Post by account_disabled on Sept 14, 2023 10:56:52 GMT
The idea is to reduce the emphasis on each new Android 'version' as a measure of progress across the platform.
This is an exciting change and one that has been years in the making. In fact , it has been well over 10 years since I started talking about this topic . For those of you who haven't been following this topic for a few years, Google is trying to separate more and more parts of the actual Android operating system and treat them as independent elements.
Google has made a gradual change of Phone Number List direction without making any official announcements since 2010. This is the most significant change the Android operating system has ever experienced, and it affects all users of Android-related devices.
Simply put, a vast array of components that were traditionally considered system components are now technically “apps.” That means it's still a core smartphone building block, but it's an individual item within the Play Store, updated several times a month to reach all devices instantly. This is a fact that the average smartphone user does not notice, and that is the key point. It's a change that will have an immeasurable impact on the overall Android-based device ownership experience.
This change offers important advantages. Let's think about it. Over the course of several months, major system-level updates are released across Android. If compared to iOS, it is equivalent to a new major OS version. These are massive improvements to everything from basic email, messaging, notes, web browsing, and photo storage apps to meaningful improvements to the hardware elements responsible for your phone's privacy, security, and performance.
One Android enthusiast said this last month:
Updates to all the separate components are often done multiple times a month rather than gathered together once a year. But much larger OS updates get a lot of attention. There is also the very real issue of user perception. … Google doesn't put much emphasis on the fact that updates are always available to Android users, while iPhone users only get updates once or twice a year. If you think about it, it's not surprising that few people realize the full consequences of this fact, seeing the forest for the trees.
The author of the above article has been making strong claims to this effect for a long time. And finally, at the Google I/O event in 2023, Google began to adjust the way it mentioned Android to suit its merits for the first time. This was clearly confirmed in the following conversation between an Android executive and a reporter from The Verge:
Semir Samat, VP of Android ecosystem... Google said it needed to phrase things a little differently now that it had implemented a means to provide updates other than a once-a-year platform upgrade to Android devices, as it does with Play system and app updates. Samat said, “This year, Google thought it was important to show users new features of Android from a user experience perspective, regardless of the OS version. “Some of the features announced by Google will be released with Android 14, but there are many features that will be released through continuous updates,” he added.
But there are two sides to every story. Let’s move on to the part where we can’t just be happy.
One platform, two stories
First of all, Google's change in the way it delivers Android-related messages comes after years of criticism that the overall performance of operating system updates was substandard. The circumstances surrounding the ‘substandard’ part are as known. Outside of Google itself and its own Pixel products, most Android device manufacturers do an embarrassingly poor job of keeping their products up to date and sending out software updates in a timely manner. To some extent, it's now impossible to recommend anyone to purchase any Android product made by certain notorious companies.
But the problem is that while Android's operating system updates are no longer the whole story, nor are they as all-encompassing as they once were, they are still important. The update goes beyond the flashy new features and interface improvements that appear on the surface.
For example, Android 14 introduces a new privacy requirement that clearly shows users whether and how an app will share location information with third parties whenever location permission is requested. This includes new features to improve password protection on users' smartphones, as well as a detailed system for granting apps access to media files stored on users' devices.
System-level improvements to privacy, security, and performance are a common, if not often overlooked, part of operating system updates. Additionally, compared to Google's hypothetical efforts to separate components of the Android operating system and update them individually through the Play Store, certain fundamental elements can still only be handled by formal OS layer updates.
This is an exciting change and one that has been years in the making. In fact , it has been well over 10 years since I started talking about this topic . For those of you who haven't been following this topic for a few years, Google is trying to separate more and more parts of the actual Android operating system and treat them as independent elements.
Google has made a gradual change of Phone Number List direction without making any official announcements since 2010. This is the most significant change the Android operating system has ever experienced, and it affects all users of Android-related devices.
Simply put, a vast array of components that were traditionally considered system components are now technically “apps.” That means it's still a core smartphone building block, but it's an individual item within the Play Store, updated several times a month to reach all devices instantly. This is a fact that the average smartphone user does not notice, and that is the key point. It's a change that will have an immeasurable impact on the overall Android-based device ownership experience.
This change offers important advantages. Let's think about it. Over the course of several months, major system-level updates are released across Android. If compared to iOS, it is equivalent to a new major OS version. These are massive improvements to everything from basic email, messaging, notes, web browsing, and photo storage apps to meaningful improvements to the hardware elements responsible for your phone's privacy, security, and performance.
One Android enthusiast said this last month:
Updates to all the separate components are often done multiple times a month rather than gathered together once a year. But much larger OS updates get a lot of attention. There is also the very real issue of user perception. … Google doesn't put much emphasis on the fact that updates are always available to Android users, while iPhone users only get updates once or twice a year. If you think about it, it's not surprising that few people realize the full consequences of this fact, seeing the forest for the trees.
The author of the above article has been making strong claims to this effect for a long time. And finally, at the Google I/O event in 2023, Google began to adjust the way it mentioned Android to suit its merits for the first time. This was clearly confirmed in the following conversation between an Android executive and a reporter from The Verge:
Semir Samat, VP of Android ecosystem... Google said it needed to phrase things a little differently now that it had implemented a means to provide updates other than a once-a-year platform upgrade to Android devices, as it does with Play system and app updates. Samat said, “This year, Google thought it was important to show users new features of Android from a user experience perspective, regardless of the OS version. “Some of the features announced by Google will be released with Android 14, but there are many features that will be released through continuous updates,” he added.
But there are two sides to every story. Let’s move on to the part where we can’t just be happy.
One platform, two stories
First of all, Google's change in the way it delivers Android-related messages comes after years of criticism that the overall performance of operating system updates was substandard. The circumstances surrounding the ‘substandard’ part are as known. Outside of Google itself and its own Pixel products, most Android device manufacturers do an embarrassingly poor job of keeping their products up to date and sending out software updates in a timely manner. To some extent, it's now impossible to recommend anyone to purchase any Android product made by certain notorious companies.
But the problem is that while Android's operating system updates are no longer the whole story, nor are they as all-encompassing as they once were, they are still important. The update goes beyond the flashy new features and interface improvements that appear on the surface.
For example, Android 14 introduces a new privacy requirement that clearly shows users whether and how an app will share location information with third parties whenever location permission is requested. This includes new features to improve password protection on users' smartphones, as well as a detailed system for granting apps access to media files stored on users' devices.
System-level improvements to privacy, security, and performance are a common, if not often overlooked, part of operating system updates. Additionally, compared to Google's hypothetical efforts to separate components of the Android operating system and update them individually through the Play Store, certain fundamental elements can still only be handled by formal OS layer updates.