Glance, which operates a popular lockscreen platform for Android smartphones, has its sights set on the US market. The Indian startup recently launched a pilot program in collaboration with Motorola and Verizon in the US and plans to do a full launch in the country later this year, sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
The Bengaluru-headquartered startup, backed by investors including Google and Jio Platforms, has already achieved significant success in India, Southeast Asia and Japan, where it expanded last year. Glance’s lockscreen platform now reaches more than 450 million smartphones and is active on about 300 million of them, according to a person familiar with the matter. It delivers these customers a tailored feed of news, local events, sports updates, media content and interactive games directly to their lock screen without requiring them to install additional apps.
Glance does not collect personal data from users, but instead relies on usage patterns to inform its recommendation engine. A source says that Glance is also working with Qualcomm to develop a unique AI-powered lockscreen experience, and that if this partnership comes to fruition, it will allow Glance to significantly increase the data it consumes for its personalized feed reduce and also move a large part of the processing there on the device.
In the US, Glance doesn’t plan to display ads on the lock screen, according to a source. Glance is preinstalled on the devices but can be easily removed.
Android smartphone makers have been under increasing pressure to increase sales in recent years amid fierce competition and thin hardware profit margins. Many of these companies initially looked for new revenue streams to complement their core business. But as Glance’s lockscreen platform gained traction, more smartphone makers recognized its potential as a powerful differentiation tool, industry executives say.
In fact, lock screens and other non-app screens are becoming a major issue for smartphone vendors and brands. “’Surfaces’ still exist today, driven by three types of players – OEM-driven, OS-driven and surface-focused innovation,” BCG wrote in a recent industry report. “Players like Glance are the most interesting of all when it comes to the AI used to deliver relevant content to a user every time.”
In the U.S., the eponymous startup plans to work with more telecom operators as well as brands such as CNN and the NBA, sources said, requesting anonymity because the details are private. The recently launched Moto G Power smartphone in the US came with the Glance platform. A Glance spokesman declined to comment.
As TechCrunch previously reported, Glance has been planning a U.S. launch for at least two years. It’s not clear why it wasn’t introduced in the US sooner.
The Indian startup’s lockscreen technology has already proven successful in increasing user engagement and app installs for brand partners. A nine-week partnership with Indian streaming service JioCinema last year resulted in 9 million incremental app installs from over 100 million unique impressions, BCG wrote. The campaign also targeted dormant users, resulting in a 12.5% increase in app opens and converting the install base into daily active users, the report added.