Is this the beginning of the end of stock Android on Google phones?

Google’s Nexus line of devices have since years been synonymous with stock Android and have most often been showcased as representative of the capacity of not only its new features but also of the platform.

This year though has been an exception to this rule: during Google’s Code Conference, Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, said that the company will “thoughtfully add more features” to Android on Nexus phones going forward.

He went on to add, that the company will also be more “opinionated” of its designs. Although third party manufacturers will still make the hardware, the earlier rumours that were floating around that Google will take more control over its flagships, were it seems well founded.

The Code Conference also saw Pichai talking about privacy related concerns, especially for its Virtual Assistant, GoogleHome. Unlike Microsoft’s Windows 10, you will not have to share your voice command history with the company.

Raising hopes for tighter controls over privacy, Pichai, as an example told Google to forget the last 4 hours of search activity.

Pichai made it abundantly clear, that Google “want[s] to be in China” and is taking a “thoughtful” in making that a reality.

Now what will take to make this happen is still unclear, despite the talks of a handful of Android services, including Google Play, coming to China. For Google, a significant challenge will be balancing its aversion towards censorship with its desire to grow in China.

As much as it hates that its services aren’t available on Android devices sold in a country where the ruling party has absolute say over matters, it also has to put up with the removal of search terms and its apps, in the name of silencing political dissent.