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I think at this point it's too late. The genie is out! Fragmentation is a bit like entropy, it's hard to put it back in order. The main issue is, the largest

I think at this point it's too late. The genie is out! Fragmentation is a bit like entropy, it's hard to put it back in order. The main issue is, the largest Android hardware vendor has no inherent interest to follow Google. Samsung sees itself as the next Apple and they want to tackle both hardware/software differentiation to maintaing market dominance. Unless google wants to follow Samsung, the fragmentation will be around.

cpeterso 13y ago
Samsung's dominance is a good thing for Google's "Play Services" strategy to reduce fragmentation if Samsung continues to ship "Google Experience" devices that include Google's Play Store. AFAIK, Samsung would not be able to block apps from pulling down the Play Store library dependency to older devices.
untog 13y ago
I don't think it's ever too late. Sure, it's sub-optimal, a lot of people are still on 2.x, but 4.x has finally overtaken: http://www.techspot.com/news/51862-android-4x-installations-overtake-23-gingerbread-after-17-months.html http://www.techspot.com/news/51862-android-4x-installations-... Assuming Android will be around for many years, they can fix the vast majority if this issue.
- krschultz 13y ago
  That said, Google changed the way those stats are recorded. It used to be based on all phones that connect to their servers. Now it is based on logins to the Google Play store "because they are more active". That's why the line graphs of version share over time are no longer on the dashboard, because it would show a big discontinuity where they changed their methodology. That said, just like on the web it's all about what your users have. My app has roughly 25% Gingerbread and 75% Ice Cream Sandwich or newer. I hope that holds, but there really is no way to stop building for Gingerbread even with the majority on the newer versions.
coldcode 13y ago
Perhaps Samsung will do the ultimate stupid and leave Android behind. This would make Google's job much easier.
snogglethorpe 13y ago
> Samsung sees itself as the next Apple That seems like a fatal delusion... Apple, for all that I don't like many of their policies or much of their software, is in a different class when it comes to hardware. They have something special that other makers do not, and that gives them an edge. [It remains to be seen whether they can keep this edge with Steve Jobs out of the picture, of course.] Samsung makes decent hardware, but they aren't in a different class than other Android smartphone makers. Their current position has a lot to do with simply being in the right place at the right time, and making some good calls, but there's really nothing particularly special about their hardware, and their software (that is, the software they write, rather than stock Android stuff) is reportedly pretty typical of big electronics makers: really bad. For a while, they can coast along on name-recognition, but I can't see any direction but down for Samsung if they attempt to strike out on their own.

cpeterso 13y ago

Samsung's dominance is a good thing for Google's "Play Services" strategy to reduce fragmentation if Samsung continues to ship "Google Experience" devices that include Google's Play Store. AFAIK, Samsung would not be able to block apps from pulling down the Play Store library dependency to older devices.

untog 13y ago

I don't think it's ever too late. Sure, it's sub-optimal, a lot of people are still on 2.x, but 4.x has finally overtaken: http://www.techspot.com/news/51862-android-4x-installations-overtake-23-gingerbread-after-17-months.html http://www.techspot.com/news/51862-android-4x-installations-... Assuming Android will be around for many years, they can fix the vast majority if this issue.

krschultz 13y ago
That said, Google changed the way those stats are recorded. It used to be based on all phones that connect to their servers. Now it is based on logins to the Google Play store "because they are more active". That's why the line graphs of version share over time are no longer on the dashboard, because it would show a big discontinuity where they changed their methodology. That said, just like on the web it's all about what your users have. My app has roughly 25% Gingerbread and 75% Ice Cream Sandwich or newer. I hope that holds, but there really is no way to stop building for Gingerbread even with the majority on the newer versions.

coldcode 13y ago

Perhaps Samsung will do the ultimate stupid and leave Android behind. This would make Google's job much easier.

snogglethorpe 13y ago

> Samsung sees itself as the next Apple That seems like a fatal delusion... Apple, for all that I don't like many of their policies or much of their software, is in a different class when it comes to hardware. They have something special that other makers do not, and that gives them an edge. [It remains to be seen whether they can keep this edge with Steve Jobs out of the picture, of course.] Samsung makes decent hardware, but they aren't in a different class than other Android smartphone makers. Their current position has a lot to do with simply being in the right place at the right time, and making some good calls, but there's really nothing particularly special about their hardware, and their software (that is, the software they write, rather than stock Android stuff) is reportedly pretty typical of big electronics makers: really bad. For a while, they can coast along on name-recognition, but I can't see any direction but down for Samsung if they attempt to strike out on their own.