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Ask HN: Will Google ditch Android anytime soon?
I see a lot of evidence that Google is trying to ditch Android and make a Chrome for mobile operation system based on their Chrome OS project.
One of recent moves that makes me think it's really serious it their momentum around Chrome Apps for mobile [1]. The main reason is licensing, Google is giving away it's work for free to Amazon and others who fork Android and give back nothing. Chrome OS on other hand is licensed against this. Google can control everything from end to end.
Moving to a web based ecosystem gives Google ability to deliver their services on almost any platform very easy. They already started their push on framed web apps in both iOS and Android.
To all of this, add Dart and web components that Google is pushing on it.
To me it's obvious that Google will ditch Android some day and move fast enough to leave everyone behind with an old operation system on their hand.
What do you think? Is there enough reasons for Google to do this?
[1]https://github.com/MobileChromeApps/
- jfoster 13y agoThey are likely planning to merge Android and Chrome OS and have been fairly open about that, but I think it's Chrome OS that's getting chopped. Google just added QuickOffice to Chrome OS. That suggests to me that it might already be Android under the bonnet. It makes sense, too. Chrome OS is essentially an OS that exists primarily to run Chrome on. Google might as well just make that OS Android, which already has Chrome.
- pedalpete 13y agoAndroid is the largest mobile operating system in the world. I don't see Google ditching it any time soon. However, running Chrome Apps on mobile? Why not. That just gives Google another way for developers to build apps for the google ecosystems.
- robin_reala 13y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_Law_of_Headlines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_Law_of_Headline... "Any headline which ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no."
- js7 13y agoMy next submission will have the headline: "Is Betteridge's law of headlines always correct?"
- gress 13y agoThey are more likely to simply push their own apps more and more into chrome apps and focus a disproportionate amount of effort into Chrome on Android. Android itself won't be 'ditched', but will become a delivery mechanism for chrome.
- seabrookmx 13y ago> To me it's obvious that Google will ditch Android some day To me it isn't. Like pedalpete has already stated, it is the largest mobile operating system in the world. It is literally impossible for them to ditch Android, as their board/shareholders would freak the hell out. You are on the right track with licensing though. However, they are going about it a different way, by slowly adding closed source components to Android. I won't get into a philosophical discussion (I'm an Android user, and also an open-source advocate) but there have been quite a few articles like this[1] one explaining the situation. How far they intend to go with this restructuring, I don't know. [1] - http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/ http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-...