The inside story of London's contribution to Android
The company is Californian; the lion's share of its 57,000-strong workforce is based in America. Its London operation, with just 2,000 employees, is a relative minnow.
But in collaboration with Google's teams in the States, London contributes a surprising amount to Android. If you've ever used the Chrome browser on your phone - thank London. If you've watched a video on Google Play - that's London. Made use of Android's enterprise functionality? London. Used text-to-speech? London. If you've ever even Googled something on your Android smartphone - that, in large part, is London.
Google's London Android team pre-dates Android
There are currently around 300 engineers working on Android in London. This mobile team's presence dates back nearly a decade, before even the commercial release of Android. In the pre-iPhone era, when operating systems like Symbian were cutting edge, a team in London was helping build Google's apps like Google Maps and Search for the platform.
From early on, UK developers have helped tackle mobile web browsing. In early versions of Android, before a mobile version of Chrome was available, there was a separate "Browser" application. The UK helped build this. The UK was a key part of the push to launch Chrome for mobile - and after it was introduced, in 2012, London helped develop it too, and continues to today. "Every time you use Chrome on your device, please think of us too!" Popescu says.
The US and the UK work hand-in-glove
Of course, this work isn't done solo by any means. There's a close level of collaboration on almost all projects between the US and the UK office. Take the search bar tool on Android devices. The app is built in London, but the British engineers have worked closely with the entire global Google Search team, as the results are served by the same engine.
Or look at the Play Movies app. Again, the app and video rendering engine itself was built by engineers in London. But again, a back-end team in the US is responsible for the system that serves the content to the app.
How much freedom does the London team get? Senior leadership Mountain View ultimately signs off on projects and ideas, Popescu told me. "Of course, we are given the freedom to experiment, the freedom to propose ideas." He cites a fun feature introduced this year on Android Wear, Google's operating system for smartphones. Users can do a quick doodle on the screen, and the software will try to identify what emoji they are drawing and "auto-complete" it for them. This is then sent to user with Android Wear whose device has been paired with the sender.
The idea was dreamt up in London, pitched to Mountain View, signed off, and subsequently built back in London.
Android Wear, like Chrome on mobile, is another area where London makes significant contributions - the engineering director for Android Wear works out of one of the London offices.
On that note, I ask, how does Popescu feel about sales of Google wearables to date? Apple has yet to break out sales figures for the Apple Watch, its debut smartwatch, but research firms believe it is significantly outselling Android Wear devices. According to one estimate, it managed to sell more units in a single day than Google did in an entire year.
"These are early days for wearable technology, Popescu says. "We're doing our best to make the best possible wearable platform and I think it's very early in the process to talk about numbers." (It's also worth noting that in the early days, iOS used to dramatically outsell Android too. In 2009, the first full year commercial Android devices were on sale, iPhone sales beat them around 3:1 - but Android has since ballooned into the undisputed dominant global mobile operating system.)
While most projects involve working closely with the US, there are some exceptions to this rule. Milena Nikolic, who heads up the Google Play Developer Experience team in London, tells me she has worked with her team on two features that were built entirely within London.
The first is "Store Listing Experiments," a kind of A/B testing for developers looking to add their apps to Google Play, Google's app store. App builders can now test multiple images, descriptions, icons, and other variables with customers to see what resonates, and use the data to optimise their marketing. The other is beta-testing - letting developers release their app to a limited pool of users via Google Play, before it's ready for a broader public release.
Google's European outpost
London's 300 Android engineers comprise Google's largest team working on the mobile operating system outside of the United States. (Another significant overseas office is in Tokyo.) The search giant has commissioned British designer Thomas Heatherwick to build its new £1 billion London HQ after then-CEO Larry Page reportedly dismissed a previous proposal (that included a climbing wall and running track) as "boring." But for now, they remain nestled in an office a stone's throw from Victoria train station.
London has a "natural history of mobile development," Popescu says. Previous investment from Symbian, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson has produced "a tradition of people who are good at mobile operating systems, programs for mobile devices. [With] four of the world's best universities, the level of education in this city is outstanding. Finally, London is a true international city that attracts the most brilliant people from all over the world."
Are there any differences in culture between Google's offices in the States and in Britain? Nikolic, who visits the US several times a year for work, has one example: The UK has a stronger after-work socialising culture. "In California, the different thing is everyone is kind of driving to work, so that just changes the dynamic a little bit." Employees tend to "sit in their car and drive off somewhere in Silicon Valley" after work.
In London, Googlers are more inclined to retire with their co-workers to a pub.
Preparing for launch
"It's always exciting, it's a very buzzing period," says Popescu of the imminent launch of Android Marshmallow. "In general with Marshmallow we've taken the approach that we want the whole release extremely polished - not that we didn't have polished releases before."
Although Marshmallow will likely launch in the coming weeks, you shouldn't expect to see it on your smartphone right away. Handset manufacturers, not Google, are responsible for pushing the update out to their users - meaning it's likely to see a slow and staggered launch over the months ahead. Lollipop, Android's previous update, was finalised in November 2014, but official figures show just 21% of Android smartphones are running it.
(In contrast, Apple claims that 50% of iOS devices upgraded to iOS 9, its most recent OS, within a week of its launch.)
Is this fragmentation frustrating? "I think it's different," Popescu reasons. The company does offer tools to maximise compatibility for apps, and keeps core API's up-to-date for everyone. "We have something like 400 OEM partners ... 4,000 different types of device ... the last number of active users is about 1 billion. I think this model has served us pretty well."
Storm clouds brewing
Along with Marshmallow and a new batch of smartphones, there's a more ominous event on the horizon for Google in Europe: Regulatory scrutiny.
The search giant is currently facing an antitrust investigation by the European Commission over allegations that it has abused its dominant position in search and on Android to promote its own products over those of its competitors. On Friday, two days after I met with Popescu and Nikolic, Bloomberg reported that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US was in the early stage of looking into Android over antitrust claims.
Google strongly disputes the European allegations. (A spokesperson declined to comment to Business Insider about the Bloomberg report.) It recently held an event in London in which it set out how its services act as a "Growth Engine for the UK's Economy."
"We're engineers, so I think first of all the thing that's at the top of our minds is the features we're working on and the next version of our operating system we're working on," Popescu tells me. "We're working on an open source operating system that we're making freely available to everyone ... I think everyone feels proud of what they're doing, and I don't think anyone would work on it if we felt like we were doing something wrong."