Google’s I/O developer conference will get underway tomorrow and top of the agenda will be the first official details about Android M, the next version of Google's mobile platform. I/O will be the place where Google announces the software, with Android M set to launch to devices later in the year. That will only be one year after the launch of Android 5.0 Lollipop, and Google says that yearly Android launches are something we should get used to.
The new build is currently known as "Macadamia Nut Cookie" within the walls of Google, but it is unlikely to have that name when it launches in November. Regarding releasing a new Android build every year, it is official from Google, with Hiroshi Lockheimer, the VP of Engineering for Android (in the process of confirming Android M for tomorrow) confirming that the company will launch Android N in 2016 and Android O in 2017.
That’s nothing new in this industry obviously, Apple has been doing yearly roll outs with iOS for years, although we think Android should take a slightly different approach. The platform already struggles with fragmentation across aging versions and a new release every year will only exasperate the divide. While Apple and indeed Windows can boast 80% or more adoption numbers during a yearly life cycle of iOS, Android lags way behind. As Android fans, we would prefer Google to let each build have at least 18 months on the market to allow it to take hold and become dominant on the platform, giving more users a new experience. There are hundreds of millions of Android devices out there still not even on Lollipop, or even KitKat, but here Google is with a new build.
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