Google expects to have more Android 9 Pie smartphones in 2018 than Oreo in 2017
Google is hoping its latest version of Android, Android 9 Pie, will be available on more devices by the end of the year than its predecessor managed in 2017.
The Android operating system is the most popular in the world, used on smartphones and tablets. However, it has a stagnation problem, as each device maker has to take the time to optimise each update with their products, often leading to delays.
Project Treble, a framework that helps speed up the adoption of updates, was set up to aid Android’s operating system challenge and could speed things up further with Google’s intention to make all devices launching with Android 9 Pie or later Treble-compliant.
“Thanks to Treble, we expect to see more devices from OEMs running Android 9 Pie at the end of 2018 as compared to the number of devices that were running Android Oreo at the end of 2017,” said Project Treble architect, Iliyan Malchev.
Android’s rival, Apple-owned iOS, is able to roll out updates much more speedily because it uses the operating system exclusively on its own products, meaning it has greater control over how soon its devices are updated.
When Apple rolled out iOS 12 in September, within 44 days 60% of all iOS devices were using the latest update.
By comparison, Google data from late October shows Oreo is the most installed version, which was released back in 2017, while Pie struggles behind at 0.1%.
