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Google reportedly plans to 'shame' smartphone makers to fix one of the worst problems with Android
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
If you ask developers about their gripes with building apps for Android, the same problem comes up again and again: fragmentation.
On Android, Google's mobile operating system, it is the smartphone manufacturers — not Google — who are responsible for pushing out software updates to users. This is in stark contrast to Apple's mobile operating system, iOS, in which Apple can push out an update to every (compatible) iPhone in the world simultaneously. As a result, the Android market is intensely fragmented, with numerous versions of the OS out there.
This complicates development, as the majority of Android phones end up unable to use the latest features that Google introduces for app developers. And more worrying for users, it can leave millions of users open to hacking as security patches never reach them.
In short: Google could build an incredible new feature for the next version of Android, but unless your phone's manufacturer, let's say Samsung, for example, gets around to deciding to push the update to you, you will never see it.
Bloomberg reports that Google is renewing its efforts to improve the update procedures of Android manufacturers — and it is prepared to "shame" them if necessary.
The California tech giant has apparently ranked manufacturers according to "how up-to-date their handsets are, based on security patches and operating system versions," and shared these lists among manufacturers. These lists are currently private, but Bloomberg says Google is considering making the list public to "shame" the manufacturers that are significantly worse than others.
Google did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Google already publishes data on fragmentation on its Developer Dashboard. Just 7.5% of Android phones are running the most recent version of the OS, Marshmallow, which launched in October. And more than half are running KitKat (which came out in October 2013) or an even older version of the operating system.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
In contrast, 84% of active iOS devices (iPhones and iPads) are running iOS 9, the most recent version, which came out in September.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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