In February 2019, Google announced it was “refocusing” Android’s IoT platform to be only for OEMs building smart displays and speakers. Google is now shutting down Android Things for non-commercial use.
Google originally wanted to create an Internet-of-Things operating system where it could handle the ‘heavy lifting’ of maintaining a platform, so developers could focus only on products. Originally known as Brillo, it became Android Things in late 2016. That name change was meant to reflect how Android developers could use their existing skills to create consumer, retail, and industrial devices.
However, early last year, Google discovered that Android Things was primarily used by OEMs to build assistant smart displays and speakers. As such, it ended support for those using the platform to build other types of commercial products.
Back then, ‘experimenting with and building smart, connected devices’ remained possible. That is now coming to an end with a banner on existing Android Things developer documentation and the FAQ page (via Ars Technicaplan detailing.
There are two major dates, with the Android Things Console no longer allowing new NXP i.MX7D and Raspberry Pi 3B projects to be created on January 5, 2021:
Developers can continue to use the Android Things console to create images and deliver OTA updates for their existing projects until January 5, 2022.
A year later Google will remove the console and “all project data will be permanently deleted – including build configurations and factory images”, completing the Android Things shutdown.
Those looking for a different solution are advised to look at Cloud IoT Core. Available through Google Cloud, it is a “fully managed service that allows you to easily and securely connect, manage and ingest data from millions of globally distributed devices”. Edge TPUs are available in the same way.
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