Time and again we hear people talking about Android fragmentation. Apple does it on every chance they get to speak about Android. For years, Google’s rivals have used the “Android is fragmented” argument to hype their own platforms. Microsoft executives, for example, have long suggested that one of their key goals with Windows Phone is to prevent it from splintering into multiple versions on multiple devices, ensuring a common experience for all users of the platform. It has been a hot topic on every tech websites and blogs. So is there really Android Framentation or it is actually fragmentation of Android devices?
1) Android Platform Fragmentation
Android is an open-source platform so the inheritance of knowledge between people interested in copying, modifying, adding new features, tweaking is very easy. The only problem may be that should everyone else have the same rights to the knowledge that you have tirelessly gathered and perfected ? This fear was ever present in Android. There's a lot of misconception about fragmentation on Android.
2) Android OEM Fragmentation
Google has rolled out latest version of Android to the OEMs for using and developing their devices. But what about the devices that OEMs have already shipped to the market with an older version of Android?
The only things OEMs care while integrating Android OS into their devices is selling as many devices as possible and inter-operability with their ecosystem. (For eg. What Samsung does with it's smartphone and smartwatches, smart TVs) and market share. They do not care about updating the OS on their existing smartphones because it costs them time, money and human resources. This procedure may impact their sales of new devices. So from OEM's point of view Android Fragmentation is not really a problem.
Manufacturers have tried to differentiate their products by adding their own skins to Android. Before Android 4.0 i might have been okay with this as stock Android didn't look as good. But now it is much improved and is better than OEM's version of Android. Most of the OEMs have made clunky, unintuitive UI changes, added masses of software that take up much needed space on your SD card and are usually difficult, if not impossible, to remove from the phone, or simply just ways to try and sell you things that are, in the most, inferior to products available cheaper in the Android market. This also means that any updates Google release for Android are held up even further from filtering down as phone owners as they have to wait for the manufacturers to skin the new versions and then check for bugs.
According to a survey some 33 percent of Android devices run some variant (either 4.1.x or 4.2.x) of the “Jelly Bean” build, while 36.5 percent run a version of “Gingerbread,” which was first released in December 2010—ancient history, in mobile-software terms. Other versions take up varying slices of the Android pie. This is only due to the android device manufacturers.
Android devices users on version fragmentation
Do the ordinary, not so geeky people care about Android version fragmentation? I don't think so. You can ask your dad, or sisters if they are running the latest version of Android on their devices. You might get a strange confused look on their face thinking "Do my phone.. what??...What the hell is he talking about?".
They just don't know or don't care. So this brings us to the question "Who should really care about having latest Android versions?" The answer is simple, the people who know about Android versions and there are very small portion of them. I just think that it’s only a small group of geeks, who I’d consider together with myself in, are genuinely bothered about the OS their smartphone is running.
Android OS Fragmentation or just Android Clones?
Fellow geeks, let's speak the truth, if you own an Android phone it’s probably not an Android phone but a clone. And yes, even if you have spent $600 it is still a clone and not pure Android apart from Nexus devices. Let’s face it once and for all, the only Android devices out there are the Nexus devices, period. It always has the latest version of Android, all the software and services of Google and no OEM and carrier customization. All the other devices have cloned the repository of the Android source code on a specific date and then started developing for the next line of their devices. But until the devices are ready, there is already a brand new Android OS version that probably they will never touch for these specific devices. If you care about having the latest Android version, there is only one choice Nexus lineup. If you are not particularly fond with being always up-to-date on your smart phone, then there are many clones out there that are tailored to your likings and needs (in terms of hardware features and user interface).
I've said this many times, Android does not have a fragmentation problem. Keep this in mind people.
Stay High on Android. Peace!!!
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