Depending on how many budget devices you've bought before, especially from Chinese manufacturers, you may or may not know that some phones are available for less when you opt for a version that comes with ads displayed on the lock screen. Nobody really likes these, but it helps keep the phone's price down.
Well, that experience isn't too familiar to folks in the US, but that's the approach that Glance, a company that specializes in this kind of software, specializes in. The company plans to come to the US and its reason why is interesting.
Glance, An Ad-Supported Lock Screen Platform, Looks Intent To Break Into The US Market
Ads pay the bills for many companies. Before Google got into making physical devices like smartwatches and smartphones, they were making their revenue off the power of advertisements alone. In some regions of the world, particularly in Asia, smartphone manufacturers are able to subsidize the price of budget phones by baking ads into them.
Lock screens are one of the most convenient places to see ads (or “recommendations”), and Glance is one of the biggest players in this regard, with more than 450 million smartphones with the app installed across the globe. Glance has launched a pilot program in the US, indicating its impending interest in this region. This test run is in collaboration with Motorola and Verizon, and for people who bought the Moto G Power (2024), you might notice that Glance came pre-installed on your smartphone.
While it initially seemed like the company wanted to take the same approach as they do in other countries by displaying ads, they've clarified to Android Police that isn't the approach they plan to take in the US, despite the phones already running on the software showing ads.
Glance says the intention is to provide users with the option to pay a monthly subscription to have premium news pinned to their lock screens. You'll also supposedly see a “product of the day” which the company will get a commission on for every person who purchases one (sounds suspiciously like an ad to me).
Glance Might Power Up Its Recommendation Engine By Tapping Into AI
Unsurprisingly, since we are living in AI season and Glance plans to show you news recommendations, it's expected that the only reason you'd pay a subscription is if these recommendations are heavily personalized. Apparently, that will be the case, with AI helping with predictions. In fact, rumor has it that Glance is working with Qualcomm on the AI front.
If this is implemented well, it means that Glance will be able to process what news to show you using on-device AI instead of needing to send your data to the cloud. They claim not to collect user data and this might make it easier to be convinced of.
I think that when Glance eventually comes to the United States, it'll be the kind of application that you can choose to disable if it is annoying you, but if it isn't, being forced to have it as your lock screen should definitely come with a sizable discount.
