The Nexus project has lost its way – and it’s not getting it back

Google bought Android (the operating system and the company behind it) a decade ago (back in 2005). Two years later Google unveiled not only Android, the operating system that powers most of today’s smartphones, but also the Open Handset Alliance – a consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies with the goal of advancing open standards for mobile devices. In 2008 Google partnered with T-Mobile and HTC to release the first Android-powered phone – what some of us call “the first Nexus”. Later on, Google put together a team to come up with a phone that would serve as a sort of reference platform for industry OEMs to mimic – or something like that. In 2010, the “Nexus project” was born.

The Nexus project

In the context of smartphones, after the Nexus One came the Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 5, and the current Nexus 6. On deck are the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P. Google did the same thing with tablets, too. All of these helped to illustrate what could be done with affordable hardware powered by the Android operating system.

Affordable hardware powered by the Android OS.That pretty much describes the Nexus project in a nutshell. For a while, the Nexus project did pretty well adhering to that implied core tenant. Phones and tablets were very affordable. They didn’t have the highest spec’d components available at the time, instead they targeted the “best bang for the buck”.

One other reason the Nexus project existed was to show off what “pure Android” was, and what it could do. Android, the operating system, was being diluted by OEMs who were cooking their own apps and user interfaces. As has been rightly pointed out, these OEMs weren’t simply “skinning” or “theming” Android, they were forking Android: making a copy and modifying it – sometimes substantially. Devices in the Nexus project did a good job at helping guide OEMs back to the “source” – the AOSP code.

Google Play edition

That’s when Google one-upped the Nexus project. It partnered with OEMs to release “Google Play edition” phones that ran stock Android rather than the OEM’s forked versions. That program, ultimately, was the beginning of the end of the Nexus project.

After seeing what could be done, OEMs now had ways to customize their devices though tightly integrated apps and launchers – exactly what Google wanted. This lead OEMs to create much more “stock Android” phones. Unfortunately, Google’s Nexus lineup became just another “good phone” amid a sea of “good phones”.

Android One

Google now finds itself managing and maintaining its OS on dozens of devices in the Android One program. These phones are low cost handsets built for emerging markets. Despite being built around a “reference standard”, supporting that many models, built for so many carriers, in increasingly diverse reaches of the globe is resource-draining.

While many may see this as the ultimate validation of the Open Handset Alliance and its objectives, it’s probably the undoing of the Nexus Project. We’re currently living in a world where Apple makes great hardware, Microsoft has surprised us with its new Lumia 950 and Surface lines, and Google – well, Google has a platform and an ecosystem, one that’s facing challenges from not only its two major competitors, but from its strategic partners as well.

Pixel?

Maybe it’s time for the Nexus project to die. It did what Google intended it to do.

Maybe it’s time for a new project, a new line of devices (perhaps carrying the “Pixel” brand?). This line would push the bounds, challenge stylistic norms, and innovate at the hardware level – just like Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and others are doing.

One way or another, Google needs to dosomething, or its hardware running its OS and empowering its ecosystem will be left to the discretion of third-parties. Something which, if left unchecked, won’t be good for anyone.