If there is one thing that even the staunchest Android supporter can’t deny it is that Android devices tend to be a bit slow when it comes to receiving the latest updates, that is unless you own a Nexus/Pixel device. This is because the onus typically falls onto the OEM to issue the update, and sometimes that can take a while.In fact taking a look at the latest Android distribution figures, Nougat has yet to break the 10% mark despite having been made available for a while now. However the good news is that could change in the future moving forwards, thanks to a new Google initiative called Project Treble which aims to help OEMs issue Android updates faster.
According to Google, “The core concept is to separate the vendor implementation – the device-specific, lower-level software written in large part by the silicon manufacturers – from the Android OS Framework. This is achieved by the introduction of a new vendor interface between the Android OS framework and the vendor implementation. The new vendor interface is validated by a Vendor Test Suite (VTS), analogous to the CTS, to ensure forward compatibility of the vendor implementation.”
“With a stable vendor interface providing access to the hardware-specific parts of Android, device makers can choose to deliver a new Android release to consumers by just updating the Android OS framework without any additional work required from the silicon manufacturers.” Unfortunately Project Treble will not be applied retroactively on older devices, meaning that moving forwards only newer handsets with Android O and beyond will be able to take advantage of this. However the good news is that the current-gen Pixel handsets with the developer preview of Android O is already running the new Project Treble architecture.
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