Consistency vs Fragmentation: Android
by wilfylou
“Fragmentation: The process or state of breaking or being broken into small or separate parts”
We’ve been listening to figureheads of the technology industry claim that Android, Google’s popular operating system for smartphones, is fragmented. I.E not uniform. I actually agree with them, users buying different brands such as Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and HTC (among others) are getting different user experiences from android. This is as a result of google’s policy on android being an open platform. Anyone can tinker with it.
As a result, many android users are getting different experiences within the same platform. Yes, they all do the same thing, but UI layouts and movements are not necessarily the same.
Microsoft, Apple and Blackberry suggest otherwise when it comes to their Operating systems. They insist on consistency, which works for them quite well. Windows phone 7 (soon to be 8) is a beautiful interface! The Metro UI with it’s live tiles and smooth transitions is neat piece of work. Apple’s iOS system with it’s quick, easy to use interface is still a winner with many users from iPad to iPhone. Blackberry OS 7 doesn’t offer much compared with the others, but it still has a base with traditionalists who insist that a phone should be just that, a phone. They’re coming up with OS 10, which finally looks like something that can compete with android, windows and iOS. Lastly, Symbian’s trying to cling on to life (has it’s roots with Psion software. Remember?) but it’s still pretty functional in my opinion. Especially now that MS Office can be downloaded on to it (Nokia E7 users please take note.) It used to be licensed to other manufacturers such as Sony Ericsson and Samsung, but when android emerged, they dropped it. Android promised to yield greater revenue for them, and it has.
Pictorially, let me show the differences between uniformity and consistency.
iOS 5
Blackberry Os 7/7.1
Symbian ^3
Windows Phone 7
One should note that Microsoft allows different companies to license Windows Phone, so we have Nokia, Samsung, HTC, LG and ZTE using the software on some of it’s products. Blackberry does not license it’s operating system, but it does license it’s push-mail/enterprise email software for other phones.
Now, this is what android (in it’s current form of “Ice Cream Sandwich” ICS 4.0.4) looks like in it’s default, untouched, unskinned form.
Android ICS 4.0.4 home screen
Android main menu
Pretty neat, stock android.
Manufacturers decided to customize android to differentiate it from rival offerings, which brought forth the whole fragmentation argument. A few examples from manufacturers are shown below, beginning with Samsung.
Touchwiz Homescreen
Quite different as you can see. This is their User Interface (UI) aptly named “Touchwiz” in it’s current (4th) generation. This is what samsung customers will get in their android smartphones.
Touchwiz ICS main menu
HTC are well known for their user interfaces, all the way from Manila and Touch-Flo in windows mobile, to HTC Sense UI, now in it’s 4.0 generation.
HTC sense 4.0
Sense UI main menu
Sony (formerly Sony Ericsson) also tweak android to their own tastes. It has a special “overview” feature which shows all widgets in a cool transition, as well as “timescape” which is a social networking timeline widget. (Not shown)
Xperia Arc S homescreen
While all these android user interfaces look and behave different, they still function the same. In my opinion, the argument of fragmentation lies in product differentiation. All these manufacturers want the customer to experience their offering. It’d be a stiff market if all these android smartphone manufacturers delivered one thing, but then, look at windows phone and rival manufacturers. Nokia seem to be winning with their Lumia series despite offering the same exact software rival manufacturers have in their models. It’s not what the interface looks like, but how the phone looks, and feels and functions, as well as the hardware it’s bundled with.
If you’re not pleased with what manufacturers have to offer, you could be rebellious and install custom made android roms from a site like this one. It’s a process but you do get some pretty cool mods. 
I am Team Android, mostly for the playability and freedom. I’ve also been consistently HTC (both with and without sense, now running Android 2.3.5 with sense 3.5 on a rooted phone), and I have to say, it will take a lot to sway me to consistency. Also, I don’t know what life would be like without the ability to gain full control of your device. But that’s just me, I’m different like that.
Freedom is indeed a luxury many android users have. But within that whole market, lets say 80% are regular consumers who’ve no idea how to root and port android ROMS. The 20% (you being in that bracket presumably) enjoy experimenting.:-) But how many times will you keep porting to find the “perfect ROM” that’s stable, looks how you want it to be, and performs well? The 80% don’t want such headaches, they just want a device that works.
You understood me just right. I like playing, and the others won’t let me play. As for the changing ROMs, it’s not uncommon that you’ll find one you love and settle. I’ve had my current one for five months now, two months shorter than I’ve had the phone.
My prayer is that I do not end up in the 80%. Nah. I don’t want a phone that just works.
..And the problem with catering to the 20% is that marketshare is typically very difficult to hold on to and if you only appeal to 20% of the market, at most, it’ll be hard to maintain position. I’m completely in favor of options, both in terms of devices and operating systems. I just wished the Android experience was more user-friendly, for their sake and mine.
Very true indeed.
I think fragmentation is what makes android unique. I really like HTC’s phones, and not only because of Sense. I am so going to get HTC One X as soon as I can afford it!
I’d get a Samsung Galaxy S3
(Or Sony Xperia S)
Fragmentation may be unique yes, but at the end of the day it makes switching a headache.
The HTC One X is another exciting phone. I’ll keep an eye on the prices and shoot you an email when the next deal pops up. There was one earlier this week but it already expired.
Oh, I will be living in Finland in two weeks so…
“In my opinion, the argument of fragmentation lies in product differentiation.” – Agreed! I completely understand where manufacturers are coming from. They want to stand out among all the other noise. The problem with that is the user’s experience. With different interfaces, customers have a learning curve every time they’re on a new Android device from a different manufacturer. Couple that with the different versions of the OS and it gets even worse. I just wrote a blog that mentions this exact issue. I’d love to get your input: http://converttoandroid.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/which-android-phone-surpasses-the-iphone4s/
Great minds think alike they say
If Android were one uniform platform would companies like Samsung and Lg have survived the cell phone market share battle with giants like Apple and Samsung? Even if android were uniform they’d still do well.
The point you missed, is iOS isn’t an OS, it’s a product, whereas Android is a platform. At the time of writing there are three supported iOS phones, and (according to my Google Play Android Developer Console) 1,266 supported Android phones. Of course there will be differences – but fragmentation? Not as you describe it. Android’s open, except it’s not. More specifically, the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is available to anyone to tweak as they will, but if you want Google copyright licensed closed-source programs such as Google Maps, Gmail, and (crucially) Google Play Store/Android Market, you need to licence your version of Android from Google, conform to a set of minimum hardware requirements according to the platform version, and pass an enormous battery of tests. Companies that don’t want to do this (hello Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble Nook) can take AOSP minus Google copyright apps and do what they like -given they must then republish their open source code changes under the GPL. So the real fragmentation comes from Amazon and Barnes and Noble, who choose to branch the AOSP – manufacturers like Samsung and HTC and Motorola are “merely” customising the platform Android, just as manufacturers Dell and HP and so on have been doing with the platform Windows for decades.