Android fragmentation has been a stick that iOS lovers beat Google fans with for sometime. They crow that the relentless onward rush of sweetly-named Android versions means you always run the risk of being left adrift. For many, Android updates have been like those offers that give new customers loads of cool stuff and leave loyal types to lose out.
But now Google says it’s going to marshall the phone makers and fix the problem. Smooshing together, Android Gingerbread and Android Honeycomb in Android Ice Cream Sandwich, it’ll have a unified OS. But an end to fragmentation? I don’t think so…
Google isn’t alone is having had to wrestle with differing versions of its mobile OS. When the iPad first arrived, it had to wait for iOS 4 while the iPhone jogged along happily. But the two devices got one shared OS variant in November 2010 with the launch of iOS 4.2. The difference is: Apple had far fewer device variants to deal with.
Apple also had to cut off some older customers with original iPhone and iPhone 3G owners no longer part of the update cycle. That’s inevitably going to happen to a large number of Android devices with some purchased in the last year likely to miss out on the frosty delights of Android Ice Cream Sandwich.
The difficulty for Google is that while it says the handset manufacturers are on board to ensure new handsets can received Android updates for 18 months after release, there’s a whole heap of customisations to deal with.
Samsung has put a lot into TouchWiz, Motorola loves MotoBlur and HTC has invested heavily in HTC Sense. Those major Android supporters are unlikely to want to give up the features they believe separate them from competitors, and it’s hard to see what incentives Google can provide to make sure they can all skin their updates synchronously, when each does something different.
Google’s plan to end Android fragmentation is full of caveats and maybes right now and constrained by what “hardware allows”. It will eventually bring the Android army together but there’ll be plenty of casulaties along the way though and a good number of Android fans feeling short changed.
Apple could get its house in order very quickly because it controls the software and hardware. It’s also managed to get the carriers under its thumb – distributing software updates itself. Google has a far bigger battle on its hands with networks and phone makers to get in line.
Right now, most Android phones on the market aren’t rocking Android Gingerbread, even though it was released back in November last year. Can you really see Google being able to get all the networks and manufacturers to play nicely with its strategy with out some serious issues? I can’t.
