Over the past few years, users have complained that Android features and design enhancements have stagnated and there has been no sea-level change on the user’s side of things. While that’s true to some extent, the truth is that Google has been working hard behind the scenes to make Android truly a modular, secure, and easily updatable operating system. In this regard, we are talking about the new Google Play System Update on Android that is currently available on Android 10 and 11. So without losing any time, let’s go ahead and learn about Google Play System Update in detail.
If your device is on Android 10 or 11, you would see a “Google Play System Update” notification downloading updates in the background. After that, it prompts you to restart the device to apply all the changes. On the surface, it looks like an app update, but why does it ask you to restart the device? Does Google Play System Update have anything to do with a firmware update or security patches? Let’s find out.
- The Backstory
- What is Project Mainline AKA Google Play System Update?
- List of Project Mainline Modules
- How is Google Play System Update Different from Security Patches?
The Backstory
With Android 8, Google brought Project Treble which tried to separate vendor-level components from the kernel. While on the user side, it didn’t look that big of a change, but for OEMs, it was a huge shift. They could finally update the firmware without having to rely on SoC vendors like Qualcomm, Mediatek, etc.
With Project Treble, they separated the OEM dependency on the SoC vendor, and now with Google Play System Updated (codenamed Project Mainline), Google wants to break its dependency on OEMs for delivery of critical bug and security fixes.
That was a bit of the backstory, but here is why Project Mainline is essential and what exactly it does. Google does a stellar job at fixing bugs and patching new vulnerabilities. Soon after the bug fixes, Google releases the code to device manufacturers to patch their Android devices. But due to lackluster support from OEMs, millions of devices don’t get any update hence devices remain vulnerable to attacks.
List of Project Mainline Modules
Google has detailed the 25 Project Mainline Modules that can be updated through Google Play System Update on Android 10 and 11 devices. These modules are delivered in the form of an APEX package that Google has specifically developed for Google Play System Update. Some of the modules are also delivered in the form of APK container.
How is Google Play System Update Different from Security Patches?
Having talked about security so much, it begs the question, how is Google Play System Update different from security patches that are delivered by device makers from time to time? Well, both are different things and have different purposes. Security patches generally contain kernel-level fixes that have upstream patches coming directly from Linux development. It can’t be touched by the Google Play System Update.
