Google plans to shut down Android Things, a stripped-down version of Android designed for smarthome devices. The OS never really took off, so this isn’t much of a loss, but it’s yet another entry in Google’s extensive graveyard of closed projects.
The smarthome project started in 2015 under the name Brillo, intended to provide the ‘underlying operating system for the internet of things’. In 2016, Google revamped Brillo and relaunched the initiative as Android Things, which was also intended to run on products such as connected speakers, security cameras and routers. By relying on Android, the OS had to be developers known and easy to get started with.
Then nothing happened. In 2018, some of the first smart speakers and smart screens were released with the underlying operating system. It seems that no other companies were interested, as in February 2019 Google announced that it would “reorient” Android Things to specifically cater to smart speakers and smart screens.
Nearly two years later, and Android Things is now on track to shut down. The Android Things Console, which allows developers to send updates to their devices, will no longer accept new non-commercial projects starting January 5, 2021. A year later, on January 5, 2022, “the console will shut down completely and all project data will be permanently deleted.” Basically, that means developers have a year to phase out any Android Things projects they’ve already set up. .
It’s an inglorious ending for a project that has barely made a dent in the landscape in five years, especially as smart home devices have become increasingly popular.
In case you’re interested, here’s the story of Android Things, told in all four of the headlines it made The edge: