Android 5.0: Google's future strategy from the perspective of system upgrades

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Android 5.0 is a major system update. It brings a new design style, a new software operating environment, better power management, and a lot of detail improvements. However, the changes in Android 5.0 are not only in terms of design and technology, but also include many strategic aspects.

Through system updates, Google has strengthened its control over the system, worked hard to combat fragmentation, and made Android develop in a direction that is more favorable to itself. In an interview with several executives of the Android team on the Ars Technica website, we can learn about the future development direction of Android and also see some of Google's strategies for controlling Android.

Developer Preview

Starting with Android 5.0, Google has been more open in its system development process. A few months before the official release, Google demonstrated various aspects of the new system and provided developers with preview downloads. In this way, developers can prepare in advance and upgrade their software faster. At the same time, after developer feedback, the Android team can improve the system and have the confidence to make bigger changes. At the I/O conference, Google said that the new system would add 5,000 APIs, but now the number of added APIs has exceeded 7,000. Under the new strategy, more devices will be upgraded to the new system in advance because manufacturers have more time to prepare.

Stripping the core components

Google is stripping more things out of the system, including its own services and some core components. Through this strategy, Google can bypass operators and manufacturers to update important parts of the system and ensure that users use the latest Google software. On the one hand, this alleviates the impact of fragmentation on users, and on the other hand, it can also ensure that security vulnerabilities in the system are patched in a timely manner.

Starting from Android 5.0, Webview will be separated from the system and updated directly by Google. Webview is the rendering engine used by Android applications to display web content. In the Play Store, about 70% to 80% of applications use Webview, so it is a very important component of the system. After Webview is separated, when Google wants to fix security vulnerabilities, it can directly push patches without a comprehensive system update.

In addition to Webview, nothing new has been stripped out, but the Android team said that they have done a lot of basic work. In the future, some parts of the system will be stripped out and become updateable applications. For now, some important parts of the lock screen have been stripped out, especially security.

Changes to boot settings

Android 5.0's startup settings have undergone major changes. In addition to adopting a new interface, it can also be upgraded. After connecting to the Internet, the startup settings will first check for updates. This means that Google can improve the user login process and enhance its security at any time. In addition, a new feature has been added to the startup settings, called "Play Auto Install", which is for operator pre-installed applications. During the startup setup stage, "Play Auto Install" will download the operator's applications and put them in the data partition. For operators, they can make changes to pre-installed applications without releasing system updates. For users, since these applications are not in the system partition, they can be easily uninstalled.

In the startup settings, users can choose to restore apps and data from different devices. In addition, if the user is upgrading from an old phone, during the startup settings, the old phone can be touched to the new phone to complete the entire setup process. The two phones interact via NFC. The new phone needs to be running Android 5.0, while the old phone only needs to have the latest version of Google Play Service.

Nexus strategy changes

The new Nexus phones are bigger and more expensive, but the more important change is that Google will cooperate with several major US carriers. Considering the bad things that happened when Galaxy Nexus cooperated with Verizon, such as blocking Google Wallet and slow upgrades, will Nexus 6 face the same problems? In this regard, Burke said that such things will not happen because the carriers' thinking has changed and will be more efficient. At the same time, the Android team will also work hard to promote system upgrades. However, contract phones must be tested by the carriers. It seems that the upgrade of contract phones will be relatively late.

Continuous voice commands

The "always on voice commands" first introduced on the Moto X have also been added to Android 5.0. Like the Moto X, the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 use a low-power chip to handle voice commands. Burke said the Nexus 6 uses the same low-power chip as the Moto X.

On the Moto X, keyword recognition and voice commands use different programs, while Android 5.0 uses Google Search for everything, resulting in faster speed and higher recognition rates. Obviously, Google considers this an important feature. Android 5.0 supports a hardware abstraction layer for low-power chips. When implementing "uninterrupted voice commands", manufacturers can choose to use the main chip or a dedicated low-power chip, the latter of which is obviously more helpful to improve battery life.