Qualcomm and Google have announced they will work on the expansion of Project Treble, Google’s ambitious multi-year project that aims to simplify OS updates so that device manufacturers can more easily upgrade phones and tablets to new Android versions without worry. worry about Qualcomm’s chipset-specific software.
The goal is to make it even easier for users to get the latest version of Android on their phone (something that isn’t always guaranteed) and to ensure that new Qualcomm chips support four Android OS updates and four years of security updates – a quantum leap from what most Android phones usually offer. If such a feat is actually achieved, Android smartphones would get closer to Apple’s iPhones in terms of long-term software support.
What Qualcomm and Google are doing here is a bit technical, but essentially it boils down to a similar application of the existing Project Treble strategy, which breaks Android itself down into several pieces. Thanks to Project Treble, OEMs can (in theory) just use the updated piece of Google software without having to worry about waiting for updated components from silicon companies like Qualcomm.
The new approach with Qualcomm makes it easier for the chipmaker by reducing the added combinations of software it had to support (thanks to previous Treble efforts), allowing for faster updates – at least in theory.
The catch is that it will be a few years before we can see what, if any, benefits this program will bring to speed up the Android update cycle or extend the life of the device. That’s because Qualcomm is only making this commitment for future devices, starting with the upcoming Snapdragon 888 (which will hit phones in early 2021).