standard Android lacks, like Edge Panels, DeX, and the Good Lock suite.
At the end of the day, you are using a device that relies on Google for its basic functions but depends on Samsung for its aesthetic and exclusive productivity/customization tools.
Apps vs. Background Services
It helps to distinguish between the apps you see and the services you don't.
Apps: Google Messages, Chrome, Gmail, Drive, etc. are tools. They are optional. If you don't like them, you can disable them and use alternatives, like Samsung Internet or Samsung Email, or other apps from third party developers.
Services: Google Play Services is the secret sauce that makes things happen in the background. It handles things like security patches, location services, and notifications. Disabling these services isn't really possible because it wouldn't just "remove Google," it would break the way your device works at a fundamental level.
Why doesn't Samsung just build their own OS from the ground-up and break free from Google?
Samsung could technically build their own independent operating system. They tried this with Tizen, but ultimately opted to use Android in everything except PCs and TVs.
The problem is that app developers would then have to build their apps twice: once for Google and once for Samsung.
Historically speaking, developers just won't do this because the extra workload isn't worth building for a specific set of devices that run a proprietary OS.
Windows Phone is a great example of this strategy being tried by a major corporation and going badly.
Samsung partners closely with Google to ensure that 1) they stay afloat themselves and 2) users get access to the best software ecosystem available.
The Big Deal: Data Privacy
If your concern is data privacy, compromised security usually has more to do with permissions given to potentially malicious apps or passwords that need changed than the operating system itself.
Samsung provides a massive advantage here called Knox. It is a hardware-level security vault that isolates your most sensitive data from the rest of the OS.
The Bottom Line
Samsung phones use Google services because it is the industry standard that makes modern apps and services work.
Samsung's close partnership with Google gives you access to amazing features and apps.
Have an Android phone? Expect to use at least some Google apps and services.
Don't like Google? An Android phone is probably not the best choice for you.
But be aware, using ANY mobile phone (even a dumb phone!) involves having some amount of data harvested. This is just what modern phones require to function.
I hope you found my post informative. Have an amazing day, Members!
