What is stock Android?

If you ask anyone who cares about their Android experience, they’ll state that they much prefer ‘stock Android’ to any of the other variants. They don’t want the ads and bloat that come with most of the popular Android variants powering devices from the likes of Xiaomi, Realme, and even Samsung. But what is stock Android exactly, and why is it so sought after?

What is Android?

While Android may seem like a Google product, it’s not. The Android operating system is based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which is a free and open-source core on which the Android we find in our smartphones is based. AOSP is in turn based on a heavily modified version of Linux – yes, the same Linux we use in desktop PCs and servers – that’s designed for use in mobile devices. 

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The Open Handset Alliance (OHA) – which comprises the likes of Google, Qualcomm, Samsung, Dell, and about 80 other companies and organisations – helped develop and maintain Android. Smartphone makers like Google, Xiaomi, Realme, Samsung, and OnePlus essentially build on and modify AOSP or various forks of it to give us OxygenOS, HyperOS, ColorOS, and more.

What is stock Android?

When most of us say we want stock Android, what we’re generally referring to is Google’s version of Android – a clean, bloat-free version with no ads, no unnecessary apps, and a clean UI that is based on the version of Android that Google develops for its Pixel phones. Essentially, we’re saying that we want the core Android experience that Google developed.

Lack of ads and bloat aside, two of the biggest advantages of a stock Android experience are timely updates and performance. The latter is a result of having fewer background services and a cleaner, more optimised user interface.

Unfortunately, the stock Android we think we want is only available on Google-made devices like the Pixel. However, companies like Nothing and OnePlus pride themselves in delivering a performant, near-stock Android experience that most of us will be quite happy with.

What about AOSP?

For a true, stock Android experience for the nerdiest among us, nothing beats AOSP. This version simply offers the core Android experience without any of Google’s software and services. This means that you will not have access to the Play Store, Google Chrome, or any other native Google app by default.

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Only a handful of phones directly support AOSP, and others need a heavily modified version. Some phones aren’t yet supported. You’ll also have to manually set up the software and services that you’d like to use.

Switching to AOSP for the true, stock Android experience is not for the faint of heart, but it is a learning and rewarding experience as you will have complete control over your device, more than you would have even with a Pixel phone straight from Google.