Rumour has it that Google is intend on tightening its Android policies up in a similar way to Microsoft and its Windows Phone 7 OS. This could mean manufacturers falling in line with a uniform standard of hardware and software across the board. We take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of such an approach.
Pros
An end to the ‘F’ word
The biggest problem to afflict Android from day one has been the dreaded ‘F’ word – fragmentation. Google’s open-door policy on both hardware and software has led to a huge variety of handsets flooding the market with all manner of technical specifications and custom UIs tacked on top.
The overall effect has been a disjointed ecosystem where apps can’t be made to work on the dizzying array of handset set-ups. This leads to irate Android owners who find that they’re unable to (for example) play Angry Birds on their brand new phones – a disaster of epic proportions, we’re sure you’ll agree.
If Google really does step in and enforce certain hardware standards, the general standard of app performance and compatibility will rise to nearer the iPhone and Windows Phone 7 standard. Joy!
Quicker and all-inclusive software updates
Related to the fragmentation issue, a more strictly regulated approach from Google would hopefully lead to an end to the interminable software update delays that almost all non-Nexus Android owners will have faced at some point. If everyone’s singing from the same hardware and software hymn sheet, Android OS updates should be rolled out to everyone far quicker. Um, shouldn’t they?
An end to dodgy custom UIs
You know that saying: “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”? We wish more Android handset manufacturers adopted it when deciding to go with a custom UI. Google has opened up the Android OS to heavy tweaking (or abuse, as it turns out), which is led to a raft of clunky, resource-hogging custom interfaces being grafted onto it. Not all of them are bad (as we’ll discuss later), but most of them are. Hopefully, Google’s (alleged) new-found mean streak will dissuade such needless meddling in future.
Cons
Android loses its USP
While it can feel a little chaotic, a little nerdy, and even a little amateurish at times, we love Android’s inherent openness. It’s part of its uniqueness, and the main reason there’s such a fierce divide between the fans of Apple’s slick-but-strictly-regimented iPhone ecosystem and the more laissez faire approach of Google. The variety of approaches to Android – in both the interface and the handsets that run it – marked it out as a mobile OS for almost everyone, and that could be lost with these new strict requirements.
Harder to make affordable handsets
Related to the last point, the lower end of the Android handset market could be put under pressure. With hardware specs supposedly set to be pinned down – inevitably to a pretty high spec – it could be hard for manufacturers to produce affordable handsets unless Google makes allowances. Part of Android’s success has been achieved through the ability for handset makers to produce £100 devices alongside the £500 elite while Apple (and now Microsoft) cannot.
Lose the better custom UIs
We’ve pointed to the eradication of custom UIs as a ‘Pro,’ but we’re going to be awkward and place it in the ‘Con’ section too. While most custom Android interfaces are poor, some of them have come up with some nice ideas, and the best of them have actually raised our expectations of what an official mobile OS should offer.
Okay, when we say “the best of them” we mainly mean HTC’s Sense UI. While it can be a bit of a resource hog it’s also an intuitive, attractive interface that uses widgets intelligently and integrates social networking more fully into your everyday smartphone use. Google’s rumoured change of heart could mean an end to such innovative thinking from handset manufacturers, which would be a shame.
YOU SHOULD READ — What do in-app payments mean for me?
