Google is continuing to open its Android platform
to mobile developers in China after it announced
a localized version of its Google Developers
YouTube channel for the country.
The U.S. firm took a major step last
November when it began allowing developers in
China to make money via Android apps —
although only from users based outside of China
— and this new channel will help by increasing
access to information and resources.
The channel is on YouTube — which will mean
it gets disrupted by China’s censorship system ,
unless viewers use a (stable) VPN — and includes
videos from the main developers channel with
Chinese subtitles, as well as original content in
Mandarin.
That English-language Developer Channel has
more than 650,000 subscribers. It’s a useful
resource for developers, covering a range of
topics related to Android, Android Wear, web and
other apps, general developments and
information, and talking points from events like
the Google Developer Conference.
Google Play itself remains blocked in China, and
numerous third-party app stores have risen to
take its place, including 91Wireless, a service
that search giant Baidu bought for $1.9
billion in 2013. But, we live in a global age, and
even though the Play Store is not accessible in
China, developers based in the country can use
it to distribute and sell apps to the hundreds of
millions of Android devices in the rest of the
world.
Google is doubtless missing out on revenue by
not having its app store in China, and a report
from The Information (paywalled) last year
claimed its executives are in discussions with
potential partners and the government with a
view to launching Google Play services there.
There’s been no official comment from Google or
update on this — even if Google Play did make a
controversial return to China, it remains to be
seen how much of an impact such a late arrival
would have.
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