How Google Could Sort Out The Android Update Mess
Only one company can save Android users from years more of update hell ? Google.
There?s no doubt that when it comes to updates, the Android platform is in a mess. While this mess doesn?t seem to be throwing the brakes on activations, it does mean that existing Android users are being screwed out of the ability to run the latest version of Google?s mobile OS. The topic has really been brought to light with the release of Android 4.0. Since ICS is such a major advance in Android technology, all Android users want it for their device.
Why is the Android update situation such a fiasco? Opinions vary. Some believe that it?s all about the money, while others see it as a business model problem. Some tend to think that it?s a mixture of both issues. Money, of course, comes into the equation, but the business model factors of binding contracts and subsidized handsets compounds the problem. I personally believe that Android has grown at such a fast rate, that details like this weren't fully thought out.
But who can solve this update problem? Only one company can save Android users from years more of update hell ? Google. So, how can Google fix this mess? Is it by tightly controlling the handset hardware like Microsoft and Apple currently does? Or is it by adopting virtualization, like some experts suggest? No, it?s far simpler than that. Google needs to market OS updatability as a key selling feature of its Nexus line of handsets. Furthermore, Google needs to guarantee that all Nexus handsets will be upgradable to the next major Android release. Doing this would accomplish two things;
#1 : It would give people who want an easy route to upgrading an easy choice when it came to choosing an Android handset.
#2 : This move would put pressure on other hardware manufacturers to follow suit.
To make this work Google would need to do several things:
* Streamline the highly-complex update process, possibly by adopting virtualization
* Publish a minimum hardware spec that handset makers must follow
* Cut carriers out of the equation, or at least sideline them (like Apple has done with iOS), and possibly go as far as cutting the hardware makers out too (like Microsoft has done with Windows Phone)
* Discourage handset makers from locking bootloaders, thus encouraging the dev community and homebrew projects
* Discourage carrier branding and crapware (after all, all that bloatware isn?t helping make Android handsets any safer)
Some have have even suggested that paid updates would fix the problem, but I think that even though there are users who would gladly pay to have the most current software on their devices as soon as it was available, in general most Android users would reject the idea, and it would hurt Android in the long run. So, what do you guys think? What do you think Google could / should do to fix the problems with updates?
12-27-2011?01:14 PM # ADS
I agree with what you're saying, but I would add that an "official" Google OS (and updates) would be stock Android only (the "With Google" tag). Work with OEMs (and even carriers) to release Google-only phones (Nexus, OG etc) but also (to keep the carriers happy) release the open source version of Android without any Google apps. That way the OEM and\or carrier can do whatever the hell they want to do with the OS, and they officially (and legally) take ownership of support and maintenance.The "With Google" phones, on the other hand, would all be treated like Nexus phones. These phones would cross all carriers, devs would love them, the advanced user community would love them, and the "official" Android stats would belong in this category.
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