Project Treble is considered to be one of the most important changes introduced in the Android framework since its beta release. It aims to solve the age-old fragmentation problem of Android. But is this feature worth so much hype? Let’s find out.
What Is Project Treble
Project Treble is one of the most hyped features in the latest version of Android, Android 8.0 Oreo. So what makes this feature so special? Well, Treble is the largest change in the lower Android layers since the time Android Beta came out, about a decade ago. In layman terms, these changes aim to modularize the lower Android layer including the drivers for CPU and GPU, low-level software etc. by separating the main Android framework from the vendor implementations. Let’s discuss the benefits one can expect from Project Treble.
Project Treble Benefits
One of the main drawbacks of Android has been its fragmentation – Google releases a new version, but since the vendors don’t provide support, most people get stuck with the old Android versions. As a result, the market gets divided and the majority don’t get to experience the latest versions even after 2 or 3 years.
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Another issue is vendors try to customize the Android framework to their own requirements to make them unique among millions of other Android phones in the market. Hence, when Google releases a new Android version, vendors start integrating their changes to the latest version, which takes anywhere from 3 to 8 months, even a year for some. Compare this to Apple – where you can instantly get updates as soon as they are released.
But that is going to change with Project Treble. Due to Project Treble’s modularization of the lower layer, OEMs no longer need to work on the slower driver updates, they only need to work on the software which takes less time, since the driver updates are already done by Google. This will speed up the update process significantly, and hopefully, vendors will start supporting devices for a longer period of time.
Check For Treble Support
So how can you know if your smartphone supports Treble or not? Well, first of all, you need to have Android 8.0 Oreo as the operating system. However, if you do have Android Oreo, that doesn’t guarantee your phone supports treble.
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To verify treble support, you first need to install Termux app from the Play Store. Open the app and you will be shown an input prompt. Type the following command.
getprop ro.treble.enabled
If your device supports treble, it will print the message “true” else it will print “false”. This method also doesn’t require a rooted device.
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If you are looking to buy a new smartphone running Android Oreo 8.0, you should check whether treble is supported or not, since these changes can’t simply be introduced via updates. Overall, Google has done a great job with Android Oreo and hopefully will continue to make such innovations in the future.
