14 DAY TRIAL // Google’s Android is currently the most popular mobile operating system out there, and the company is also seeing it as an amazing platform for developers, as Larry Page notes in the 2013 Founders’ Letter.
With over one billion devices activated to date and more expected to be added to the list fast, it’s no doubt that Android is dominating, and it seems that devs who started to build apps for it took a great decision.
In the aforementioned letter, Larry Page notes that developers are currently earning four times more from user payments than they did a year before, and that the company is excited to see the ecosystem take off.
Of course, this was also possible due to the availability of Android on a wider range of device types, though the fact that it makes it easy for users to access various functions also contributed to its success.
The same applies to the availability of applications for the OS, via the Google Play Store, regardless of the type of device one has in hand.
“The idea behind Google Play is similar, in that you can get apps, movies, books and music from one place, and play them on any device without the need for endless syncing. Start listening to a song on your tablet and when you switch to your mobile it will be there,” said letter continues.
However, despite the fact that it already enjoys great success, Android might not be a complete product as of now, and Larry Page suggests that it might suffer further changes, so as to make it even simple for users to make calls, play music, or find directions.
He notes that the simplicity of the Google homepage has contributed a lot to the great success that the company has seen over the past sixteen years, and that this principle could be applied to other products in Google’s portfolio as well.
“There’s no reason the same principles can’t apply across our products, especially now, with so many devices and options, and so much opportunity for distraction,” he says.
We have already learned that the company was preparing a series of major changes to Android’s UI, and that many of the core applications in the OS have already started to be aligned to the new design principles, though we’re not sure whether Larry Page is referring to that in the aforementioned letter.
If he was, it should not be too long before additional details on the matter start to emerge, especially with Google’s June developer conference approaching fast.