Google and Qualcomm have worked to bring changes to Project Treble that reduces the effort required to support Android versions on new SoC, making up to four OS updates easier for OEMs.
Google introduced Project Treble back in 2017 to combat the problem of OS fragmentation and streamline the process of Android updates. The firm boasted of the gains in the speed of adoption of Android 10 earlier this year, stating that version of the OS saw the fastest pace of adoption, ever. Project Treble helped speed up the process of OS updates by creating a “system/vendor” split that let OEMs and SoC develop devices and silicon independent of each other. These modules communicate through the form of a stable vendor interface. When new versions of the OS are released, Google releases Generic System Images (GSIs) that are compatible with the previous three vendor interfaces and implementations (low-level, device specific software). The firm also mandates that OEMs that release new devices with the new OS make their implementation compatible with the GSIs, thus making them compatible with older interfaces, even if OEMs modify the OS framework to their liking.
