I hesitate to call it a list because there is only one item on it, but here is what I want for the next version of Android. Sure, I’d love to have all kinds of new features, but if Google can get this one right, I will be happy. If you ask me, this is the one feature should never have been dealt with that hasn’t received enough focus.

OEMs and Mobile Carriers obviously don’t care enough to keep the latest update on as many Android phones as possible. For them they believe the ROI isn’t considerable enough (even non-existent) to keep the devices up to date, but the advantages to the users is tremendous. While I don’t agree with the OEMs and carriers and feel that regular updates makes them a more desirable brand (I’m much more willing to buy a phone that I feel has some hope of being updated regularly) they couldn’t care less. For mobile users, the advantages are many: better security, better performance, new features, and more. The problem is, that the OEMs and carriers are winning and consumers are losing.

The answer to this problem is to take the middleman out of the equation and get updates directly from Google. Build an updateable framework on phones and tables going forward and make the Google Certification dependent on the ability to automatically update the device (if an OEM removes the feature from the open source Android, they don’t get Google Play, Google’s special apps, or their blessing).

This would solve the whole problem where only a small subset of users have the latest version of Android, and I think that is an attractive idea to Google, even though it means more work for them. They will have to do hardware checks for one to determine if each device can handle an update. And sure, the drivers could also cause some problems, but if written correctly and to specks that Google specifies then they could be operable going forward.

Will every device get updated? No, naturally as new hardware gets better old hardware will fail to continue being “up to snuff,”  but all devices that are capable will receive updates (where as currently only a few from each carrier seem to get an update, if that). I hope that Google is listening.