Android News
Google: Android fragmentation not the problem; legacy versions are
May 20, 2010 | by Andrew Kameka
Uncategorized
Android is often said to have a fragmentation problem, but according to Android founder Andy Rubin, that’s not right word choice. It’s more accurate to say that Android has a speed problem, as in the speed at which its engineers can develop.
“People call it fragmentation but that’s the wrong word for it. I think the right word is legacy,” Rubin said at the I/O press conference. “With these phones and devices, the iteration system is incredibly fast. It used to be 18 months was the lifespan of a device, but the software has to keep up.”
Semantics? Perhaps, but it’s the line Google has taken. When peppered with several more questions on the growing differences between Android devices, Rubin downplayed that users are harmed overall by Android’s breakneck pace. Though he understands user frustrations, development has to proceed for devices capable of handling them.
“Porting operating systems back to legacy [phones] is really, really difficult,” Rubin argued. “In history, it’s never done. You have 200-300 MHZ processors trying to run things meant for [1] GHz processors.”
Fragmentation is what occurs when an operating system splits into multiple versions that use different technologies and features. In the case of Android, fragmentation typically refers to a Hero running 1.5, a Dream running 1.6, and a Nexus One running 2.1. When manufacturers release their custom versions of Android that require additional work and testing to update, that complicates matters further.
A carrier dragging its feet also leads to problems, but Vic Gundotra defended carriers, saying that “These operators have to operate. They’re the ones who have to pick up the phone when something goes wrong, so they have to test it.”
Gundotra adds that carriers are getting better all the time and the speeds of update are likely to improve.
There were several questions related to fragmentation, but Google stuck to a general theme: “We need innovation” and it’s difficult to address backwards compatibility for certain features. Google will continue to attempt to make new features available to older devices – i.e. Google Maps Navigator getting 1.6 support – but users cannot expect that to happen for every feature. At some point, users with “legacy” versions of software will have to go without certain features.
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Makes sense. I can see people getting upset when their 1 year old phone is no longer getting updates….but 5 years ago, the phone you bought was the phone you had. Aren’t updates now just like icing on the cake? It does lead to some apps that don’t work on older phones, which I guess could be frustrating for some customers. But I guess that is good motivation for people to buy newer android devices, haha.
Hey Nathan, While true, I think people's expectations of a smart phone has changed. Plus, you can easily get a phone with a static OS for free these days. People are shelling out hard earned money for top of the line Android phones. Will fragmentation eventually weigh down the platform? It's too early to say. We'll have to check the consumer satisfaction surveys in a year to see what all the 2.1 owners think.
Easy. STOP DESIGNING NEW SOFTWARE WITH A NEW PHONE EVERY TWO MONTHS or REQUIRE HARDWARE SPECIFICATION FOR ANDROID PHONES. If manufacturers would quit merging crapware with outdated version this wouldn't be an issue (I'm looking at you Moto Cliq/Devour). Not only that, but Google should release the new firmware to manufacturers as early as possible so that they can get a head start on updating their phones.
I'm not entirely sure who to be angry at here, but as an HTC Magic owner (which has basically the same hardware as the G1 ie limited RAM etc) that I have owned for less than a year am I now to assume that it is also going to be classed 'legacy' and not be updated? Listen Google, I can't say that I look forward to a future of not getting the latest apps and updates for the next year until my contract runs out just because you have declared my expensive piece of hardware to be effectively dead to development. This is a slap in the face to early adopters who believed in the platform and expected updates through the life of its contract at least. The rancid Apple is beginning to look appealing again.
Um, almost all apps still work nicely for 1.5, right? You're not "legacy" just because there's newer system versions out there. How about XP, Vista, Windows 7? Or people that run various versions of OSX (our oldest Mac runs a 4-years old system)? Or different Linux distros? Android is a lot less fragmented than most platforms out there. My recent post No Beard Rule
Google aren't exactly helping things with some of the new features in 2.2. At the moment developers can still compile with the 1.5 SDK as a default and move up in versions as they find the need to make use of features in the newer APIs. Froyo is including a number of very useful platform features that could and should be retroactively available to apps imlemented in any SDK version but look like they will actually require an app to be re-compiled using the latest SDK such as installation on SD card and migration of data between devices.
At the same time, that's part of the early adopter dilemma. Part of the risk of being the first on a platform / tool / device, is the need to upgrade and understanding that your current cool toy is going to be obsolete very quickly. I bought my N1 because it's the first open smart phone to beat the iPhone – great hardware, open platform, GSM for us international jet setters. But also because it's Google's baby and they're going to do whatever they can to keep it going and looking sharp until their next one. I fully expect to be first OTA for Froyo, first for Flash, first for free tethering / wifi hotspot, etc. You takes your chances, but a smart person also hedges their bets. My recent post Firefox on Android, a.k.a Fennec
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