The famous lockscreen platform provider Glance, which caters to Android handsets, is aiming its eyes at the US market. According to reports, the Indian business recently started a trial program in the United States in collaboration with Verizon and Motorola, with ambitions to fully launch there later this year.
With support from investors such as Google and Jio Platforms, the Bengaluru-based firm has already achieved notable success in India, Southeast Asia, and Japan, where it underwent expansion in the previous year. A person with knowledge of the situation claims that Glance’s lockscreen platform is currently active on approximately 300 million of the more than 450 million smartphones that it reaches. It provides users with a personalized feed of news, media content, sports updates, local events, and interactive games straight to their lockscreens without requiring them to install extra apps.
Instead than gathering user personal information, Glance uses usage patterns to inform its recommendation engine. According to a source, Glance is also collaborating with Qualcomm to create a distinctive AI-powered lockscreen experience. Should this collaboration succeed, Glance will be able to drastically cut down on the amount of data it uses for its customized feed and shift much of the processing to the device itself.
One source claims that Glance does not intend to show advertisements on the lockscreen in the United States. Although it comes pre-installed on devices, Glance is simple to uninstall.
The producers of Android smartphones have been under increasing pressure to increase income in the recent past due to intense competition and narrow hardware profit margins. Many of these businesses originally looked for additional sources of income to support their main line of business. Industry executives claim that as Glance’s lockscreen platform gained popularity, more smartphone manufacturers realized it might be a formidable weapon for differentiation.
For smartphone manufacturers and marketers, lockscreens and other non-app interfaces are in fact becoming vital real estate. In a recent industry report, BCG stated, “‘Surfaces’ exist even today, driven by 3 types of players — OEM-driven, OS-driven, and surface-first innovation driven.” “Among all the players, Glance is the most intriguing due to its innovative use of AI in providing users with consistently relevant content.”
According to sources who asked to remain anonymous since the information is confidential, the name-brand company in the United States intends to collaborate with additional telecom providers in addition to major brands. Glance’s platform was included with the newly released Moto G Power smartphone in the United States. A representative for Glance declined to comment.
Glance has at least two years to prepare for its American debut.
The lockscreen technology developed by the Indian firm has already shown promise in increasing app installations and user engagement for marketing partners. Over 100 million unique impressions during a nine-week relationship with Indian streaming service JioCinema last year led to 9 million additional app installs, according to BCG. According to the research, the campaign also targeted inactive users, which resulted in a 12.5% increase in app opens and the conversion of the install base into daily active users.
