Android is currently the most popular smartphone operating system, dominating the global smartphone market. However, one of the main complaints about the operating system is the slow release of updates.
In order to solve these problems, Google launched Project Mainline, and made efforts on the upcoming Android 12, aiming to significantly upgrade the operating system. According to reports, the company is converting Android Runtime (ART) into a Mainline module, which may allow updates to key system components to be pushed through the Play Store.
When Android is running, it converts the bytecode of the Android application into native instructions. With the above changes, if Google wants to change the way the OS converts the code, it can send adjustments through the Play Store without having to wait for a newer version of Android to update, thereby helping users improve functions or fix security issues faster.
Although this new change cannot solve most of the issues in the Android update rollout, it is much faster to fix the zero-day vulnerability than the regular planned security patch, so there may be a big difference.
Google has previously outlined that it is changing the developer policy, which will make it easier to use third-party app stores on Android 12. So far, details about how the company plans to achieve this goal have not been disclosed.
