Google’s IoT Platform Android ‘Things’ Out Of Beta And Free For All Developers

Google goes all in to try and steal back market share from competitors.

Google says it’s developer platform for Internet-Of-Things (IoT) devices, ‘Android Things‘ is now out of beta and version 1.0 is free to be downloaded.

In a bid to attract as many developers and hardware manufacturers as possible, Google has offered a three year guarantee to provide free security patches and is actively considering the feasibility of free automated security scans of device makers’ apps.

Google is hoping its new Things IoT platform that its offering for free to developers will give it inroads into the advancing IoT market, an area it has so far failed to have any real impact on thus far

But what things does Android Things actually do?

That’s a great question, go you for being so great today. Are those new shoes?

Put basically, Android Things is a managed operating system built for IoT manufacturers. (like fridges. Microwaves, toilets, TVs,  shoes, shirts, and other gadgets – that can connect to the internet and to devices that you control such as your phone that let you interact with them. Ie. you can use your phone to turn on central heating, or turn lights on and off.)  Android Things is software that has been designed to streamline production time and costs by building development on top of tried-and-true tools like the Android SDK that powers the vast majority of smartphones.

Two years and counting

Google first announced its Things platform back in 2016. Since then, according to the tech giant,  it claims to have clocked over 100,000 downloads of the download kit and over 10,000 developers have apparently provided feedback during the testing phase.

Fierce competition

Competition in the IoT market space is fierce. Google hopes that Things will jump-start its company into the arena, and bring its popular Google Assistant virtual helper to robots, vending machines and even ATMs

“The goal is to enable them [developers] to be built faster, cheaper and more secure,” said Venkat Rapaka, a product management director at Google.

Google also hopes that Things will give hardware manufacturers and developers the freedom to design new products without the worry of looking after system maintenance and security concerns.

Gaining ground

While the Android operating system is synonymous with smartphones the world over, Google has struggled to push the Android system out of the mobile market. It hopes that Things will change that.  

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