How seriously is Google going to take Android tablets? The company is making hints that it cares about the platform again. In addition to several major OEMs starting to build hardware, Google is building Android 12L, an Android interim update aimed at tablets and foldable features. The company’s latest move (first spotted by 9to5Google) is a new job listing for “Senior Engineer Manager for Android Tablet Applications.”Get a download of this job description:
We believe the future of computing is shifting towards more powerful and capable tablets. We are working to open a new chapter in computing and data entry by launching seamless support across all of our platforms and unique features that open up new and better ways to be productive and creative.
The company could have made this statement back in 2011, when the iPad was released, but, apparently, it has only now dawned on the company. How committed Google is to the tablet “experience”will determine the company’s second push into tablet development. Right now, Android 12L seems to be very conservative in this regard, although Google has launched several tablet apps with things like the “Entertainment Space”home screen bar.
One of the responsibilities in the job description is “developing roadmaps and launching our first hero app strategy.”Presumably, “ink first”means that Google is putting more emphasis on pen input. Pen input has been supported by Samsung for a long time, but Android and Google’s Android apps have never made much room for styluses. (Chrome OS Pixel devices often had styluses, but not Android tablets.)
Another tablet development that has been seen recently comes from J. R. Raphael of Computerworld, who pointed out that Android co-founder Rich Miner updated his Linkedin to show “CTO Android Tablets.”So now there’s an “Android Tablets”division? The miner apparently started in the position in March, which also meant a return to the Android team after leaving in 2010.
If Google wants people to take Android tablets seriously, it will take several years of continuous, high-quality development from Google. At the moment, Android tablets mostly cause jokes. Google will need to work really hard to prove it’s serious about tablets and won’t abandon them again when Android 12L doesn’t become an overnight success. Will Google have the courage – and leadership – to commit to a long-term commitment to the project, even if the first few public releases don’t pan out?
We saw this pattern when Google first turned to Android tablets, where Android 3.0 Honeycomb was a major release, and when it didn’t have instant success, Android 4.0 was a small release for tablets. With a release or two later, tablet improvements stopped and the platform was effectively abandoned. We’ve also seen this with smartwatches: Android Wear didn’t become an instant success after its first launch, and resources were quickly pulled from the project, leading to years of stagnation. As with tablets, Google has recently decided that abandoning the underlying smart device platform wasn’t such a good idea, and is now trying to resurrect Android-powered smartwatches.
As for both of these projects, it’s not clear if it’s going to be Google in the long run or if it’s just another temporary surge of interest. Meanwhile, Apple is really into tablets (and smartwatches) for the long term, and today’s iPad and iPadOS are the result of 12 years of continuous work and significant resource allocation. If Google wants to catch up, it has a long way to go.