They’re the linchpin of modern security, delivering critical fixes for holes that could let hackers into the one device that knows more about you, your comings and goings and your personal information than anything else.
Google releases annual updates to Android, denoted by a new name such as Lollipop, Marshmallow and now Nougat, but it can
take months, sometimes a year or so before those big updates reach devices made by third-party manufacturers.
Some put the blame on chip makers, others manufacturers,
networks or even Google. Lockheimer acknowledges the difficulties: “We share the source code with chip makers
such as MediaTek and Qualcomm, as well as manufacturers including Samsung and others before we publish Android.
But it really is a pipeline. “If you’re in an operator-driven market, such as the US, they also add their customisations, so it adds another layer in the pipeline of development. We’re doing things to make Android more modular to speed things up.”
One such effort has been the unpacking of some services specific to Google that get updated more regularly into what’s known as
Google Play Services - a layer that sits on top of the Android operating system and delivers all of the Google-ness of the smartphone.
Lockheimer said: “Android is an operating system that’s not tied to any one company. The Android Open Source Project, doesn’t
know that Google exists, it doesn’t call into any Google servers or anything like that. So all the Google specific technologies are put
into a thin layer on top of Android.”
With Google’s apps and Play Services updatable separate from Android operating system underneath, material updates that
change the look and field, the way Android works can be performed directly without having to go through various channels and without significantly changing the underlying system. Security updates have also been made more. So i will say the future of Android is bright.
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