How the Fragmentation of iOS and Android Platforms Affects App Development

No other operating system in the world has been so hopelessly fragmented as Android. However, some users believe that fragmentation is not a drawback but a competitive advantage. Let’s explore this term in more detail and define its main influences.

What is Fragmentation?

Many interpret this term in the narrow sense, believing that, with regard to Android, it means the simultaneous coexistence of updated and non-renewable smartphones. In a broader sense, fragmentation means dividing something into many disparate fragments. In the case of Android, fragmentation is a consequence of the use of the operating system by different manufacturers who cover it with their own shells rather than develop a custom platform.

Few people understand that due to the fragmentation, our smartphones are equipped with functions that are not available in the original version of Android. For instance, let’s take the ability to take screenshots of the entire page. According to Google developers, this function is not feasible in the stock OS. Still, third-party manufacturers implemented it in their shells, not taking into account the views of the search giant.

In fact, Android is considered the most fragmented operating system that has ever existed…