Love for Android Fragmentation

The big F word in the Android world: fragmentation.

This is the word that Android sceptics and users both decry and hate. It is both the bane and boon of Android. When Google made Android open source, it created a whole new set of problems and opportunities for users.

Android handset makers have created awhole plethora of devices, ranging from the low end to the highest end like the coveted Samsung Galaxy S3, for example. These devices across the whole range of price points have helped catapult Android to being the number one smartphone operating system worldwide. However it has also caused numerous problems, both for software developers and the handset manufacturers. Software developers find it hard to develop for the huge range of devices and handset manufacturers have been notorious in their slow speed in the updating of Android phone’s software. Save for Nexus line of devices blessed by Google, it is hard to find any device out there with the latest version of Android within a few months of its release by Google. This is because manufacturers tend to move on to their next product very quickly after they have released them, reducing their commercial interests in continual support for older devices.

It is hard to find any device out there with the latest version of Android

But Android is also open source. And the open source community has risen up to the challenge of updating phones that have long since been abandoned by the manufacturers. Bring forth Cyanogenmod.

Cyanogenmod is an “aftermarket firmware” for phones that is built entirely from the source code of Android released by Google. Cyanogenmod supports a whole range of devices. It is the saviour of users who are unable to upgrade their phones long abandoned by their manufacturers, and savour the latest version of the Android OS. It can literally bring a fresh breath of new life to their ailing phones. It is also an opportunity for users who dislike the skins and customisations that their phone manufacturers have slapped onto the phone to use something that has less bloat.

Inspired by Cyanogenmod, many other developers have began their own projects that seek to bring more radical new features to Android. Projects such as Paranoid Android bring about very innovative features like “pie control” and different “modes” to the phones. Projects such as these have once again proven that open source projects can bring about highly innovative outcomes. The tenacity of developers in supporting many devices that have long been ditched by the commercial entities is probably one of the best outcome that can come out of Android being open source.

The dynamics between hardware manufacturers creating too many devices and developers making aftermarket firmware for phones create a very unique consideration for buyers seeking to buy Android devices. One might ask “will my phone be widely supported by developers so that I can have the best selection of aftermarket firmware?” Generally, phones in the Nexus series enjoy the most amount of developer’s attention. while historically, phones by HTC have also been widely supported. Samsung, however, is notorious for their lack of documentation for the chips used in their phones. On the other end of the spectrum, Sony has been tireless in encouraging developers to develop for their devices by release source code, for example. It is an interesting consideration for phone buyers, possibly unique to Android at the moment. It can only be beneficial to phone manufacturers if they support the developer community.

Open source software has always played a massive role in the software community. The most popular kernel, Linux, is open source. When contrasted to the extremely closed nature of the iPhone, it is extremely easy to see how being open source has both harmed and benefitted Android. I would argue that the benefits that being open source has brought Android greatly outweigh the problems of fragmentation. Being open is the way forward, and it is with this great foresight that Google first made Android open source from the get go.