Google recently announced the Project Treble which it hopes will solve the pain of updating smartphones to the latest version of Android. As of today, the process is multifaceted and includes a number of moving players, including Google, silicon makers, manufacturers, and carrier partners.
The complexity of all the pieces translates into lots of time and money for the ecosystem to test, certify, and release new system builds for existing phones. Project Treble, which will work with Android O and subsequent versions of Android, rearranges how the operating system is configured at a base level in order to simplify the process. "The core concept is to separate the vendor implementation — the device-specific, lower-level software written in large part by the silicon manufacturers — from the Android OS Framework.
This is achieved by the introduction of a new vendor interface between the Android OS framework and the vendor implementation. The new vendor interface is validated by a Vendor Test Suite, analogous to the CTS, to ensure forward compatibility of the vendor implementation." Put more plainly, device makers will be able to update their devices to newer versions of Android underneath their custom UI without disturbing it, and without requiring help from silicon manufacturers. Google states some aspects of Project Treble are already included in the Developer Preview of O running on Pixel phones.
The company also plans to work with its silicon and device partners to ensure a smooth transition to the new architecture for future phones. Google expects to release full details of Project Treble with the launch of Android O later this summer.
