Blog Navigation

Google Set To Sort the Android Platform Fragmentation before the Gingerbread Release

Even though you’re finding that the Google Android OS (operating system) is finding itself onto the new smartphone releases at an epic pace the Android platform is definitely still not without its share of problems. Google has been trying to work at a frantic pace in order to get the Android OS up to a completely functional and a status that is very rich in features. With Google doing this it has actually created a large bit of fragmentation.
It’s actually not completely uncommon to see a smartphone that is carrying multiple versions of the Android OS:
•   1.5
•   1.6
•   2.0
•   2.1
With all of these upgrades that are being done actually completely out of the hands of the end user.
What happens is when Google releases a new version it is then the responsibility of both the mobile networks and the handset manufacturers to both test and then deploy the update on the phone. Those updates are something that contributes to massive user frustration as they are waiting months to be able to use a new feature that is already on the phone.
It does seem though that Google is going to be looking into and hopefully finding a solution for this problem through the release of the next couple of Android version releases. The OS is going to be split into two things:
•   Applications
•   Components
What this is going to mean is that both the user and the application development team will both be responsible for determining when a new version of that particular software is going to get rolled onto the phone.
The next update planned for the Android is Froyo and this is the update that is going to begin the splitting process. After Froyo comes Gingerbread and it is by that time that Google expects that they are going to have the process completed and the updates should be not only nicer but quicker as well.
There is another thought as well and that is that the Android development is going to begin to slow over that same period of time. The slow isn’t due to Google removing resources from the Android project but rather due to the fact that Android has begun to reach its maturity in regards to being a mobile OS. This simply means that it isn’t going to need as much time in development from that point forward.
Opinion
It is thought that the split that is going to be performed isn’t actually going to completely solve the update problem though it will most likely mean that as a user we won’t really care any longer when someone, like HTC for example, decides to put out a new update for Android. The reason for that is due to the fact that the components that would be released aren’t actually going to have any impact on the applications that we use on a daily basis.
The components that they are going to be tested are simply only the core OS files that:
•   Offer additional stability
•   Likely improve things in terms of battery drain
•   Simply to close security holes
Thos updates that we care more about, like the standard Android applications that are our favorites, are either going to be automatically updated or the user will have the option to be able to update at their leisure.
The important key with this is that the day that an update happens should be the same day that us as users should be able to make the upgrade.

Share on Facebook

Bookmark It

Tags: Android, Android Market, apps, Cell Phones, Froyo, Google

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 1:54 pm by Matt Heman and is filed under Google. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.