Lenovo switches to stock Android for all future smartphones

Lenovo is canning its Vibe Pure UI Android skin in favor of the stock version of Google’s mobile OS for its future smartphones, starting with the upcoming K8 Note, according to an interview from Gadgets 360 with Anuj Sharma, Lenovo India’s head of marketing.

According to Sharma, the move to stock was largely motivated by the simple fact that customers were asking for the unaltered version of Android, preferring it to Lenovo’s own skinned UI. The Sharma also noted that the switch to stock would allow it to better roll out updates to the company’s line of smartphones, including an Android O update sometime after Google releases the final version of the operating system later this year.

Using stock Android going forward also brings Lenovo’s phone software more in line with Motorola’s devices (which Lenovo bought back in 2014), given that Motorola has long been a proponent of using a mostly stock version of Android on its phones since the original Moto X.