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Google and Qualcomm have a ‘streamlined’ Android P version to deliver updates more rapidly

After an early developer preview, Google today officially revealed all of the big new features in the latest version of Android, P. Of course, it’ll be quite some time before that update arrives for users who don’t have a Pixel, as is generally the case with major Android updates. However, thanks to Project Treble and work with Qualcomm, some of those updates may arrive sooner than usual…

Following Google’s announcement, Qualcomm issued a press release regarding Android P. Specifically, it explains a partnership with Google that reveals the two companies have been working on a “streamlined” version of Android P that is designed for Snapdragon chipsets.

Essentially what this means is that there’s a version of Android P available to OEMs which is designed specifically to make it easier to get updates to Android P available to consumers. We’ve already seen evidence of this with the Android P Beta being available on several non-Pixel devices.

By having early access to Android P, Qualcomm Technologies optimized its software on Snapdragon 845, 660 and 636 Mobile Platforms to ensure readiness for OEMs to upgrade to Android P at the time of launch. Qualcomm Technologies’ leadership position and scale in mobile allows for Google to improve the speed of its OS upgrade cycle, and for OEMs to bring the latest software enhancements to consumers more rapidly than previous Android OS releases.

“We are excited to work with Google to pre-integrate our software with Android P, making it production ready for OEMs,” said Mike Genewich, director, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Through our strengthened relationship, Google and Qualcomm Technologies are set to expand the market for Android and make it easier for OEMs to launch devices based on Snapdragon mobile platforms.”

“Project Treble is the new hardware interface architecture for Android that is designed to make platform updates easier for device manufacturers,” said Dave Burke, vice president of engineering, Google. “We’re excited to work closely with Qualcomm Technologies on a streamlined implementation of Android P for Snapdragon silicon, so device manufacturers can bring the latest Android innovations to developers and consumers more quickly.”

Obviously, there are no guarantees here, but Google and Qualcomm are clearly trying to set up Android P for an accelerated release schedule compared to past versions of Android. Will it work out? Who knows, but it’s a good step forward for sure, and clearly, some of Google’s partners are eager to get Android P going.


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