Enlarge / The Android Things Rainbow Hat from Pimoroni. (credit: PImoroni)

It's Google I/O week and even though the keynote isn't until tomorrow, news is already hitting the (Wi-Fi) airwaves. After being announced all the way back in 2016 and going through eight developer previews, Android Things is finally hitting version 1.0. Android Things is yet another Android OS form factor that lives alongside Android TV, Android Automotive, and (Android) Wear OS. Things is meant for IoT devices, with a special focus on fixing the security nightmare that IoT devices usually create.
Most Android devices are not known as bastions of security (the phrase "toxic hellstew" comes to mind) but the root cause of security problems on most Android devices is the same problem that plagues IoT: device makers don't want to update their devices. Google is going to solve this problem by just doing all the update work itself: every single Android Things-based product will get three years of OS updates, direct from Google, for free.
It sounds so simple doesn't it? Just make Google do it. But the reason Google can do all the updates for all the Android Things is because device makers aren't allowed to modify the Android Things OS. Just like Windows, Android Things is closed source and has a centralized update system. Google controls the operating system, and device makers can only make apps. Such a centralized update scheme could never work the open source Phone Android, where OEMs can—and do—change every little thing about the OS (usually for no good reason).

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