Fragmentation in a

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scien ...

market happens when a market is composed of multiple highly-incompatible technologies or technology stacks, forcing prospective buyers of a single product to commit to an entire product ecosystem, rather than maintaining free choice of complementary products and services. Two common varieties of fragmentation are ''market fragmentation'' and ''version fragmentation''. Fragmentation is the opposite of, and is solved by

standardization Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardizatio ...

Market fragmentation

Market fragmentation happens when multiple

competing Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

firms offer highly-incompatible technologies or technology stacks, likely leading to

vendor lock-in In economics, vendor lock-in, also known as proprietary lock-in or customer lock-in, makes a customer dependent on a vendor for products, unable to use another vendor without substantial switching costs. The use of open standards and alternat ...

Version fragmentation

Version fragmentation happens when a firm offers multiple incompatible versions or variations of a single product, either in tandem or over time as a result of accumulated changes to product

specification A specification often refers to a set of documented requirements to be satisfied by a material, design, product, or service. A specification is often a type of technical standard. There are different types of technical or engineering specificati ...

Android and iOS operating systems

A term being used in the Android development community is ''Android fragmentation''.What is Android fragmentation
/ref> Fragmentation within Android is when a variety of versions of the Android platform, combined with a mixture of hardware result in the inability for some devices to properly run certain applications. Despite

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

upgrading its Android operating system to version 4.4, also known as ''KitKat'', users continued to use the earlier versions of the operating system, primarily ''

Gingerbread Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as cr ...

'' (that's down to 0.3% share). The cause is primarily because hardware manufacturers of the devices are not able to upgrade to the later operating system for a number of reasons. As a result, applications written for one version will not operate consistently on the other, and vice versa.Google targets Android fragmentation with updated terms for SDK
/ref> In August 2010, developers of the OpenSignal wireless crowd-sourcing app detected 3,997 distinct values for "android.build.MODEL" among users of their app. This variable represents the device model, though it may be altered by adding a custom ROM. OpenSignal acknowledged that while this made it problematic to develop apps, the wide variety of models allows Android to enter more markets. Developers have placed the blame on Google and the hardware manufacturers, while Google has blamed software developers for not staying within the guidelines of its terms and conditions. The issue with fragmentation has forced

to add a prohibition to its terms and conditions for its

software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific ...

, which developers must accept before developing for the Android operating system. For example, OpenSignal and Testdroid studies have found out that OEMs fragment Android ecosystem significantly more than Google.

References

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External links

The Guardian: Android is more fragmented than ever. Should developers or users worry?A Research summary referenced in The Guardian's article about Android fragmentation (Q1'2014)
File system management