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Android only ever had a chance because it is one ecosystem. Developers aren't going to develop for five slightly-different ecosystems in a trench coat.

OutOfHere 1y ago
> Developers aren't going to develop for five slightly-different ecosystems The point, perhaps, is for one to emerge as the prominent choice, the correct one. Diversity however has its own value.
- palata 1y ago
  I wish Android manufacturers contributed to AOSP, so that it would still be one ecosystem, but with shared ownership. But I guess it's more profitable for all of them to let Google do it on their own. And it sucks for the user, because we have to live with Google's decisions.
  - OutOfHere 1y ago
    But does Google accept third-party contributions for AOSP?
    - charcircuit 1y ago
      Yes, anyone is free to contribute to AOSP and many manufacturers already do. https://source.android.com/docs/setup/contribute/submit-patches https://source.android.com/docs/setup/contribute/submit-patc...
charcircuit 1y ago
There already are multiple different android ecosystems today. For example Samsung has SDKs that have features when targeting their flavor of Android. There will still be a common base.
folmar 1y ago
This ship has sailed, in the past Amazon's store did not succeed a lot, but there are already a few important enough offsprings: * Huawei with separate store and no Gapps * Samsung with importantly different browser and ton of extra features, also another store * in China the app-in-wechat and similar are a major thing If you develop for a diverse set of user you need a lot of effort.
chasil 1y ago
Apps that run on the Kindle Fire can't use Google Mobile Services, and the Amazon appstore is missing many well-known titles. The Play Store is mostly absent from China, and I really don't know how that ecosystem works. Was there one ecosystem?
- izacus 1y ago
  You're too young to remember Symbian and Java phone ecosystem mess, are you? Or even Android of around 2.x era, where getting an app doesn't mean it works on your phone?
  - chasil 1y ago
    Oh, my sweet summer child, my first classroom exposure was CP/M.
    - izacus 1y ago
      Then you should know better :))
      - chasil 1y ago
        I am within a year of retirement, and you think I should care?

OutOfHere 1y ago

> Developers aren't going to develop for five slightly-different ecosystems The point, perhaps, is for one to emerge as the prominent choice, the correct one. Diversity however has its own value.

palata 1y ago
I wish Android manufacturers contributed to AOSP, so that it would still be one ecosystem, but with shared ownership. But I guess it's more profitable for all of them to let Google do it on their own. And it sucks for the user, because we have to live with Google's decisions.
- OutOfHere 1y ago
  But does Google accept third-party contributions for AOSP?
  - charcircuit 1y ago
    Yes, anyone is free to contribute to AOSP and many manufacturers already do. https://source.android.com/docs/setup/contribute/submit-patches https://source.android.com/docs/setup/contribute/submit-patc...

charcircuit 1y ago

There already are multiple different android ecosystems today. For example Samsung has SDKs that have features when targeting their flavor of Android. There will still be a common base.

folmar 1y ago

This ship has sailed, in the past Amazon's store did not succeed a lot, but there are already a few important enough offsprings: * Huawei with separate store and no Gapps * Samsung with importantly different browser and ton of extra features, also another store * in China the app-in-wechat and similar are a major thing If you develop for a diverse set of user you need a lot of effort.

chasil 1y ago

Apps that run on the Kindle Fire can't use Google Mobile Services, and the Amazon appstore is missing many well-known titles. The Play Store is mostly absent from China, and I really don't know how that ecosystem works. Was there one ecosystem?

izacus 1y ago
You're too young to remember Symbian and Java phone ecosystem mess, are you? Or even Android of around 2.x era, where getting an app doesn't mean it works on your phone?
- chasil 1y ago
  Oh, my sweet summer child, my first classroom exposure was CP/M.
  - izacus 1y ago
    Then you should know better :))
    - chasil 1y ago
      I am within a year of retirement, and you think I should care?