# treble

Published articles for treble.

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## Android Fragmentation: How Google Addressed It and Why Version Updates Matter Less

DevFeed: [Android Fragmentation: How Google Addressed It and Why Version Updates Matter Less](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/android-fragmentation-state-did-google-fixed-it-25962.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://proandroiddev.com/android-fragmentation-state-0e7be1649e66?source=rss-7a0a233f88a2------2>)

Author: Kirill Rozov

Published: 2023-10-23T01:40:30Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Stories by Kirill Rozov on Medium](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/stories-by-kirill-rozov-on-medium.md>)

Topics: [Android](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/android.md>), [Google](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/google.md>), [Mobile](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/mobile.md>), [Operating system](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/operating-system.md>), [Open Source](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/open-source.md>)

Tags: [android](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/android.md>), [android-13](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/android-13.md>), [applications](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/applications.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/data.md>), [development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/development.md>), [devices](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/devices.md>), [fragmentation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/fragmentation.md>), [google](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/google.md>), [google-play](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/google-play.md>), [mobile](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mobile.md>), [open-source](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/open-source.md>), [os](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/os.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [treble](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/treble.md>)

### AI overview

An opinion article examines Android fragmentation, its historical causes, Google's efforts to address it, and why independent updates have made device Android-version updates less important. It uses Android's Photo Picker as an example of functionality extended to older devices through Google Play Services.

### Source excerpt

Android Fragmentation state. Did Google fix it?Image generated by Kandinsky 2.2 In Android 13 a new feature called Photo Picker appeared. It allows applications to access individual user photos and videos without giving them full access to the photo/video or the entire memory of the device. This is a good feature for limiting an application's access to a user's personal data. It was immediately announced that this feature would also work on Android 11 and newer (with support for Mainline updates), and later its support was added to all devices with Android 4.4 and above via Google Play Services. I immediately asked myself, why hasn't it been done before? And the answer is simple -- Android didn't allow to implement this, because Google was struggling with fragmentation and working on the possibility of an independent update of Android, it became a reality. In this article, I share my opinion about Android fragmentation. You will learn what it is, the reasons for its appearance, and why it is no longer so relevant. I'll also tell you about the ways Google did with this problem in the first 10 years of Android's existence and why device updates to newer versions of Android will not be as important as before. The article is my own opinion and it can be wrong, but I open to discuss it in commentsBrief History of Android OS To understand the problems that OS developers faced, we need to go back in time. The history of Android begins in 2004. Andy Rubin decided to develop an operating system for digital cameras, which were very popular at the time. However, due to funding problems and the pretty small market for digital cameras, the system was refocused on smartphones as a competitor to Symbian and Windows Mobile. In 2005, the company was acquired by Google. The Good Corporation decided to enter the mobile phone market by selling its OS to device manufacturers. In 2007, the Open Handset Alliance was created, and at the same time, Android was announced as an open-source mob