Google’s “Project Treble” solves one of Android’s many update roadblocks

Since time immemorial, the Android ecosystem has made quickly updating an operating system across devices seem like an impossible task. Google releases a new version of Android, and while Nexus and Pixel devices get updated, other Android OEMs mostly shrug their shoulders and go about their business. If users are lucky, they might get an OS update six months down the line, at which point Google has already moved on to an even newer version of Android.

Ahead of Google I/O, Google has just dropped a bombshell of a blog post that promises, for real this time, that it is finally doing something about Android's update problems. "Project Treble" is a plan to modularize the Android OS, separating the OS framework code from "vendor specific" hardware code. In theory, this change would allow for a new Android update to be flashed on a device without any involvement from the silicon vendor. Google calls it "the biggest change to the low-level system architecture of Android to date," and it's already live on the Google Pixel's Android O Developer Preview.

This is not a magic bullet that will solve all of Android's update problems, however. After an update is released, Google lists three steps to creating an Android update:

1. Silicon manufacturers (Qualcomm, Samsung Exynos, etc) "modify the new release for their specific hardware" and do things like make sure drivers and power management will still work.
2. OEMs (Samsung, LG, HTC) step in and "modify the new release again as needed for their devices." This means making sure all the hardware works, rebranding Android with a custom skin, adding OEM apps, and modifying core parts of the Android OS to add special features like (before 7.0) multi-window support.
3. Carriers add more apps, more branding, and "test and certify the new release."

Project Treble is only addressing "step 1." Google and silicon manufacturers have finally created a stable "vendor interface" that the hardware and OS can plug into, a move we've suggested implementing in the past. Just as Google has OEMs pass a "Compatibility Test Suite" (CTS) that ensures that third-party Android apps can run on their OS implementation, silicon vendors will now have a "Vendor Test Suite" (VTS) that ensures "forward compatibility of the vendor implementation." Google says that VTS-compliant vendors can "choose to deliver a new Android release to consumers by just updating the Android OS framework without any additional work required from the silicon manufacturers." For now, there aren't many details, but Google says it will release the full documentation for Treble when the final version of Android O launches later this year.

"No additional work from the silicon vendors" is only a third of the battle, though. Steps two and three above will still be issues. While VTS-compliant silicon vendors can choose to easily update to a new Android OS, Project Treble would only enable a "hands-off" OS update if OEMs use unmodified stock Android. Treble does not address skinning, custom apps, custom features, or any other changes to the core OS. Companies like Samsung will still change every single piece of the Android UI and add custom features, creating lots of work for themselves when update time comes along.

Motivation is also still a problem. OEMs and carriers will still be a roadblock in the way of updates, and they are still free to drag their feet when it comes to updating older models. Google's blog post notes, "One thing we've consistently heard from our device-maker partners is that updating existing devices to a new version of Android is incredibly time consuming and costly." Updating Android will still be costly because OEMs and carriers will still be in the loop, and, because updating a device has a negative effect on companies' bottom lines, they're not motivated to actually do it.

This also isn't the first time Google has promised to improve Android's update situation. The "Android Update Alliance"—a group of OEMs that totally pinky sweared to do a better job at delivering updates—was announced at I/O and was then immediately forgotten about.

Still, this program sounds like a big help for Android's update situation, and it could carve out one step of the three-step process. If nothing else, it should help Google phones directly. Currently, Google phones like the Pixel are limited to only two years of major OS updates. This is pretty bad compared to Apple's update system, which has hit five years of support for some iOS devices. The "two-year update plan" is something that the entire Android ecosystem has mostly settled on, but, as Google describes, the first step in changing this would be to get Qualcomm to support an SoC for more than two years. With Project Treble enabled on the Pixel phones, Google now has no one to blame other than itself for the Pixels getting end-of-life'd. If consumers pressure Google to provide more than two years of major OS updates, the company can now totally do it.

"Is this device Project Treble enabled?" is something we're going to have to ask at every single launch event from now on. OEMs can now be the first one to blame when an update doesn't arrive, and it should stop some of the finger-pointing that happens when consumers ask where their update is. Android O is clearly required, but it's very interesting that the Pixel phones were updated to include Project Treble. This means it's possible for devices like the Galaxy S8 to be updated with Treble as well. Now we get to see which OEMs really care about updates. No more excuses.