As a matter of fact Android updates have been improving gradually over the past couple of years and manufacturers began to behave more responsibly, even flagship smartphones are still not updated for more than two years. Usually this is explained by problems on the part of the phone: insufficiently productive hardware, OS restrictions, etc. Fortunately, you can fix the situation, and it seems that Google decided to do it.
Bit of theory
At the core of Android is a heavily modified Linux kernel. At first, changing it was a necessary measure to expand the functionality of smartphones. Now, Google developers want to return to using the original kernel, which they reported at the Linux Plumbers Conference. This should reduce costs for Google and third-party manufacturers when adapting new versions of the OS, since it eliminates the need to process huge amounts of data.
Who and why changes the Android kernel
The Linux kernel for Android was modified not only by Google but also by component suppliers and smartphone manufacturers themselves, making the changes that, in their opinion, were necessary for proper operation. From year to year, the adjustments made only accumulated, and when a new version of the OS was released, manufacturers had to combine them, spending too much time on this process. To simplify the process of adapting updates, in 2017 Google introduced the modular architecture of Project Treble, which allowed us to separate high-level software from low-level software. She improved the position of Android a little, but it was still far from a complete victory.
Changing the current situation will not be easy, given how many things will have to be rolled back. In spite of that, Now Google has already a draft stock version of Android which was built on the original Linux kernel. It is not yet particularly stable, and its functionality leaves much to be desired, however, the fact that the developers of the company managed to roll back already says a lot. Still, if Google manages to simplify the basis of the operating system, this will reduce the time required to adopt the updates, and possibly even extend the software support cycle for smartphones, because there will be fewer technical restrictions.
How will the Android smartphone market change?
It is still not very clear how smartphone manufacturers will react to the next innovation from Google. The fact is that many of them use their own shells, which are quite significantly different from the stock version of Android. To achieve this, they have to recycle the core. And if Google prohibits doing this, it is potential that shells and firmware ground on Android can critically bear, having lost the flexibility that they were given the changes.
On the one hand, increased control of Android by Google will lead to the fact that the composition of the operating system will become simpler and easier and faster to update, which is good news. In this case, there is hope that the standard cycle of software support for smartphones will increase from two to three, or maybe even four years. But, on the other hand, there is a great chance to kill the openness of Android, which will cease to be a bastion of freedom, where all those who are tired of iOS’s closeness and where you can do whatever you want can run.