The Main Features and Issues to Improve Android Software

Introduction

Android is a Linux based operating system owned by Google, which is specifically developed for smartphones or other mobile devices. Android OS is the most popular and widely used OS software in today's world with a 75.27% market share. (Mobile operating system market share, 2019) The competitors of Android in the OS market include iOS, SIRIN OS and Kai OS. Android has gained huge popularity due to the availability of its millions of apps with advanced features (Kirthika.B, 2015). Numerous Android applications are used by individuals and organizations to assist with their work in both personal and professional life. Furthermore, Android has a history of different versions which were named related to desserts. Despite its success, it still has various issues that users and developers need to take into consideration. (Liu & Yu, 2011)

This report highlights the history and features of the Android operating system and discusses how different Android applications contribute to the work of individuals and organizations. It also explains the current issues in this operations system, things expected for the future and provides recommendations.

History of Android

Android was first developed by Andy Rubin in Palo Alto, California in 2003 with the purpose of developing OS for digital cameras. However, he realized that the market for digital cameras is low, so he diverted his interest in smartphones. In 2005, Google bought Android Inc. During this time Android was not widely popular among the public and Google took this as an advantage to get into the smartphone industry (Przemyslaw Gilski, 2015).

Google marketed Android to other manufacturers, which attracted HTC, who released the first Android smartphone, The HTC Dream in 2008. Beginning with the operating system running on the HTC Dream, they started creating new versions of the operating system. Each of these versions come with more advanced features and bug fixes (Looper, 2018).

Over the years, variants of Android have been developed and used in Tablets, Televisions, wearable devices like watches. Moreover, around 1300 brands have adopted Android to use in their devices, which include the world’s famous device manufacturers such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, OnePlus, etc. With this, Android has gained the largest share in the operating system market (Android fragmentation: There are now 24000 devices from 1300 brands., 2015).

Some Features of Android

Near Field Communication (Bluetooth)

Most Android devices have Bluetooth which enables electronic devices to connect to Android devices within the short distances (The Android Operating System: 10 Unique Features, 2014).

Custom ROMs

Since Android is an open source, developers can improve the current OS and built their own versions (The Android Operating System: 10 Unique Features, 2014).

Widgets

Android widget lets you display any features you desire, on the home screen including weather apps, music apps (The Android Operating System: 10 Unique Features, 2014).

Alternate Keyboards

Android has multiple keyboards and makes it easy to install, which provide easy changes to your keyboard style. Other mobile either do not authorize extra keyboard or the process to install is time-consuming. (The Android Operating System: 10 Unique Features, 2014)

How Android Enhances Work

Nowadays, several organizations use mobile phones and tablets for their organizational work and a large proportion of these devices are powered by the Android operating system. This contributes towards work enhancement as there are thousands of Android applications available in the Play store which improves work performance of both individuals and organizations. Some of the popular Android applications and how they assist work enhancement are explained below.

Gmail

Google’s Gmail app is a powerful and easily usable means for most commonly used method of communication, “mailing”. Gmail Android app provides a similar interface and features the Gmail users see in a desktop. It can work with all sorts of email accounts and even multiple email accounts. This enables organizations to carry out regular official communication needed for the organization more effectively, like sharing information about business projects with their partners, providing information for employees about their work tasks, etc. Better communication will contribute to work efficiency and productivity (The Android Guidebook, 2017).

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Android applications of Microsoft Office provide cross-platform compatibility and consistency in terms of handling Office file formats flawlessly. The Word app helps to prepare different documents in standard formats and improves the quality of the organization’s administrative work. Excel spreadsheets allow the easy and quick display of financial information and enable to create charts for better representation in persuasive marketing and analysis of information for business reports. Moreover, PowerPoint enables interesting presentations of information through the use of multimedia, in meetings and even online by uploading it into organization’s website, which enhances their work (Seidel, How Word, Excel & Powerpoint in Microsoft Office are used to support various work envionments, 2019).

Google Maps

This app is important for navigation and to keep track of important places. It can be used to select a collection of similar places like right spots for business outlets or client offices in a specific area and put all those places into an interactive map for navigation or browsing (Lee, 2013). This can be helpful for many businesses such as those providing the delivery services as they can check customer location with mobile devices, to provide their service quickly (Raphael, The best Android apps for organizing your life, 2019).

Trello

Trello app provides a system with various features to organize ideas and tracking progress. It divides the business into a series of boards containing a series of lists within each. The card can be added to these lists, which contain text, photos, files, etc (Raphael, The best email and texting apps for Android, 2018). and you can add labels and due dates to these cards. Moreover, you and other people invited can comment on cards to provide views and updates. Thus, this is a powerful system for organizing and managing all types of projects for individuals as well as the organizations (Raphael, The best Android apps for organizing your life, 2019).

Current Issues of Android

Although Android is the most widely used operating system with the highest market share, it also has some issues, and some of these are explained below.

Battery Drain

Battery drain is a major issue of Android operating system which is caused by plenty of processes running in the background. It is difficult to stop these applications as most of them are system applications and this result in overheating the device (Puri, 2016). Old versions of android still used in many devices also lead to high battery consumption as bugs that contribute to high battery consumption will not be fixed unless it is updated. Battery draining causes problems as there is an urgent need to charge the devices frequently (Puri, 2016).

Advertisement Pop-Ups

Although there are numerous applications available in the Google play store, these applications start demonstrating lots of advertisements on the notification bar and over the application (Puri, 2016). This is irritating for many users and causes difficulty in managing the Android device. If the user wants to prevent the ads, they must use some method like installing another application such as Adblock which requires additional complicated settings (Puri, 2016).

Security Issues

Since the Android app store is open to publishers, it increases the chances for programmers to upload apps with malicious code which may look like games or Android anti-virus utilities to Google play store. This increases the security risk of downloading malware apps from the Google play store without the users’ knowledge. Moreover, due to the open nature of Google play, many apps uploaded to it have insecure software design. These vulnerabilities in the code are exploited by hackers to compromise the devices as when the insecure apps are installed in the device, the malicious code gets through the security of devices (Top 7 Android App Development Trends for 2018, 2017).

Version Fragmentation

Fragmentation means that all the android phones do not run the same version of the operating system. This happens mainly because when Android releases update, the manufacturers are the ones in control of adapting and making it accessible to the users. Figure 2 shows a chart depicting the distribution of different versions of Android up to May 2019.

Android fragmentation is a huge issue because many new apps need latest versions of Android causing many users to face difficulties in installing new apps and stabilizing the existing ones due to delay in getting the recent Android updates. For Example, ARCore only works with the pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8, which run Android Nougat and above. Besides, fragmentation causes security problems as many devices still do not have updated versions with better security features (Bolluyt, 2016).

Future of Android

Android is expected to bring new and better technologies to its users in the future. This includes new version releases with additional features and Bug fixes. Android is working on the final launch of its latest version Android Q on this August, which will be available in some phone this year and the coming year. Android Q will be facilitating the major projects that android is focusing on to expand in the future, such as the move towards foldable, which has started with the Samsung Galaxy Fold. More new features of Android Q include Dark theme, ‘bubbles’ multitasking and Project Mainline (Lumb, 2019).

Android will also be powering the world’s first 5G smartphones, helping accelerate its adoption in 2019 and beyond. Moreover, Android is looking forward to bring more AI capabilities to the mobile ecosystem. As part of this, they are trying to add the Google Assistant button to as many Android devices in the future, including new phones from Xiaomi and TCL (Mahi, 2018).

Furthermore, emerging technology will be incorporated into numerous android apps. For instance, Google Now and other apps have facilitated AI in Android app development and the trend of developing Cloud-based applications and growth in the use of AR and VR in app development will give android apps a new dimension. There will also be a boost in android Go applications such as Gmail Go which assists in saving storage space and battery and IoT compatibility will become a norm for high-end customized android apps (Mahi, 2018).

The aforementioned new developments are estimated to increase Android’s share in the operating system market, which is currently at 75.27% (Mobile operating system market share, 2019). However, there are some arguments against this due to Huawei Google ban, as this would cause some market share loss. Besides, some recent reports say that the new OS called Fuchsia is built with the intent of completely replacing Android. It is an attempt to create an all-in-one operating system by combing all good features in Android and other platforms. Fuchsia will reportedly run on a new, open-source microkernel named Zircon (previously Magenta), and not Linux, solving the issue of Android fragmentation and allowing it to run on all different types of devices, from smartphones, computers, smart home gadgets to car systems. Thus, now there is a question that whether Google has plans to abandon Android completely or continue using it, in some way. This will decide the future of android (Das, Fuchsia OS and what it means for the future of Google and Android, 2019).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Android is the most popular operating system currently dominating the market with a 75.27% market share. It is a Linux based operating system developed for mobile devices and it was purchased by Google in 2005. The Android operating system has released 14 different versions from its purchase until now and it has several unique features such as Near field communication (Bluetooth), custom ROMs, Widgets and Alternate keyboards.

Android applications such as Gmail, Trello, Excel, etc. assist both individuals and organizations to enhance their work performance through the different features available in it. However, the Android operating system also has some issues which include battery drain, advertisement pop-ups, security issues, and version fragmentation. Considering the current developments of the Android operating systems, it is estimated that it will continue to introduce more new versions like Android Q with advanced features and millions of new Android applications based on emerging technologies will be available to the users in the future. Although these developments are likely to increase the market share of Android, some arguments have arisen regarding this topic due to the Huawei Google ban and Google’s project of developing a new operating system called “Fuchsia” which may replace Android. Therefore, the future of the Android operating system is quite uncertain at the moment.

Recommendation

It is recommended that Android attempt to maintain and increase the current market share in the operating system market through observing the actions of their competitors, like finding out about the new technologies’ competitors are going to introduce and trying to come up with something better so that they can prevent customers from switching to competitors. They should also focus on different ways to solve the current issues in Android OS such as version fragmentation by making an agreement with their partners who use the Android operating system, to provide the updated versions to users within a specific period. Moreover, they must give more importance to make their users aware about the available solutions for different issues as many problems remain unsolved because the users are not aware of it, even though the android has come up a solution. Furthermore, it is recommended for the android users to be aware of the issues of the operating system used in their devices and be responsible to find out the ways that they can get the best out of it and keep their devices and data safe.