When Google announced Android 5.0 Lollipop yesterday, one of the points that they tried to really drive home was the fact that Android is an open architecture and system. That statement is a bit of a contrast with developments over the past year that have shown Google seemingly exerting more control over Android and how it is deployed rather than really opening things up. Google vice president of engineering, Hiroshi Lockheimer, indicates in a new interview that we should see Google back off moving forward and that the company had a good reason for the approach they took this past year.
The first signs of an issue for Google seemed to really surface early in 2014 when feathers were ruffled over Samsung’s Magazine UI that was slated for a new crop of tablet devices. That incident was smoothed over and Samsung eventually backed off on deployment of the Magazine UI.
Google’s restrictions resurfaced over the summer with the introduction of Android Wear smartwatches. Many people noticed that Google severely limited the ability of manufacturers to do any major customization to the operating system running on these devices. Primarily, users could change watch faces, but that was about it. The lack of flexibility is also extending to Android Auto and Android TV.
Lockheimer says the perception is wrong though and that “it’s not some Google-way-or-the-highway kind of thing.” According to Lockheimer, Google wanted some extra time and experience to make sure the basics were right and the new devices would function as intended. This was necessary because Android is being pushed out to a wide variety of platforms and not just the traditional smartphone and tablet devices.
As experience is gained with the new form factors and how Android can be used to power them, Lockheimer says Google will be backing off some of the restrictions currently in place. One of the first examples of this could be the forthcoming Asus Zen Watch. Lockheimer indicated in the interview that Google is “trying to find the right balance of differentiation and customization.”
In the interview, Lockheimer also shared a little bit about Google’s worldview on development of an operating system. One of the key components for the company is that development is done in parallel with hardware development because “you can’t build an OS in the abstract.” Thus, Google will continue with the Nexus line of devices into the foreseeable future despite concern earlier this year that Google may be abandoning Nexus for the now defunct Android Silver program.
source: <re/code>
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