Can Google fix Android’s Biggest Problem?

Google somehow seems to be disappointed or less happy with the way smartphone partners are negotiating with the Mountain view giant. Seems like google has now decided to step in. According to the report, Google is aggressively addressing Android's biggest problem: fragmentation, or the fact that few of Android's 1.4 billion users are using the latest version of the operating system.

While Apple's iOS enjoys healthy adoption rates whenever a new update for the software rolls out, it takes manufacturers a very long time to incorporate Android's newest features or a very little amount of their smartphones see the latest smartphones.

Bloomberg says Google will use a two-pronged approach to try to remedy the problem. The first part is practical: The company will streamline the update process to make it easier for manufacturers to keep up. The other part sounds downright coercive. Google's apparently considering publicly shaming OEMs that lag behind the pack.Google is using more forceful tactics. It has drawn up lists that rank top phone makers by how up-to-date their handsets are, based on security patches and operating system versions, according to people familiar with the matter.

Google shared this list with Android partners earlier this year. It has discussed making it public to highlight proactive manufacturers and shame tardy vendors through omission from the list, two of the people said. The people didn't want to be identified to maintain their relationships with Google.

Google's frustration with fragmentation is warranted. Although Android has come a very long way and is in many cases more fully featured than its Apple competition, fragmentation is at the core of what's holding Android back.Most Android phones don't get the newest versions of Android until months after they're released by Google, and it can take more than a year in some cases.

For example, it took Samsung and AT&T almost 7 months to push Android Marshmallow updates to the Galaxy S6, its 2015 flagship phone. The lag stems from the fact that manufacturers have to build the new Android code into their own custom versions of the OS (e.g. Sammy's TouchWiz). From there, carriers need to test the new updates on their networks. As Bloomberg notes, Verizon can take months to get an update through the pipeline.