Getting ready for Android 1.5
I'm excited to announce that starting today, developers can get an early look at the SDK for the next version of the Android platform. This new version (which will be 1.5) is based on the cupcake branch from the Android Open Source Project.
Context & Ripple Effects
Android had already established a developer-preview cadence with its initial early-look SDK in 2007 and a 2008 SDK milestone. The 1.5 preview extends that process by exposing the Cupcake code line to application developers before the platform release.
A February Black Duck Software report found Android narrowly behind iPhone in the open-source app race and said developer response to Android was increasing. Early access therefore matters as a way to turn interest in the platform into release-ready applications.
First-order effects
- Android developers can test and adapt applications against the 1.5 SDK ahead of the platform release, reducing the chance that their apps lag the new version.
- The Android Open Source Project's Cupcake branch becomes the practical compatibility target for developers preparing software for Android 1.5.
Second-order effects
- For developers weighing Android against iPhone, the value of Android's ecosystem depends more directly on the predictability of its SDK and preview process, not solely on handset availability.
- Third-party application makers gain a clearer shared target for planning updates, which can concentrate ecosystem effort around the platform version Google is preparing to ship.
Third-order effects
- Repeated SDK previews and AOSP branch-based releases point toward Android competing through a governed open-development pipeline: code access is paired with a defined platform target for application compatibility.
- If developers continue responding to Android as Black Duck reported, the quality and timing of developer tooling will become a durable lever in the platform's contest for application support.
The trend: Mobile platforms are using pre-release SDK access and open-source release branches to coordinate third-party software before each operating-system update.