Exclusive: Android Froyo to take a serious shot at stemming platform fragmentation
By Chris Ziegler 
posted March 29th 2010 11:16AM
posted March 29th 2010 11:16AM
Thing is, in light of our CTIA conversations, we didn't have an idea of how Google planned on fixing this -- until now. We've been given reason to believe that the company will start by decoupling many of Android's standard applications and components from the platform's core and making them downloadable and updatable through the Market, much the same as they've already done with Maps. In all likelihood, this process will take place over two major Android versions, starting with Froyo and continuing through Gingerbread. Notice that we said apps and components, meaning that some core elements of Android -- input methods, for instance -- should get this treatment. This way, just because Google rolls out an awesome new browser doesn't mean you need to wait for HTC, Samsung, or whomever made your phone to roll it into a firmware update, and for your carrier to approve it -- almost all of the juicy user-facing stuff will happen through the Market.
The second part of this doubled-edged attack on platform fragmentation comes from a simple reality: we're hearing that Google may be nearing the end of its breakneck development pace on Android's core and shifting attention to apps and features. By the time we get to Froyo, the underlying platform -- and the API that devs need to target -- will be reaching legitimate maturity for the first time, which means we should have far fewer tasty treat-themed code names to worry about over the course of an average year. We like awesome new software as much as the next guy, but Google's been moving so fast lately that they've created a near constant culture of obsolescence anxiety among the hardcore user base -- and in turn, that leads to paralysis at the sales counter.
How much of this strategy actually materializes -- and how effective it is at changing the direction of the platform at large -- remains to be seen, but it sounds like a promising turn of events. Considering it's been a solid five months since the Eclair SDK premiered, that's an eternity in Google years; time to shake things up a bit, we reckon.
Great news. As an Android developer with just a single application in the market, the differences between devices and the problems they cause me is definitely significant.
Whilst the big commercial developers can buy (relatively cheap to them) hardware test phones, hobby developers like myself can't afford to go and get hold of every Android phone under the sun. The manufacturers/carriers also don't help out - Motorola for example don't have any kind of phone loaner program for Android units. And ever tried getting a free phone from T-Mobile? No chance.
I'm glad that Google is putting forwards a way of supporting this problem for the Android end users, especially as really it's the manufacturers and carriers who are really causing the fragmentation problem.
@Kinte Kunta
:-[
zzzzzzzzz
So are we ever going to get that Droid 2.1 update?
@bravokiloromeo lol I think that's on big red cause the milestone which is the gsm version has their update, its kind of weird tho what the hell are they waiting on hell u know u messed up when phones are starting to ship with 2.1 when just 3 months ago like 8 phones were shipping with 1.5/1.6 and your flagship android phone you poured a ton of money in to advertise is lagging behind when it should have been neck & neck with the n1.
This definitely is great news. Very intrigued to see how Google plans to implement and execute this process. I'm usually a pretty patient guy, but the update waiting period has been unbearable, only due to excitement of course.
Go go Android Ranger!!!
All I have to say is that I hope Google/Verizon don't make me feel like an idiot for buying a Droid. Hearing of the features the N1 is getting makes me wonder if it is either a nasty sales tactic, or truly a hardware limitation.
Good thing Google is trying to do something about these fragmentation issues, it would be the death of Android if nothing was done about it.
I'm tired of Motorola making me wait soo long for 2.1 on my CLIQ, atleast with Google's tactic we'll be able to get some features instead of just waiting it out.
I don't know if its just me, but im starting to not be such a fan of how manufacturers can skin Android to their liking. Sure, Sense UI is beautiful, and Motoblur is cool for the social fanatic, but it just makes one wait even longer for updates since the manufacturer has to add their skin and tweaks over the Android OS.
These are all good moves by Google. Keep just the core functionality of the android OS in each release and make everything else a downloadable app. Android to the top!
I was all for Android even before knowing they had the fragmentation problem in mind... now, seriousl, Android FTW.
Release a Nexus One or Desire with a front camera (and, preferably, if it's not too much of a hassle, Tegra 2), and you have my money.
It's called RedHat hell where you tie your third-party releases to your OS version. It's a bad bad bad idea and alienates your base enough to want to Fedora/Ubuntu fork it, or switching over to a packaging system like BSD's Ports.
Note Windows doesn't have this problem because they intelligently don't tie software releases to OS versions (for the 99% of releases).
How is this going to STOP fragmentation??
Seems to me that it might INCREASE fragmentation if you are relying on the user to download this component or that. The number of people that really are "into" phones enough to bother with this stuff is quite small - the VAST majority of people buy and phone and use it just like the way it came from the factory. How about stop making excuses for the cell phone carriers and simply FORCE them to support the latest version of the OS as it is released. No more selling of phones with 1.5, now that 2.1 is out.
Oh but that's right, Google can't do that, because Android is Open Source, and just like all open source software, you can't "force" a user to support this and that, even if it would dramatically help the userbase by having only one target platform to develop for.
@Hazdaz
The components will still be included with the phone it's just that previously core apps such as Music, Messaging etc weren't included in the Market and would only be updated with new versions of Android. Now Google intend to include those apps into the Market so that they can be updated just like all the other apps without any need for updating Android version. Then the idea is they will make sure that the future versions of android have a mature, extremely capable set of API's so that instead of focusing on updating Android base they can focus on updating the apps through the market without the manufacturers or networks needing to get involved.
@Hazdaz I'm not understanding your argument. How is Google's plan bad? If a user on a Mytouch or Droid wanted Live Wallpapers all they would have to do is get it from the marketplace as opposed to waiting for an update or getting a phone with the supported OS feature pre-installed. Companies can't be blamed for user stupidity or laziness if they refuse to read, research or learn about the device they're purchasing. Besides, what's so hard about going into the market and doing a search for the update desired? I think this is a great move and would solve a lot of problems before they happen in the long run.
@Hazdaz
I'm not getting your point. This isn't really -increased- fragmentation. All it takes is going into the Market, go to Downloads and if it says "Update Available" you can download your update. If the user doesn't want to go and download the update for his app, how is that Google's fault? Is it any different from having to go into the iTunes store to download an update for any iPhone apps? If anything, this will make things easier. User A and User B both own Droids. User A sees that User B has a new music app on his Droid and User A asks User B how he got it. User B says he just downloaded the update from the Market. User A downloads the update and problem solved. Now User A knows that these apps can be updated and will be able to do it on his own next time.
It won't stop fragmentation immediately but in the long run, until Google can get everything ironed out, it seems like a good plan.
@HelghanSuperSniper I imagine he's arguing that the average consumer isn't going to want to have to do homework to make their phone work like everybody else's. They'll just want whatever their friend/family member has.
To be successful long-term, Android needs to be a mass-market consumer device, not a enthusiast niche device.
That said, this is a good first step - but it is a workaround for the real problem.
@RidleyGriff
That's pretty much exactly what I meant... sorry for not replying to the previous comments.
It is naive (and possibly even a little dangerous) to assume that the end user is going to update the latest version of something.
Have we not learned from the computer world?
How many times have any of us jumped on someone else's computer and they had like a dozen Windows updates to download and install, an out of date browser and plug-ins and applications.
And that's on a computer where even non-technical people understand that programs need updating once in a while (they might not do it, but they at least know that software gets revised)... on a phone it's even worse and with an even less-technologically capable customer. Even tech-minded people might not want to be bothered with that BS.
And I am going to go one step even farther... from a developer's perspective, you just went from having to deal with 3 or 4 versions of the OS, to dealing with dozens of combinations... someone might have OS 2.1 with version 3.5 of component A and v2.8 of component B, someone else might have OS 1.5 with v2.4 of A and v3.2 of B.
How does that solve fragmentation? I see it getting worse.
@Hazdaz
point is, you (dev) don't have to worry about the older version, because everyone has the possibility to update their os
so when they try to install your app from the market, they get a notification of "please update your android from www.android.com" etc.
the problem isn't that people are running a dozen versions of android on their phones, it's that they have no choice in the matter
also, judging by your comment on forcing the carriers to update their devices, i'm gonna take a wild guess here and say you're from the states (?)
you see, out here in the civilized world, carriers have fuck all to do with your phone, let alone its os - you get a sim card from a carrier and a phone from a phone manufacturer
sure, you could say "so force the manufacturers to update the os", but how exactly would that differ from the consumer's perspective to google updating the os?
by every phone having a different website for os updates, that's how
@mrqs
I understand what you are saying (and in a perfect world I might even agree with you).. BUT that's not the reality for 99% of the people out there.
The average Joe is not going to "get" why when he just bought App XYZ it just doesn't work and why it is asking him to install Component A version 3.2 and Component B version 4.1. I don't care how easy/invisible you make the process, the average consumer is not going to put up with that crap. ALSO, you are forgetting that having tons of different combinations of components running, ups the risk of errors and bugs rather dramatically. If you were "forced" into updating to the newest version of the browser because you installed a certain app, but then have much older versions of all your other components, there might be a good chance that that specific combination of component versions were never tested together... could it cause the OS to crash? Or the app to shut down? Or maybe it introduces a vulnerability for a virus to infect your phone?
You comment about the rest of the world getting their phones directly from the manufacturer is a much better system, but whether the phone comes from a carrier or the headset maker that still doesn't negate the fact that a vast majority of phones out there are exactly the same way as they were when they were first made... people simply do not install updates and patches for their phones.
@Hazdaz Clearly you've never used android. There is a notification that pops up (in the same location with incoming emails and text messages) that says "update."
If you know how to read text messages and email on your phone, then you know how to update it since Android makes it stupid easy to click the little update icon, and then update each app from the list that shows "new update."
Even the most novice of users know how to update their android apps (at least the stock apps like Maps and stuff). Getting new apps seems to still be more problematic as many people don't realize they can go to market to download new apps, but updating apps currently on the phone is as easy as receiving a text message.
@Gigaflop
You just don't get it, so there is really no point in arguing about this subject. I am stating the FACT that people in general do NOT update their gadgets... be it their computer or in this case their phone. I don't care how easy or transparent you make it. I am not talking about you, or me or most other people on this board... I am talking about the vast majority of people out there that make up the general public.
For proof of this, take a look at how a decrepit browser like IE6 is still one of the more popular browsers out there... and it was introduced almost TEN years ago. You think that Windows doesn't have nice little Pop-up telling people to update their shit? Of course it does - all you have to do is click on two buttons and you can get all the updates your PC needs, but people still don't do it.
If Android wants to expand beyond the techno-geek market, this move sure as hell isn't going to help them defragment their offering.
@Hazdaz Really? IE6 has no auto-update capabilities. Compare that to Firefox which does. And guess what? People update firefox. Yes, even the idiot masses. Using IE6 as an example is a red-herring.
If you give them some sort of dummy proof "click me to update now button" people TEND TO CLICK IT.
In fact, your argument is SO COMPLETELY wrong that it also explains why there are so many viruses out there. Guess what. They probably clicked a little button that said "install me" and they did.
Dummies are MORE likely to click things that tell them to click than be cautious like the rest of us are.
That said. Android basically does this. It says "click me to update." And guess what... people CLICK IT.
So it is YOU that are ignoring the FACTS. So STFU troll.
@Hazdaz You're full of it. Firefox, Chrome always have auto-updates and never ship ancient versions of itself. The only reason IE6 still exists is it's SHIPPED WITH THE OS, and continues to be shipped. Once you stop that, and migrate to an auto-update system, just like OS updates on mobile devices ALREADY, there's nothing more to worry about.
It also helps because core OS features stay with the OS, and people only update what they install. If they didn't install it, they don't need to update it -- really really simple. Works well for Debian/Ubuntu/Firefox/Chrome/Acrobat/Picasa/Safari/Google Maps/Opera/Garmin/iGo/Skyfire/Flash/etc etc. Your stupidity-mongering only reflects on yourself.
Froyo is apparently God. If you look on linpack, the top nexus ones are getting around 40 mflops! Not overclocked or anything, but in the description, it says they are running froyo, which means someone at google is teasing us. To compare, my N1 gets 7 Mflops, 17 Mflops with JIT enabled, no overclocking.
I was hoping they make the UI a little bit better. Keep getting the wrong button registration from time to time. This is good update for developer, how bout them user now?
I love that "off the record" = post a feature story to Engadget
@samlich You may not have seen my answer earlier in the comment thread, but in this case, I simply meant that I can't attribute any of the comments that were made to us.
The only thing I worry about is that if they do this, then wouldn't Google basically be competing with normal apps in the Market?
(Which would be quite humorous haha.)
- Sent from my Nexus One
Hardware vendors should follow suit and uncouple their proprietary apps from their ROMs as well. Being stuck with outdated apps that can't be uninstalled is unacceptable.
Don't tell me! The next major update will be Milk Tea!
What about all the devices that are not "Googified" and lack the market entirely?
way to go google! GO AND CRUSH iPhone
@linuxamp,
Tell it to AT&T :(
What a great news and good idea - making OS more modular, decoupling UI components and applications! This not only will help with fragmentation but also make Android OS more stable and developer-friendly! MS Windows with its tightly-coupled components like Internet Explorer won't be able to catch up.
@Kinte Kunta wow.. you really are a tool.. you apple shill.
How is this really going to work? Because the OS is open source, decoupling applications will have little effect as the carriers/phone manufactures can still disrupt the ability for those updates to work properly.
What if the application update requires a feature that is only available in a newer core OS update that is not yet available for the phone? Oops, looks like we're back to the same problems again.
What happens when the phone manufacture changes the core on how it deals with GPS, cameras, etc? It will break the Google standard applications (if they no longer have source code) so the carriers will just write their own replacement mail, calendar and what nots - just like they are doing and plan to continue doing anyway.
Andriod phones will still be amazing out of the box, but I don't see any easy way out on this one for the developers and third party app store.
There are going to be enough Android forks in the road to feed all of the homeless…
Google should simply force all makers to update their phones within three months of last release.
This IS *plenty* of time. With a heads-up on which kernel version it will use, drivers will already be made, and the only thing left is to rebuild UIs like sense and provider crapware to comly with new APIs. It really is not that big of a job, and if this article is right, it will be even easier in the future. All phones released after Froyo should simply have to be updated as a part of the deal.