Good news, it seems that Google will soon put in place specifications that smartphone manufacturers will have to respect to continue using its applications on their devices.
Google has just rolled out the 5e beta of its Android 14 operating system, which contains some fixes aimed at foldable smartphones, and it seems that these will soon receive some serious attention. Indeed, according to information from Mishaal Rahman, Google will soon put in place a specification for folding devices.
Google would intend to force manufacturers of foldable smartphones running Android to respect it, at the risk of seeing Google applications disappear from their devices. Google would think in particular of requirements concerning the durability of devices, both in terms of hardware and software.
Google will impose specific standards on foldable smartphones
According to Mishaal Rahman, Google will require foldable smartphones to survive at least 200,000 foldings and unfoldings. That’s exactly what Samsung claims about its recent Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5, but so far, tAll manufacturers do not promise an identical lifespan.
We know, for example, that the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is much less solid than Samsung’s flip smartphone, as demonstrated by a YouTuber on video. For its part, Xiaomi goes further than the Korean giant by announcing no less than 500,000 possible folds on its next Xiaomi Mix Fold 3, which will be officially unveiled on August 17.
Finally, Google also plans to require longer software tracking from manufacturers. This is to ensure the longevity of their devices, most of which cost over $1000. Manufacturers of foldable smartphones will have to deploy at least 2 major Android updates to their devices, and security patches for at least 3 years.
With these new requirements, Google intends to improve the quality and durability of these foldable devices, which may well increase their adoption. If we could until now imagine that folding smartphones were less durable than the average, recent generations have proven to be much more solid than they could be before. The Galaxy Z Fold 5, for example, proved to be much more resistant than a traditional smartphone in an extreme durability test.
