Google's push to ensure that Android OS is up-to-date led to Project Treble, the remodeling of the Android architectural framework establishing a modular base in which lower-level code created by vendors is separate from the main operating system.
The new framework model means that device manufacturers can easily update the code without relying on silicon vendors to refresh the lower-level codebase, thus allowing faster, easier, and cheaper software update for phone manufacturers.
While the biggest issue with Android is fragmentation, with numerous OEMs saddled with the churning out of devices; for every new Android version, the phone makers have to wait for the chipset vendors to provide the update to processors to update the areas of the code related to the hardware.
But with Project Treble, the hardware-specific elements are now a crust, which remains in place for device's lifespan. And whenever new Android version is released, the phone maker focuses only on its part of the process, that is the filling, without having to wait for any other vendor to provide a refresh to the architectural code.
The process actually started with the release of Android 8.0 Oreo, whereby the boundary between the operating system and the lower-level code was separated, and eventually, the new Android 9 Pie software will mark the first time the setup will be complete and operational.
All the major chipset vendors are fully in support of it, with a significant number of Treble-ready devices already out, so smartphones running Android 8 should be able to receive version 9 much quicker.
And perhaps, Google’s Project Treble could ramp up the number of phones running Android Pie, as it gives manufacturers a clear way to update from Oreo to next version without any fuss.
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