DuckDuckGo CEO says Google kills competition through phone deals that make it hard for users to switch search engines

celmit@lemmy.ca to Technology@lemmy.ml – 1183 points –
DuckDuckGo CEO says Google kills competition through phone deals that make it hard for users to switch search engines: ‘It’s too many steps’
fortune.com
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Pixel phones it's harder:

Change fucking launcher... The google bar is always there, cannot be removed and it's always google.

This fucks me up to no end. I love this phone but that fucking search bar made me switch the launcher. I also love the Pixel launcher (if it wasn't for that search bar), so I run the alpha release of Lawnchair. Problem is, there is no proper release bc there is not enough manpower to develop it.

Pixel owner here. Changed to Nova launcher on day one. No search bar on my home screen and DDG is my default search engine.

I use Firefox and DDG on my Pixel but I do keep a small Google option for those (usually location based} particular searches

iPhone.

Settings > Safari > Search Engine

I can change the browser search just as easily on a pixel. Just the default device search is always Google.

Do people even use that? I've literally never. Even if I want to search something, I'd rather just use my browser where I have tabs. Relatedly, why don't more apps have tabs? Like apps for Reddit or Lemmy. Literally none that I ever tried have tabs. I know they don't perform that great, but not even an option?

You're talking abut the search bar at the top of the first home screen right? It's always google but it can be removed.

That should be fixed for sure, it's annoying. Personally I use firefox anyway so I change it to the firefox search widget which uses your firefox default.

You can't remove it on a pixel without changing launcher or root. It's at the bottom. It's not a widget

Yep. I wasted hours on that. Worst thing is that it is combined with the app and setting search.

Other launchers are better anyway. But it does become another big step for those that never leave defaults.