After 16 years of open collaboration, Google is shutting the blinds on Android’s development process. The tech giant confirmed it’s moving all Android work to private internal branches, marking the end of AOSP’s era of transparent development – though they insist the final code will remain open-source.
Here’s what’s really changing:
– Development now happens in secret before code hits public repos
– Public branches will lag behind Google’s internal versions
– Apache 2.0 license remains (but the kitchen is closed)
“Why the sudden shift?” Google claims it’s about “streamlining development”, but critics see darker implications. For years, the public AOSP branch has become increasingly outdated and fragmented compared to Google’s proprietary version. This move might just formalize that divide.
The fallout could be massive:
- Custom ROM developers lose real-time access to new code
- Security researchers face delayed visibility into core changes
- Android’s “open” ethos becomes increasingly theoretical
Google promises this won’t affect end users. But for the modders and tinkerers who kept Android’s spirit alive? This feels like the final corporate co-opting of what began as an open-source revolution.
