It wouldn’t be a ‘normal’ year without Google destroying a service or platform. Just at the right time, the search giant announced that Android Things, a heavily stripped-down, Android-based operating system for Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, will close early next year.
The writing was on the wall, so today’s news isn’t much of a surprise. In February 2019, Google announced that it would refocus Android Things to help OEMs build smart speakers and smart displays. At the time, the company said it would continue to support hobbyist experiments with the operating system. “Over the past year, Google has worked closely with partners to create consumer products powered by Android Things with Google Assistant built-in. Given the successes we’ve seen with our partners in smart speakers and smart displays, we’re targeting Android Things is rebuilding as a platform for OEM partners to build devices in those categories in the future, ”Google said in 2019.
However, there is a new FAQ page (via ArsTechnica) reveals that Google will end all non-commercial use of the Android Things platform. From January 5, 2021, the Android Things console will stop supporting new projects and from January 5, 2022, the Android Things console will be rejected for all existing projects. Soon, the only products that can run Android Things will be those built on commercial hardware SoMs (system-on-modules) from vendors such as NXP, Qualcomm and MediaTek, but these will be “ only available to specific OEM partners who have building and smart displays. “
Google has gotten a few things right with Android Things. When it was announced, Google took an approach that prevented OEMs from modeling the operating system, saying that updates would be centrally distributed by Google about every three years. But the platform proved too unpopular for the IoT world, and Google soon moved on. That said, Google has other IoT platforms including Google Smart Home. But it’s an ignominious end to a platform that never really took off.