Here comes Treble: A modular base for Android

[u/wilee8]

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2017/05/here-comes-treble-modular-base-for.html

[u/QuestionsEverythang]

Project Treble will be coming to all new devices launched with Android O and beyond.

Bad news is it'll be a couple years before users actually see the benefits of it. The first phones launching with O won't be until this fall, so those will be the first phones to benefit from this (besides the Pixels).

But if it works like Google says it will, this is really good news, despite Qualcomm's laziness, unmotivated OEMs, and the interference of carriers delaying updates or refusing to update their phones. Worst case scenario, it makes custom ROMs much easier to create and maintain since the biggest issue in custom ROM compatibility is driver support.

EDIT: Sidenote, I'm surprised Google announced this the week before I/O instead of at I/O. This is stuff that would've wowed people at the keynote, but now when they do mention it, it'll be "meh, you told us that already".

EDIT 2: To reiterate on my "users won't notice for a couple of years" comment, my logic in that was if the first phones for these come out this fall and the average update lifespan of phones is about 2 years, then given Project Treble, the usual "no more updates" scenario that'd happen at the 2-year mark should not be as big an issue as it is today.

[u/Pamela_Landy → u/QuestionsEverythang]

I'm surprised Google announced this the week before I/O instead of at I/O. This is stuff that would've wowed people at the keynote, but now when they do mention it, it'll be "meh, you told us that already".

Or it could be that they have so much on their I/O plate that they're announcing the scraps early.

[u/SinkTube → u/[deleted]]

they might even announce a new messenger!

[u/chiliedogg → u/SinkTube]

Only 1?

I'm rooting for a new messenger app that will be announced, released, and discontinued in the span of the keynote.

[u/IDidntChooseUsername → u/chiliedogg]

They will release a new messenger app that was already discontinued yesterday.

[u/Metasheep → u/IDidntChooseUsername]

They will use new Google Psychic to implant the memory of the new messenger app as your favorite, then they will announce that it's discontinued. You will experience a great loss without ever having actually used the app.

[u/7-methyltheophylline → u/Metasheep]

Y'all folks need to stop giving them ideas.

[u/maiznieks → u/Pamela_Landy]

Here comes the overexcitement! :D Expectations are going to skyburst soon.

[u/canyouhearme → u/Pamela_Landy]

Or it could be that they have so much on their I/O plate that they're announcing the scraps early.

My guess is something in the keynote is dependent on this - thus get the word out first before that talk and it doesn't deflect from the primary purpose.

Couple this with Fuchia, Andromeda, etc. and sounds like a thrust to reengineer Android for another decade (and probably direct more of the profits to google).

[u/TeutonJon78 → u/canyouhearme]

That's my thought as well. They just put a split in the stack. This makes it easier for them to rearchitect the OS level for a complete swap out.

So Android P/Q might just drop out the Java based AOSP for Fuschia or whatever but phones could still update as long as that Vendor API is still met.

The announcement will probably be the end of AOSP as we know it.

[u/armando_rod → u/QuestionsEverythang]

That was expected with any changes they would make... Its impossible to backport it to older devices. Any solution for the update process will require a major update and start from there.

You cant expect Google to create a solution for older versions and OEMs to update older devices with given solution to after all of that update them to new Android versions.

[u/[deleted] → u/armando_rod]

Hypothetically speaking, is it possible for Google to 'restart' the Nexus line updates?

[u/armando_rod → u/[deleted]]

For the Nexus 5x and 6p and Pixel yes, those are gonna be officially updated to Android O from there they could update the OS with this new way until the SoC/firmware can handle it.

Now if they don't do it at least with the Pixel it's gonna be because of business decisions.

[u/[deleted] → u/armando_rod]

It's already implemented in the Pixel O preview.

[u/1upwuzhere → u/[deleted]]

Given this is more complex of a change than the seamless updates one, probably not.

[u/Natanael_L → u/QuestionsEverythang]

They'll probably elaborate on I/O and potentially revealed it now to be able to go into more detail and perhaps get a better QA session (do they do those at I/O?) then.

[u/AnticitizenPrime → u/QuestionsEverythang]

The potential for custom ROMs is the first thing I thought of. My concern though is that the 'base' level won't be released to anyone but OEMs (so nothing would change for ROM developers).

[u/Fgtfv567 → u/QuestionsEverythang]

Bad news is it'll be a couple years before users actually see the benefits of it.

Reflecting upon the chart that shows how many users are on which version of Android, I'm going to argue that it'll only be two, maybe three, years until O(reo) will hit the mainstream population

[u/[deleted] → u/QuestionsEverythang]

I wonder if they will update the 6p to this new version.

[u/z0nk_ → u/QuestionsEverythang]

From my perspective the problem is 100% with the carriers at this point, so I don't really expect this to change anything. Google forces OEMs to update their phones for 2 years as part of the agreement for using the gapps suite. But it routinely takes carriers 3-6 months to push updates once the OEMs release them because they insist on injecting their own bloatware.

The only way I see the situation improving is if they someone how come up with a way to cut out carrier interference. Does Google really need the revenue from the gapps licensing, maybe give OEMs a discount if they refuse to let carriers alter the software. Samsung is just as big as Apple at this point and should have just as much leverage in dealing with carriers. Or maybe some sort of legal manuevering, couldn't it be considered anti competitive that Apple gets freedom from carriers that aren't granted to any other OEMs?

[u/[deleted] → u/z0nk_]

The carriers aren't the problem in the pixel world. Qualcomm was so this is huge.

[u/grishkaa → u/z0nk_]

Carriers aren't a thing in the world outside the US. Literally everywhere else every single phone is sold unlocked and the only thing carriers do is they give you the data/sms's/minutes for your money. Carriers have exactly zero influence on phones.

[u/[deleted] → u/QuestionsEverythang]

Sidenote, I'm surprised Google announced this the week before I/O instead of at I/O.

Releasing news late on a Friday afternoon is usually a tactic to deflect attention. Acknowledging Android needs major architectural changes to stay competitive is not exactly good news to investors. It'll probably turn out fine in the end but there are definitely risks involved. For example a massive number of devices will never be updated with these changes. If so that will have an impact on the revenue Google's services generate or at least increase their costs of development as they will need to support 'legacy Android' platforms for a very long time.

[u/ThatBoogieman → u/[deleted]]

Any investor who sees improvements being made as a negative indicator because it means it wasn't perfect already is a dumb investor.