1 page.title=Philosophy and Goals 2 doc.type=about 3 doc.hidenav=true 4 @jd:body 5 <p>Android is an open-source software stack for mobile phones and similar 6 devices.</p> 7 <h2>Origin and Goal</h2> 8 <p>Android was originated by a group of companies known as the Open Handset 9 Alliance, led by Google. Today, many companies -- both original members of the 10 OHA and others -- have invested heavily in Android, typically in the form of 11 allocating significant engineering resources to improve Android and bring 12 Android devices to Market.</p> 13 <p>We created Android in response to our own experiences launching mobile 14 apps. We wanted to make sure that there would always be an open platform 15 available for carriers, OEMs, and developers to use to make their innovative 16 ideas a reality. We wanted to make sure that there was no central point of 17 failure, where one industry player could restrict or control the innovations 18 of any other. The solution we chose was an open and open-source platform.</p> 19 <p>But the ultimate goal, of course, is to improve the mobile experience for 20 real users by facilitating innovation. Accordingly, the primary goal of the 21 AOSP is to make sure Android is a success as an end user product.</p> 22 <h2>Governance Philosophy</h2> 23 <p>The companies that have invested in Android have done so on its merits, 24 because we collectively believe that an open platform is necessary. Android is 25 intentionally and explicitly an open-source -- as opposed to free software -- 26 effort: a group of organizations with shared needs has pooled 27 resources to collaborate on a single implementation of a shared product. 28 The Android philosophy is pragmatic, first and foremost. The objective is 29 a shared product that each contributor can tailor and customize.</p> 30 <p>Uncontrolled customization can, of course, lead to incompatible 31 implementations. To prevent this, the AOSP also maintains the Android 32 Compatibility Program, which spells out what it means to be "Android 33 compatible", and what is required of device builders to achieve that status. 34 Anyone can (and will!) use the Android source code for any purpose, and we 35 welcome all such uses. However, in order to take part in the shared 36 ecosystem of applications that we are building around Android, device builders 37 can take advantage of the Compatibility Program.</p> 38 <p>Though Android consists of multiple sub-projects, this is strictly a 39 project-management technique. We view and manage Android as a single, 40 holistic software product, not a "distribution", specification, or collection 41 of replaceable parts. Conceptually, our notion is that device builders port 42 Android to a device; they don't implement a specification or curate a 43 distribution.</p> 44 <h2>How We Work</h2> 45 <p>We know that quality does not come without hard work. Along with many 46 partners, Google has contributed full-time engineers, product managers, UI 47 designers, Quality Assurance, and all the other roles required to bring 48 modern devices to market. We integrate the open source administration and 49 maintenance into the larger product development cycle.</p> 50 <p>In a nutshell:</p> 51 <ul> 52 <li>At any given moment, there is a current latest release of the Android 53 platform. This typically takes the form of a branch in the tree.</li> 54 <li>Device builders and Contributors work with the current 55 latest release, fixing bugs, launching new devices, experimenting with new 56 features, and so on.</li> 57 <li>In parallel, Google works internally on the next version of the 58 Android platform and framework, working according to the product's needs and 59 goals. Some of the work from the current latest tree will promoted into these 60 releases.</li> 61 <li>When the "n+1"th version is determined to be nearing completion, it will 62 be published to the public source tree, and become the new latest 63 release.</li> 64 <li>Since Android is open source, nothing prevents device implementers from 65 shipping devices on older (obsolete) Android builds. However, active work will 66 be focused on the current platform release.</li> 67 </ul> 68 <p>To meet our goals, Android needs to achieve widespread, compatible 69 adoption. We believe that the best way to accomplish that is to make sure that 70 we ship high-quality, flagship devices with an intense product and end-user 71 focus. The "next release" of Android is driven by the product needs for the next 72 generation of mobile devices; the resulting excellent product is then released 73 to open source and becomes the new current version of the platform.</p> 74
