The Evolution of Android Updates
In years gone by, every single deep dive into Android has unearthed a wealth of new features, functions, and alterations. So what’s causing these Android updates over the past few years to seem like they’re going to be smaller than ever?
Why Android Updates Seem Smaller Than Ever
Well, “small” is a little bit subjective. From the perspective of most people, visual changes and functional changes are, though, becoming less and less prominent.
Beneath the Surface: Android’s Hidden Changes
Android is undergoing bigger changes beneath the surface that you probably weren’t aware of. Prep work for future updates is happening, and it doesn’t seem to make a dent in those front-facing UI or areas you’d ordinarily notice them.
The Impact of AI on Android’s Evolution
While wheels are in motion and AI will undoubtedly play a bigger part in Android, how did we get here, and what will the future hold for our favorite OS?
A Mature System: Android’s Current State
Well, the simple answer is that Android is a fully mature system at this point in time. Google has been the sole owner of Android since 2012, but it actually started off in scrappy fashion before that.
Android’s Early Days
The first device to ship with the OS installed was the HTC Dream in 2008. The iPhone 3G was already helping propel Apple to a massive market share, but the Dream helped lay the foundation for what we now know as Android.
Challenges with Fragmentation and Standardization
It was important to get this new OS on as many devices as possible, but it led to major problems with fragmentation and OEMs and carriers being intent on putting their own spin on that core system. The need for standardization was crucial, and it’s one of the reasons why we saw so much evolution in those early years.
Project Treble and Modular Improvements
Since the launch of Project Treble in 2017, we’ve seen lots of improvements across every smartphone from practically every manufacturer.
How Project Treble Enhanced Android
This is just a modular base for Android that speeds up that process of development by providing an almost complete version of the OS that you can tweak as necessary.
Android Skins and AOSP Releases
Most third-party skins do start to offer similar key functions and mostly visual takes on what Google tends to lay out as the framework for Android with each yearly AOSP release.
Key Inflection Points in Android’s Design
Since those early days, we’ve had a few inflection points for Android, and the Lollipop update probably signifies this more than any other release.
Material Design and Lollipop
It introduced the world to Material Design, with vibrant colors, bold typefaces, and a completely flat interface that introduced clean animations. This was the biggest and most extensive change to how Android looked and felt back in November 2014.
Changes in Android 9 to Android 12
This was iterated on for years until Android 9. By this point, things were starting to get a little bit stale. Go back and test drive an Android 8-powered device, and you’ll see what I mean.
Material You and Android’s Visual Overhaul
When Android 12 and the introduction of Material You came along in 2021, that was the biggest and most consequential inflection point, at least in the last few years.
The Impact of Material You on User Experience
It offered the biggest departure from that old version of Android. From a pure user-facing perspective, this was a huge overhaul.
Recent Android Updates: Focus on Under-the-Hood Changes
Since then, Android 13 and 14 have come and gone, and each of those has favored under-the-hood changes rather than real functionality-altering user-facing changes.
Android 14: Incremental Updates Rather Than Major Changes
Android 14 probably feels more like Android 13.1 to someone who isn’t versed in the minutiae of the OS like we are, or potentially you are. The thing is, changes just aren’t as immediately noticeable now, but the groundwork has been laid for bigger things in the future.
Peak Smartphone Era and Slower Innovations
So why are these updates getting smaller, you’re probably asking, as I haven’t actually answered that yet. One answer could be that we’ve already hit that peak smartphone era.
The Form Factor and Slab Phones
When we look back at the form factor, the slab phone hasn’t evolved too drastically in the past five or six years. It’s still a touchscreen device with some cameras and an OS.
Desktop Operating Systems as a Precursor
I think you might want to look at desktop operating systems as a precursor example. They’ve barely changed since the ’90s.
Modular Android and Mainline’s Impact
Another answer, though, could be that Android is becoming a lot more modular. Android 10 introduced a thing called Mainline.
Addressing Fragmentation with Mainline
Mainline allows some system components to be altered or updated outside of the yearly release cadence. It also addressed some of the fragmentation issues seen in older versions because Google can bypass OEMs by pushing Play system updates.
The Rise of Pixel Phones and Feature Drops
If you didn’t already know, at this point in time, Pixel phones are the apex of Google’s efforts with Android.
Exclusive Features and Pixel Drops
The Pixel lineup gets unique functions that you might get on other phones later down the line. Pixel Drops, formerly Pixel Feature Drops, also bring new functions outside of huge yearly updates to these devices.
The Changing Android Release Model
My biggest problem here is that I think Google is chipping away at that old model of huge releases or huge changes with a big release.
Smaller Updates and Incremental Enhancements
While it does diminish the excitement somewhat, we end up with more bite-sized chunks rather than a huge deluge once per year.
Android’s Maturity and Longer Support
As I slightly alluded to earlier, given this is a mature platform, we’re actually 16 years into the Android operating system.
Extended Support from OEMs
One of the biggest benefits of choosing a phone today is that you can buy a phone or tablet from the likes of Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, Oppo, and others and have much more confidence that these OEMs will often offer support beyond just a few months.
AOSP and the Pixel Series
It’s also important to note that AOSP, while it is the core of all Android phones, is not actually what it once was.
Google’s Efforts to Differentiate Pixel
Google has been hard at work creating its own version of Android, specifically to help differentiate the Pixel series from other hardware on the market.
The Peak of Smartphone Innovation
The thing is, smartphones definitely peaked a long time ago, and save that growing foldable phone space, we’re seeing incremental updates across the board.
Android 14’s Quality of Life Improvements
Android 14, as an actual update, mainly offers quality-of-life changes and enhancements to existing functions.
Future of Android: AI Integration and the Road Ahead
So what does the future hold? Well, you may have seen that Google is planning on bringing Android 15 to the table much earlier than usual.
AI’s Potential to Transform Android
The tech industry is pushing to integrate and add AI into more places, rightly or wrongly, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that Android 15 could introduce more AI to the core operating system.
Imagining the Future of AI-Powered Customization
Consider Material You for a second. This is Google’s big play to make your phone your own, and imagine a Material You interface that acts and evolves based on things like prompts or custom widgets.
My Opinion
The moral of the story here is, though, that huge user-facing changes just aren’t the norm any longer.