One of Android's biggest problems remains the fact that it is difficult for tablet and smartphone users to get access to new updates and releases.
Google's Android operating system is in many cases more fully featured than its Apple competition. However, fragmentation keeps holding Android back. Months after they are released by Google, most Android phones are not updated with the newest versions of Android.
According to statistics made by experts in the industry, Apple can expect the uptake of its latest version of iOS to top 85 percent in just 1 year. But the newest Android release might make it onto fewer than 10 percent of devices in a similar timeframe. The latest version of the operating system is used by only few of Android's 1.4 billion users.
According to ZDNet, Google keeps a list ranking smartphone OEMs based on their speed in pushing Android updates out to devices. There are also reports claiming that Google intends to make this list public.
A Bloomberg report analyzed Google's relationship with smartphone manufacturers and came to the conclusion that the company is addressing aggressively Android's biggest problem, fragmentation. According to the same publication, Google will use a two-way approach in order to remedy the problem.
The first way is just practical. Google will streamline the update process in order to help manufacturers to keep up. The other way is more coercive, the company is considering shaming publicly the OEMs that are slow to push the latest Android update.
According to Gizmodo, Google's list is ranking top phone makers by how up-to-date their handsets are, based on operating system versions and security patches. Earlier this year, Google already shared this list with Android partners and has discussed it, making it public.
Due to differing philosophies about their role in how smartphones should work, both operating systems have inherent weaknesses and strengths. Google is ready to use such aggressive measures in order to correct the Android's biggest issue, because fragmentation strikes deep at what makes iOS and Android different.
