Android 13 Showcases What The OS Can Offer… And Its Fragmentation Problem

Android 13 is here, but who’s getting it?

Android 13 is fantastic, but Android itself is fragmented.

On August 15, Google released the latest version of its mobile OS, Android 13. It comes with a number of new features and improvements, as well as offers better security and performance fixes. In other words, like all new versions of any OS, version 13 is the most advanced version of Android — more feature-rich, smoother in terms of performance, and more secure. This is good news for Android users. The bad news is that very few of them are actually likely to get to use this new version of Android for a while. 

Android: A fractured, fragmented family 

If that sounds harsh, then just consider the fact that only about 20-21 percent of Android users are actually using Android 12, the version of Android that came before Android 13, which has been available since late 2021. 

In fact, most of the phones running Android are on versions that are more than a year old. No matter how far Android progresses, a number of its users are actually living in the past. This is not a new phenomenon either. It has been around for so long that it has almost become an Android trademark — there are almost half a dozen versions of the OS still alive and kicking at the time a new version is released. For all its versatility and openness, Android is actually a very fractured, fragmented family in terms of versions. 

And this seems unlikely to change in the immediate future. We have heard of brands making commitments to providing Android OS updates and security patches for two to four years after the launch of a phone, but there are no strict timetables for this. 

At the time of writing, apart from Google's own Pixel range of devices, Android 13 was not available on any other Android phones. A number of brands are offering the OS in beta version for some users, but this is not a stable version and often affects device performance adversely — precisely why it is called a beta and not a final version. 

Android 13 updates are not expected for a few months (early 2023 is what most of the brands have been saying off the record) and even then, are not expected to come to most phones in the market. If past trends are anything to go by, only high-profile devices and flagships are likely to get Android 13 updates. 

The rest will have no option but to soldier on with older versions, perhaps with relatively new security patches. 

Why updating Android is a pain

This is in stark contrast to Android's biggest rival, iOS, which runs on iPhones, where almost three-fourths of iPhone handsets are on iOS 15, the latest version of the operating system. iOS 16 is expected to be released in a few weeks, and it is a fair chance that most iPhones will be upgraded to it within days of its release. 

Which of course, begs the question: why do Android phones not get updates like iPhones do?

Well, the answer is simple: because of the sheer different types of Android devices. Variety might be the spice of life but it is toxic for software updates. Apple controls the hardware and software of all its iPhones, which are anyway limited in number,  so it knows exactly the kind of device(s) it has to make software updates for. 

Samsung on the other hand has to figure out the update for a large number of phones with different processors, different RAM and storage options, different sorts of displays, different cameras, and of course, different versions of Samsung's own interface, OneUI. 

It is not as if one can simply take Android 13 and put it on a phone — it has to be tweaked and adjusted to work with different phones. And the greater the number of phones and different components (processors, camera, RAM, batteries, etc.), the more difficult and time-consuming it is to develop an update. 

What complicates matters even further is that in the case of existing devices, brands have to come out with software that only updates the device to the new version of Android but also cleans out the previous version. 

This is made more complicated by the presence of elaborate Android 'skins' or interfaces from different brands, such as OneUI from Samsung, MIUI from Xiaomi, and FunTouchOS from Vivo.

In essence, a manufacturer has to make the new version of Android suitable for their device (adjust it as per processor, display, cameras, and so on) and also then change their own UI (OneUI, MIUI, etc.) to work well with the new version of Android. Not only that, they then have to make sure that the older versions of Android and the brand's UI on the device are removed cleanly. 

Any mistakes in this process can lead to a massive outcry on social networks and embarrass the brand — there have been several instances where brands have had to withdraw or roll back an Android update, because it turned out to be buggy, and created more problems than it solved. 

In fact, there is a vocal section on the Internet that advises users not to update their phones to new versions of software, warning that it could slow down the phone or even stop it from working altogether. Small wonder that many brands prefer to release a new version of Android preinstalled on new devices and prefer to give lower priority to updates for older and existing devices. This is what really causes Android fragmentation. 

Older software = fewer features, poor security, app development headaches

But is Android fragmentation even a problem? Well, it might not seem so to many consumers, as phones tend to general work well even on older versions of Android — after all, global usage stats do indicate that almost a tenth of Android users are using Android Pie which was released in 2018. 

But while Android phones can work on older versions of the OS, users who cannot update to new versions tend to miss out not just on new features but also generally end up facing more security issues than those who update to a newer version. 

The presence of so many versions of Android in the market also makes it difficult for app developers to develop apps and games, as they have to tweak the app to ensure that it runs on as many versions of Android as possible. For instance, if an app developer makes an app that needs Android 12, that developer loses out on about 80 percent of the Android audience. 

This slows down app development speed and also makes many developers opt to initially focus on iOS rather than Android. So while it might not be apparent to users who are content with their devices running older versions of Android, Android fragmentation is a serious problem — one that has repercussions for users as well as the tech community. 

Android 13 is fantastic, but Android itself is fragmented 

It is also a problem that seems to have no solution in sight. Google did try to improve the scenario with the Android One initiative where it planned to work with phone brands to ensure that phones launched under Android One branding received timely updates, but that initiative failed because the updates either did not come or were not timely. 

Most of the major brands today have also committed to providing Android updates to their consumers for a few years after the launch of the product, but there is no assurance as to when a device will get an update. 

For instance, the OnePlus Nord which was launched two years ago, got the Android 12 update in May this year, although Android 12 was available in late 2021 itself. 

Very recently, the co-founder of Nothing, Carl Pei, stated that the brand's first phone, the Phone (1), which was released with much hype and fanfare in July, would receive the Android 13 update only in 2023! In fact, at the time of writing, no non-Google device had received a public, stable Android 13 update or even a clear schedule for getting it.  From the information at our disposal, most of the devices scheduled for launch in the next month will come with Android 12 preinstalled on them. When they will get updated to the new version of Android is anyone's guess. 

Meanwhile, almost 30 percent of the phones out there are running on Android 11, more than the phones running Android 12. It is like one massive jigsaw with all the pieces fitting together, but not forming a clear picture!

We have no idea how different pieces of the Android version puzzle can be put together to form a single, stable version picture — that is a challenge for tech wizards rather than muggle writers, but we do hope it happens soon.  

Simply because the OS's current state is not healthy for anyone in the long run — consumers, app developers, component manufacturers, and even phone brands themselves. Until that happens, Android users will not only have no option but to put up with older, less feature-rich, and less secure software on their phones but also taunts of "my five-year-old iPhone got a software update at the same time as the newest iPhone!"

Warning: that taunt is likely to dominate the Internet in September when iOS 16 goes public. 

It is great to see Android 13 out there. But we are not holding our breath for it to arrive on existing smartphones. Not for a while.