The AOSP (Android Open Source Project) repository, which hosts the source code for the Android platform, has issued a warning about changes to its code publication scheme, which implies that new Android code will only be made available after each release. AOSP content will now be updated only twice a year—in the second and fourth quarters. Previously, Google practiced quarterly code publication.
Instead of the continuously updated 'aosp-main' branch for building and developing changes, it is recommended to use the new 'android-latest-release' branch, which reflects the state of the codebase for the most recent Android release (for example, currently this is 'android16-qpr2-release'). This change will not affect the publication of security patches, which will continue to be released monthly in the 'android-security' branches.
The reasons for this change include the desire to ensure platform stability for the Android ecosystem and to align AOSP with a trunk-stable development model, which will simplify Android development, eliminate the need to maintain multiple branches, and provide third-party developers with more stable and secure code. Having separate internal and public branches led to increasing discrepancies during release development, requiring resources to synchronize changes and merge patches between different branches.
Last year, Google limited the submission of device-specific changes for Pixel devices into AOSP and shifted to developing releases behind closed doors without publishing intermediate results in AOSP. Previously, the platform developed using a mixed development model, where some Android components, such as the Bluetooth stack, build system, update engine, and virtualization framework, were developed publicly, while others were initially created in an internal repository and disclosed after release. According to the new model, only the internal branch is used for development, with code transferred to the AOSP repository tied to releases.
Source: opennet.ru
