Google and Android Are Fragmented
October 25, 2017
Google and Android are usually linked in arm and arm proving that the latter is the superior phone. There might be problems, however, with Google’s newest augmented reality program ARCore. The news comes from Venture Beat’s story, “Android’s Fragmentation Will Give Google’s ARCore Problems.” Google released the ARCore to compete with Apple’s ARKit, but problems occur with fragmentation.
One of the reasons is that there are 24,000 smartphones that use the Android OS. This would not be an issue, except all of these devices use one of seven different versions of the Android software. It is difficult, nay, impossible for all of the smartphone developers to agree on a set of standards. Apple has the benefit of being a singular company without that issue.
The ARCore will only run on high end smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Pixel, that do not have the fragmentation problem. Google also does not have a happy developer community, because they are forced to make multiple copies of the same app for the different Android versions.
Ultimately, if you don’t have happy developers, you won’t have great content, which means you won’t have users. Just look at Microsoft’s Windows Smartphone: it failed to attract developers to build its mobile ecosystem, which former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer blamed for the demise of the company’s smartphone unit.
Android has fragmentation issues with the ARCore as well as a fragmented developer community. Things could and probably will change in who dominates the phone market, but for now, Apple remains on top.
Whitney Grace, October 25, 2017
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