Google has been on a multi-year journey to kill fragmentation within the Android ecosystem. Once I’m speaking about Android fragmentation, I’m referring to how there are various, many alternative implementations of the Android working system on the market. That’s not an issue in and of itself on condition that Google deliberately lets machine makers customise Android to their liking. Nonetheless, it does make distributing OS updates a bit tougher. One resolution to this downside that Google got here up with again in 2019 known as Undertaking Mainline.
Below Undertaking Mainline, sure working system parts are packaged as modules. Then they’re distributed instantly by Google relatively than your machine’s OEM. This makes them a lot simpler to replace throughout units. As an alternative of ready in your machine’s explicit OEM or provider to merge, check, and distribute a safety or function replace to a core OS element, you may as an alternative go away issues within the palms of Google.
When an replace to a Undertaking Mainline module is on the market, Google will push an replace out to all people by means of the Google Play Retailer utilizing a mechanism known as Google Play System Updates. Since Undertaking Mainline modules are signed by Google, they will push out updates to Mainline modules even on units from different producers.
Checking for Google Play System Updates in Android
Android 15 to show the NFC stack into an updateable Undertaking Mainline module
When Undertaking Mainline debuted in Android 10, there have been solely 12 modules. Through the years, Google has modularized extra components of Android. In Android 14, there at the moment are 37 updatable modules. Within the upcoming Android 15 replace, the variety of Undertaking Mainline modules might rise to a complete of 40. Whereas digging by means of the first Android 15 beta launched earlier immediately, I found the existence of three new APEX packages: com.android.nfcservices, com.google.android.crashrecovery, and com.google.android.profiling.
APEX is the bundle format utilized by Undertaking Mainline, which signifies that these three packages are probably new Mainline modules. I say “probably” as a result of there are some APEX packages that aren’t a part of Undertaking Mainline. Since their updates aren’t dealt with by means of Google Play System Updates. We gained’t know for certain if that’s the case for these three modules till Android 15 will get nearer to launch, although.
Anyhow, the primary APEX bundle I discussed, com.android.nfcservices, is essentially the most fascinating of the three, as a result of it incorporates a replica of Android’s NFC stack. NFC, which stands for near-field communication, is the extremely short-range wi-fi communication expertise that’s popularly used for contactless funds. By placing Android’s NFC stack into an APEX module, Google is getting ready to show it into an updatable Undertaking Mainline module. Certainly, I first heard that was the plan all the way in which again in Could of 2023.
In Android 15 Beta 1, the NFC stack is now a part of an APEX bundle.
Paving the way in which for pushing out safety fixes and new options extra shortly
Making the NFC stack extra simply updatable signifies that Google can push out safety fixes and new options extra shortly to customers. Android 15, for instance, brings quite a few new options to the NFC stack. One such new function is a new observe mode to make faucet to pay “extra seamless and dependable.” As soon as units begin to ship with Android’s new updatable NFC stack, we’ll see Google push out extra updates bringing new options like this.
In actual fact, with the discharge of Android 15 Beta 1 immediately, Google quietly enabled Android’s new updatable NFC stack on Pixel telephones. Nonetheless, it seems the corporate made a mistake within the migration course of. Leading to NFC being utterly damaged for Pixels customers operating the primary beta. Hopefully, Google will push out an replace shortly to repair these NFC points within the Android 15 beta. As a result of NFC is important to the operation of the default pockets app.
