Today, Pixel phones and the top Samsung devices are guaranteed to get three years of major software upgrades. Working with Qualcomm, Google is now making it feasible for Android devices to get 4 OS versions and years of security updates.
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Last October, Google stoped providing Android distribution numbers on a consistent monthly basis. The last update was during I/O 2019 in May. Ahead of the 2019 Android Dev Summit, Google today shared a new stat that highlights Project Treble’s successful impact on Android updates.
Among the fine-grained changes made with Android Q Beta 4, Google has also enabled a fairly in-depth technical preview for developers to try out. The feature, called Dynamic System Updates, allows you to temporarily run a different version of Android on your device.
Project Treble means a lot to the future of Android updates, but older devices don’t always support it. This week OnePlus is officially adding Treble support to the OnePlus 5 and the OnePlus 5T.
Since its announcement almost a year ago, we’ve wondered what implementing Project Treble would look like in the real world. This week we got our first taste.
The biggest problem facing the Android market today is updates. While the likes of Google and Nokia are quick to get their phones on the latest and greatest, the majority of the market is massively failing at that task. Samsung is one of the biggest offenders here, but things might take a step in the right direction with the Galaxy S9.
Project Treble is making its debut in Android Oreo, and it’s set to potentially be a game changer in how updates are handled. However, not everyone is going to support it, and on its forums, OnePlus confirmed that none of its currently released devices will support Project Treble.
One of the biggest problems facing Android is fragmentation. This is brought on by the fact that every smartphone manufacturer installs its own modified version of Android on its devices. This means it takes time and money to update each handset whenever a new version of Android comes out. Do you think Google should require OEMs to use stock Android so that this becomes less of an issue?
Ahead of I/O 2017, Google is announcing Project Treble to tackle one of Android’s biggest issues. Starting with Android O, the OS is being re-engineered to make updates easier, faster, and less costly for manufacturers.
