Google plans to solve the Android update problem with Project Treble

The new Android O feature aims to make it easier for manufacturers to deliver timely OS updates to their phones.

One thing i hate about our non-Pixel Android phones, it’s the lack of regular and even if there's speedy updates; Whenever a new version of Android comes out, even just a small one, it takes LG, Samsung, Sony, HTC, and everyone else months to push out an update to their latest phones. And perhaps you don’t have a flagship phone, don't bother about an update because it may not come. But a major change coming to Android O might make our hand-wringing a thing of the past.

Project Treble is already live in the first developer preview of Android O, and it will come to all new devices launching with Android O preinstalled.

Google says it's working with its silicon and device making partners to move some of their code changes, such as specific features for a specific network in a specific country, into the Android Open Source Project code. That means the developers of that code (say, Sony and Qualcomm) won't need to rework those patches for every new Android iteration anymore.

As Google describes, the current process is enormously time-consuming, forcing phone makers to not only update their own implementation but also Google’s OS framework.

Under the new system, Google is boiling those steps down to just one. The core concept involves separating the vendor implementation, which is the device-specific software written in large part by the silicon manufacturers, from the Android OS Framework. Starting with new devices that ship with Android O, Google will introduce a new “vendor interface” between Android and the unique device implementations that will provide access to the hardware-specific parts of Android. That means device makers will be able to push out new Android releases “without any additional work required from the silicon manufacturers.”