Google wants more smartphones to get updates and changes the structure of Android

Google has made it easier for manufacturers to provide Android devices with a new version of the operating system. Manufacturers of devices and processors no longer have to rewrite code after a new Android release.

To achieve this, Google pulls the ‘vendor implementation’ away from the Android OS Framework, so that software from processor makers and manufacturers does not need to be updated to function on a new Android version. That process is what Google calls Project Treble.

The change should make it easier and faster for manufacturers to update Android devices. This is now a time-consuming process, because a lot of software has to be rewritten and tested. This applies both to the maker of the processor in the device, such as Qualcomm or MediaTek, and to the manufacturer of the software.

The changes are in Android O, the upcoming version of Google’s mobile OS that should be released at the end of the summer. Google will likely reveal more about Project Treble at its I/O developer conference next week. Updates are a tricky issue on Android. Currently, 7 percent of active Android devices are running one of the two latest versions, known as Nougat.