Entelligence: Will Android fragmentation destroy the platform?
By Michael Gartenberg 
posted March 5th 2010 8:30PM
posted March 5th 2010 8:30PM
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.
When Android was announced, I wrote that if "Google can deliver, the impact could be huge," but I caveated a major issue: Google would need to prevent the market from fragmenting and allow it to succeed where other mobile and desktop Linux implementations had failed. Linux fragmentation remains one of the many reasons the open-source OS has failed to capture a meaningful share of the PC desktop market, and Android is rapidly following a similar path by fragmenting into different versions with different core feature sets, different users experiences and run different applications.
It's not even clear what's part of the official Android distribution and what's been layered on by manufacturers to differentiate their phones. For example, the Droid runs a mostly stock version of Android 2.0 and partially supports Exchange Active Sync, a critical feature for business users. The Nexus One runs a stock version of Android 2.1, and has far more limited Exchange support with no ability to sync calendars. Other
I recently tried to install one of the few good Android games and found it won't work on Nexus One as it has a nonstandard screen resolution. |
I know that last weekend at least one Android enthusiast site reported that Google has promised to get 2.1 on every Android device. Well, that's all well and good and smiles and rainbows, but an unverified blog post from some Android enthusiasts isn't exactly canon to me. Are there hardware issues that will prevent 2.1 running on older devices? Screen resolutions? I recently tried to install one of the few good Android games and found it won't work on Nexus One as it has a nonstandard screen resolution. This isn't just about older devices either -- many new devices were announced at Mobile World Congress running either Android 1.5 or 1.6. When does it end? Either Google addresses the fragmentation issue immediately or it will find that Android suffers the same fate as Linux on the desktop.
Michael Gartenberg is a partner at Altimeter Group. His weblog can be found at gartenblog.net. Contact him at gartenberg AT gmail DOT com. Views expressed here are his own.
@brendanmurphy I once new a brendan murphy at umd
@ckeledjian One might argue (and many do) that the diversity of Linux/Unix distros is what makes the platform so appealing. Personally, though I don't use Linux as my primary OS, I agree. No matter what your needs, aesthetic preferences or hardware limitations, there is a Linux distro that will suit you. The same cannot be said for Windows, which is pretty much one-size-fits-most. And as for apple, their hardware and software is as homogenized as you can get. If you don't like your computer to look and function EXACTLY the way Steve wants it to look and function, you're SOL.
Choice is ALWAYS a good thing.
No.
@Voodoojohn
I concur!
@Voodoojohn
Barely a year old and the platform is starting to fall apart. I thought it would take at least two years for that to happen. It sounds scary for buyers. Dozens of Android hardware manufacturers all trying to add their own special touch on the user interface. Google releasing OS updates where some work on some devices but not others. This is only the beginning. When the Chinese starting pumping Android certified devices into the mainstream all hell is going to break loose. There should be absolutely no reason why the OS version that works on the Nexus One doesn't work quite right with the Droid, if that is actually the case. They should both be updated immediately.
These results might not be catastrophic for the Android platform but it will sure cause a lot of confusion. It won't stop the growth of Android devices either because most users won't even notice their OS is not up to date unless someone tells them. I feel sorry for the developers on this platform because they may have to build apps for one device at a time and that would be rather costly.
Wow, that's convincing. Thanks for putting us at ease. Now look at the history of Unix and Linux for lessons on exactly how fragmentation can ruin a platform's prospects.
"I recently tried to install one of the few good Android games and found it won't work on Nexus One as it has a nonstandard screen resolution."
Who's to blame for that? There's no such thing as a "nonstandard screen resolution." To claim otherwise is to assert that we're forever stuck with a finite number of canned resolutions and aspect ratios on all devices. Idiotic. Sounds more like amateur-hour programming.
Seems like Android has proven to be a bit of a fraud in terms of its "open source" PR. If 2.1 is out, then why can't everyone just download it and install it on their device? The fact that they can't shows up the platform as somewhat half-assed.
The article brings up good points. I'd imagine that for the casual user (ie. those that don't read Engadget), the different UIs, the different OS versions aren't all that apparent and could be quite frustrating once a Blur user for example wonders why it doesn't perform quite like the Droid.
Furthermore, things like different screen resolutions, etc.. are probably what's stopping big gaming companies like EA Mobile from porting over some of their graphic intense games over to Android devices, as they'd have to customize a different version for each resolution.
But I believe Google, consumers and developers will figure it out as long as they can position themselves to the average user that it's as easy to use as WebOS or iPhone OS.
@Voodoojohn : Am I wrong in thinking that most of the Android devices (and subsequently Android itself) are aimed at a specific group that's well aware of this 'fragmentation'?
I think of the iPhone as the 'do everything under apples control, there's an app for that' device.
I think of the Pre as the 'awesome os, solid phone, that your mom would fall in love with if she learned out to use it' device.
I think of Android as the 'swiss army knife, if you're here using Android you're probably already digging deeper to see what this OS can really do' device.
@Information Central You can... I put 2.1 on my Droid yesterday.
@Information Central
You had one app not run because the app developer didn't consider the possibility of different display resolutions, and that means the whole platform is falling apart? Ridiculous. Yes, there are several different versions of Android, but it's not like any of them are BAD. I can't get anything newer than 1.6 on my G1 and you know what? It's not really a problem.
It shipped with 1.0, and now I'm on 1.6. That's 6 free updates in a year and a half. Compare that to a WiMo phone which will get exactly zero updates for the life of the phone. Even the iphone rarely gets more than one update per year, and the older models don't get any of the features in the new versions. I think you're expectations are absurd.
@Voodoojohn I agree with "No".
Everybody is being way too clever comparing linux desktop and Android. First of all, that's not "why" linux didn't take over the desktop world. There's a whole lot more going on there. Second, different distros (Fedora, Ubuntu) does not mean different OS's (Linux, BSD).
There's a world of difference between having more than one version of the OS, having some different desktop skins, and having actually forked Androids. Different versions of the OS (or ANY OS) is par for the course. Is it a bad idea for companies to put out new devices with 1.5 and 1.6? Sure. Shame them with your powerful gadget site. I bet that has more effect than anything else. Is it a little annoying that different companies paint their crappy vision of software interaction on everything (uh, HP and Dell, leave your laptops alone)? Yes. Does that mean your average Android app simply won't work? No. And you know that. The point of this article should be, "Hey, Moto and HTC, clean up your act a bit". However, its not like the world is going to fall into chaos.
The game manufacturer that couldn't handle a slightly different resolution needs to get its act together. I do agree that Google should have pressured more to get and stick with fewer standard resolutions. However, the FUD associated with the article is trumped up, IMHO.
Of much greater concern are the patent battles, and the ridiculous move of putting Yahoo search on AT&T's first Android device. Thats a joke, and frankly hurting the unsuspecting consumer.
Android will be fine, I am so tired of hearing it's going to be fragmented and the world is going to end. I had a DROID and now a N1, and calling the DROID a "loaf of day old bread" is a joke. Google earth is a toy on a mobile phone, and I don't think not having a new app tray and live wallpapers ruins the phone.
I'm not sure why people think a G1 should have the latest Android, it's old tech. I don't care what the iPhone does, it's basically the same phone slightly upgraded and 3.0 runs like ass on the 2G.
@Voodoojohn Thanks, yours is probably the most sensible answer because it cuts through all the BS. Michael Gartenzwerg is nothing but a fearmonger who pulls readers with sensational headlines. Firstly, most consumers don't know diddly-squat about the underlying OS of the phone they're buying. I know a lot of people who have bought Droids and Erises in the fairly recent past and think that they're all "Droid" phones because that's what VZ calls them. It really doesn't matter what home screen skin the vendor smacks on top of Android, as long as people can install pretty much most of the same apps on their phone that they see on other "Droid" phones (which they can), they're happy. Which brings me to the second fact that from a developer's point of view targeting all the various versions of Android isn't all that complicated. With the exception of a few earlier deprecated classes or games targeted at specific newer GPUs, the same app can easily be built for all versions of Android with just a few clicks in Eclipse. Claiming serious hardship and "platform fragmentation" smacks of ulterior motives. Has really nobody wondered why the vast majority of Market apps became available for successive versions of Android almost as soon as they were released, if it was really that hard to target them?
Device vendors don't give a hoot about this supposed fragmentation because Android gives them two things they totally love: a royalty-free platform, and an OS that with the right engineers can be molded onto just about any hardware they care to pick. Do you honestly think Motorola or HTC give a damn about a few whining nerds on some tech blogs while laughing all the way to the bank? As far as they're concerned they'll have Google's babies.
@xolan99
Whichever way you look at it, this fragmentation is what will lead to bad user experience in the end. Many months ago I had posted here that Android is going to face the same issues which Symbian faced till now and sadly that is becoming true. Unfortunately unlike Google, Nokia has been-there-and-done-that which explains their heavy investment in Qt based UI frameworks and why they are moving full-speed towards unifying app development on both their platforms.
Hopefully for Google, they will learn the ropes of mobile device software quickly otherwise Android will become the next WinMo.
@Information Central
Sigh...
How is Android being open source a fraud? It is either open source or not. And right now it is open source. You can go download the source code and use it for whatever device you want. That is the definition of open source; don't project your own definition.
Also don't expect for it to just "install" on any phone (even an Android one). In case you haven't noticed, every phone out there needs to be flashed (even for updates). There is no such thing as "installing" an OS on a phone, nor a standard BIOS that allows you to install an OS. Also, you are forgetting about drivers. Can phone makers reasonably expect consumers to deal with installing drivers? I don't think so, which means they built the drivers into the OS, thus there isn't a single build that will work on all Android phones.
@Information Central
blame the coders for locking their programs to 320x480, every good programmers knows to use variables that will scale accordingly
@naashak "Whichever way you look at it, this fragmentation is what will lead to bad user experience in the end."
Actually, I'd argue the exact opposite. What this "fragmentation" enables is people getting a device that's tailored to their needs. What I mean by that, is it enables $15 phones that have low class hardware and $300 phones that have the top of the line, latest greatest to run the same base OS. What that means, is MOST of the applications (ones that are supported by both devices) will work just fine on both...
The market system is REALLY powerful (It won't show you applications that your device can't run). If a game didn't work, that's the fault of the developer for not specifying the required resolution in the app manifest. It's not a problem inherent to the development model.
This enables developers to write their applications, and let the system decide if it can run. No more if (hasCamera) { do this } else { do that} unless you need it. It's actually rather trivial to make an application that's completely cross platform (well, between an API range, so 1.6 to 2.1). You just don't use the features that were added in newer versions.
And to the bit about the manufacturers adding UI elements on top, so what? It may make the "experience" a little bit different between each phone, but from a programmatic standpoint, it doesn't change a dam thing. 99.9% of apps that run on the base OS will run on one using Sense... And that 0.1% that everyone's claiming is causing this fragmentation, it's a modification that directly modifies the UI, and hence you WOULDN'T want it to work!
People are jumping on this fragmentation bandwagon for one of a few reasons. Maybe they are scared of the rate that the platform is growing. Maybe they have no idea how the ACTUAL development model works, and are just making "logical conclusions" based on guesses. Maybe they don't like Android to begin with and are looking to put it down. Maybe they enjoy being listened to. Maybe they don't like Google. Or, perhaps they are just out of touch with the realities of the software world we live in...
Just my $0.02...
@Voodoojohn The elephant in the room is Windows Mobile tried and it obviously failed.
It also doesn't help that Google was internally quoted to have said "who needs a FPU on a mobile?" during the HTC/Qualcomm Kaiser driver debacle. That's the kind of attitude that's going to kill Google here.
There's only one iPhone platform and it succeeds because it's modeled after consoles whom also build only one and build on it for a few years. Following the Window Mobile model is only fail.
@Voodoojohn,
The author has obviously worked hard to find the apps that won't work on the Nexus One. He is forgetting about the whole lot of apps that work across various versions of the Android platform. Remember the old saying, its how you look at the glass: "half empty, or half full".
Some counter thoughts:
1. There is something called differentiation. It calls for some amount of differentiation in the ability of the phones (both hardware and software).
2. There is a compatibility suit which ensures that all implementations of a particular version of the Android will be compatible despite being implemented differently by different manufacturers. I hope he knows about it.
3. New Apps not running on old versions of the OS is a natural thing because they exploit some new features added to the later version. (This happens with PC software also). This does not mean that different versions of the Android OS have become completely incompatible.
4. Google's job is to innovate rapidly and launch new versions of the OS. It is the manufacturers job to integrate it to their hardware.
5. As regards the possibility of this rapid development leading to deterring new customers, there is no sign of that. In fact, Android is continuing to add more and more customers and vendors.
The article's Apple centric view is fixated with the single manufacturer , single OS model with no differentiation by way of different versions of the OS.
Hey Google, just do your job, don't get distracted by these archaic views.
@Information Central
you can update any device to 2.1. The problem is that the drivers for every handset aren't baked in, so stuff may stop working. It's the manufacturers that haven't released the drivers/modified source back Open. Google's Nexus One source is fully available in code.google
Droid- not so much. But the kernel is available.
@kpgalligan
"Does that mean your average Android app simply won't work? No. And you know that."
It's doesn't mean that your AVERAGE app won't work, but it DOES mean that many apps won't work. This is the same situation I had to endure in WinMo, and I hated it. Sometimes you would find a cool app and find out that it didn't support your screen resolution or OS version (which often wasn't user-upgradeable, just like Android). Will it kill Android as a platform? Of course not, that's just silly. But it will definitely hamper adoption and possibly relegate Android to the role of "Linux of mobile phones" in the sense that consumers may avoid Android if the perception arises that only advanced users can make heads or tails of hardware and software compatibility.
@MosesusedaniPad
The first Android phone (T-mobile G1) was released on October 22, 2008: http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/23/t-mobiles-g1-gets-release-date-and-pricing/
And technicaly, the OS is just over two years old: "The unveiling of the Android distribution on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 47 hardware, software, and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.[9][10] Google released most of the Android code under the Apache License, a free software and open source license.[11]" via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_android
That being said, I think that Android is obviosly going through growing pains of fragmentation, but I believe that we are going to now, or very soon, see some sort of leveling as far as multiple versions go. If not, it is very likely that Android will fall the way of desktop Linux.
I will still buy only Android handsets, even if that happens, for the record. I am a dedicated Linux user for several years now. Hate Windows, Don't care for OSX. Curently on Ubuntu Studio and will stay with the platform for my personal use indefinatly.
(Just giving a shout out to the few, proud Tux supporters out there)
lol i think i get it.. Google Android is secretly Beta.
@tonicboy To be honest, there are a lot of iPhone apps that don't work on all iPhones either. And it's not just older iPhones. Developers test apps on whatever iPhone they happen to have, so if they have a 2G or a 3G, that app might not work on a 3GS. There are many apps like this, including some of the most popular. (Until it was updated a week or so ago, AroundMe, one of like the top 10 iPhone apps, was broken on several iPhone models.)
So this is hardly unique to Google or MS. It's pretty much a fact of life when you have more than one phone running your OS out there, and it affects Apple the same way it affects the other guys.
Most cell phone users don't give a rat's ass what OS their phone is running, or give a rat's ass about "fragmentation", or gives a rat's ass about what's going on with another phone that's running the OS they didn't give a rat's ass about to begin with.
@(Unverified)
That is only due to different hardware features (for example, GPS). Obviously, there is no way in the known universe to design an operating system such that old hardware will be able to take advantage of new hardware features. Aside from that, all iPhone apps will work with all iPhones. It's interesting to note that Microsoft is following Apple's lead on this one in that they are putting stricter controls on the hardware. I'm sure that has something to do with the lessons they learned in the fragmented WinMo world - lessons which Google has yet to learn.
@Voodoojohn
This article actually holds a lot of truth. I used the Droid as my primary phone for 2 months and was a big Android fan before. But with the announcement of the Google "super phones" and with the obvious fragmentation that's crippling the Android experience across all devices, it's looking like Google's gotta do something real quick to save its OS.
I know it'll be hard for you Android fan boys to grip that fact and I know that this author hasn't always written the best articles (actually, the worst articles), this one is pretty spot on.
@Information Central Agreed at the developers fault. Um, is the resolution ever going to be a problem after android grows? I doubt it, how many resolutions do computer games support, 5-10? If this isn't a fair comparison from computers to smartphones then so be it, but still, seeing as how these things are in their infancy they have loads of time for this to be all the more commonplace and for developers to get to know what to do. This might even be fixed in an update of the same game.
@Chip Iphones do get more than one update a year...
Just not major ones
@Voodoojohn
Andorid is going down really really fast ;)
"Android Gains Market Share, Apple iPhone Slips"
http://www.pcworld.com/article/190853/android_gains_market_share_apple_iphone_slips.html
@newjaruz
Besides the fact that is stupid to think that every one will want to the same phone with the same form factor with the same background that can not be customised at all.......Let's see how Apple will handle the new iPhone generation when they will be obliged to increase the screen resolution....they already did it very very bad with the iPad :)...who wants to ran a small application with no multitasking in the middle of a huge 10" device :))
@ircmaxell Thank you for a well-explained and informative post from a developer's perspective. It's rare that we see that kind of viewpoint, and it's greatly appreciated amid all the speculation and conjecture coming from users.
It's good to see the theories lended some support by fact.
@feeble11
Not officially you didn't. And unless it's official, it doesn't exist when it comes time for support.
@Voodoojohn (o:
Michael Gartenberg is completly on a wrong path. Linux has fragmentation, BUT the Linux Standard Base has none. The Android Stock itself has no fragmentation, too. Only all this cruddy Sense and Blur implementations are fragmenting Android's expierience.
Use Debian or Ubuntu instead of smaller distrubutions. Use the Nexus One instead of disfigured devices.
@Chip Fragmentation diluting the influence and growth of Android is the argument. I agree it has happened, but like another poster said, only geeks like us would really notice. The average user just goes to the store and plays with a phone for a few minutes before purchase.
@Chip Thats funny... My mogul and touch pro I had BOTH had an is update. Get informed before you speak
@Mr Blue
You are correct. Android is definitely aimed at geeks. But you can't sustain this many phones from this many manufacturers on a demographic of geeks alone. Google needs the mainstream user.
I've thought this was going to be a problem from day one when Google announced Android will be open source and manufacturers and carriers will be free to change anything they like. Its a great idea in theory. The reality is so often a giant confusing mess. If Google doesn't watch it Android could become so fragmented that the name will cease to mean much of anything.
And I don;t have much faith in Google's ability to manage this either. They are not exactly known for their follow thru abilities. So much of what they introduce makes them look like a bunch of ADD rich kids who tinker with projects for a while, get bored and then move onto something else... never really finishing what they started.
@Chip Is it absolutely NOT 6 free updates in a year. It was 1.0 to 1.1 to 1.5 t0 1.6.
That's 3.
@MosesusedaniPad
wow. you actually believe it's falling apart? that's unbelievable that any of you can even imagine that. if you look at the actual figures, there is a MASSIVE increase of android users. and as far as this article, go write an article on windows mobile fragmentation if you're so worried it's going to destroy a platform and stop ragging on only Android.
@tonicboy Whether or not it's only due to different hardware features (which is part of what this post is about, after all - different screen res affecting one Android app, for example), the fact remains not all iPhone apps work on all iPhones. If you go to the iTunes app store, you'll see plenty of apps that require certain models or certain versions of the OS. There is plenty of fragmentation in the iPhone universe. I'm saying this firsthand - I own an iPhone.
It's also *not* just down to certain apps requiring features that older iPhones don't have, because as I said in my example, AroundMe wasn't working on *newer* iPhones for a while. And it doesn't rely on the compass or GPS, it uses triangulation like most iPhone apps do (and that's been an iPhone feature since day 1).
@patsy
i totally agree that it's not a huge problem right now, but it has the potential to get worse as more updates go out to some phones, but not others.
People do not want to check their OS version every time they want an app for their phone. Its not a computer, it shouldn't be that complicated. If android wants this to remain a valid phone OS, they need to either solidify their updates from here on, or never change too much with updates so all apps will be compatible with all versions now AND in the future.
@tolarindr Why would they need to check the version of their OS ever? The Market only shows apps that are compatible with the version of Android you're running. The only symptom to end users that they have the "wrong" version is that they can't see a particular app in the Market.
@MosesusedaniPad "There should be absolutely no reason why the OS version that works on the Nexus One doesn't work quite right with the Droid, if that is actually the case. They should both be updated immediately." - I sure hope they don't listen to you. An OS that is specifically targeted and built for a particular device will run faster on that device in 100% cases and it will take up less space. The devices, the platforms and the processors are different, though they are more or less Cortex-A8.
The whole idea of the android is that applications are portable, but some developers tend to abuse the functionality they are given.
@yyandrew I agree that I don't find this authors articles very intelligent. I should leave it at that but I disagree with this one as well. I think people understand the concept that new software may not run on old hardware. Google's strategy here makes this issue a little more obvious but as others have pointed out everyone has this problem eventually. For example Apple will either have to stop upgrading their hardware or force software to not use the benefits of the upgraded hardware to make every piece of software work on every piece of hardware. It reminds me of friends buying the latest and greatest video card and then complaining that they have to turn down some setting in a game. They complain but its not like every two years they aren't going to just get a better one. Next its going to be the end of Firefox because some extension doesn't work on the latest version.
@Voodoojohn you nailed it. This should have been a one-word article. It would be slightly more obvious if you just replace the title with "Will hardware diversity destroy the market for cell phones?" Same kind of question, same answer.
@Chip
Help, I can't install crysis on my window 95 pc. microsoft are fragmenting too much with windows 7 and all these other stuff that means I can't install the latest games and apps on my computer.
/sarcasm
@Voodoojohn
Whoever wrote this article, sounds like they are learning about android while they're writing it. And not very well
@MosesusedaniPad I agree. Its like theyre becoming the new Windows Mobile...ew I just threw up a little in my mouth.
@MosesusedaniPad
I hear what you're saying but Google doesn't want to be the iphone and soon to be windows phone series 7 equivalent, it wants Android to be "Symbian esque" dominant i.e all things to all men on all devices. Until the iphone came out there had always been different levels for different devices running the same OS. I for one don't see the problem.
@treats
You bought a Droid in December and a Nexus One a month or two later? Then you say the Droid is a fine phone? Why in the world did you get the Nexus One then? You being a techie might be cool with that, but most consumers would have buyers remorse.
I do agree that 3.0 runs really slow on the 2G, but I would also throw in the 3G. The 3GS runs it perfect, but the rest... well... they are hurting.