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It wouldn’t be a “normal” year without Google killing a service or a platform. Just in time, the search giant announced that Android Things, a heavily stripped-down Android operating system for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, will shut down early next year.
The writing was on the wall, so today’s news is not much of a surprise. In February 2019, Google announced it would refocus Android Things to help OEMs create smart speakers and displays. At the time, the company said it would continue to support hobbyist experimentation with the operating system. “Over the past year, Google has worked closely with partners to create consumer products powered by Android Things with the built-in Google Assistant. Based on the successes we’ve seen with our partners in smart speakers and smart displays, we are refocusing Android Things as a platform for OEM partners to build devices in these categories in the future, ”said declared Google in 2019.
However, a new FAQ page (via ArsTechnica) reveals that Google will end all non-commercial use of the Android Things platform. As of January 5, 2021, the Android Things console will stop supporting new projects, and as of January 5, 2022, the Android Things console will be disabled for all existing projects. Soon the only products capable of running Android Things will be those built on commercial hardware SoMs (system-on-modules) from vendors such as NXP, Qualcomm, and MediaTek, but they are only “available to specific OEM partners who build systems. smart speakers and smart displays. “
Google has done some things right with Android Things. In its announcement, Google took an approach that prevented OEMs from modeling the operating system and said updates would be distributed centrally by Google about every three years. But the platform proved too unpopular for the IoT world, and soon Google moved on. That being said, Google has other IoT platforms, including Google Smart Home. But it’s an ignominious end to a platform that never really took off.
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