10 years ago, Google introduced a version of Android for tablets, since then, everything has been a silent desert. With the introduction of Windows 11 and despite a minimal market share on tablets, Microsoft introduced an operating system optimized for tablets, with an interface adapted to this format and specific functions. For its part, Apple separated its operating system two years ago into iOS and iPadOS to give even more importance to the software on its tablets.
Android has missed a train for years that it could drive, leave software optimizations to manufacturers. we will tell you how Google missed the tablet train 10 years ago and examine the state of the operating system in this market. We already anticipate that the summary is clear: Android, as an operating system on tablets, is forgotten.
Google forgot about tablets, while its competitors chose them
To remember the last time Google tried to steer Android towards tablets, we have to go back to 2011, when Android 3.0 Honeycomb was introduced. It was a version by and for tablets
Honeycomb Google had everything to lay the foundations for tablet operating systems. In fact, time has proved him right, and that is that the widgets, multi-windows and other elements of Android have ended up being adapted by their rivals.
Currently, Android for tablet is the same mobile version, but horizontally. This ends up preventing a lot of apps from being optimized for tablet sizes.
Since then, there has not been an optimized version for this format. Currently, Android on tablet is the mobile version adapted to the horizontal format, so there are not a few applications which, although they have been on the market for years, do not have a suitable interface.
The responsibility for making Android a system better suited to Android lies with the manufacturers themselves. Samsung, the second largest seller in the world in terms of tabletsIt has dedicated modes for opening apps in Windows, integration with the S-Pen and a few additions but, as we noted in the review of its flagship, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 +, apps are always messy.
On the Apple side, it has always stood out for offering a superior experience in terms of apps and format with the iPad. The leap forward came in 2019 with iPadOS, an exclusive version of the operating system for iPad, with a format more horizontally oriented than ever and with better multitasking than on iOS.
As we expected, iPadOS has been used to validate many Android ideas: the widgets on the main screen, the simultaneous use of two applications … Bases which were already established in Android, but which Apple ended up taking better advantage of.
The last to overtake Google on the left in optimizing tablet software was Microsoft with Windows 11: the system par excellence for PC is now more optimized for tablets than Android. Automatically, the Windows 11 interface adapts to PC mode or tablet mode, haptic response has been supported, UI elements have different shapes to take advantage of formats, etc. Small additions that show the interest of differentiating the experience of the tablet compared to the PC.
Generous market share: Android tablets continue to sell
In 2020, 160 million tablets were sold, an increase of almost 30% compared to 2019. Apple is the clear leader in market share, but Android is in number of models, because several manufacturers sell Android tablets.
If we look at the figures for Android, Samsung owns 19% of the shares, a figure to which without adding only 10% of Huawei and 9% of Lenovo would already exceed 30% of Apple. In other words, Apple sells the most tablets, but there are more Android tablets on the market.
With the rebound of the tablet market after years of decline, Google had with Android 12 an excellent opportunity to adapt its new design, “Material You” to tablets. In the presentation of this system there were no novelties for tablets, as every year, for 10 years.
FuchsiaOS: the solution to the problem?
The last hope of seeing a Google operating system optimized for tablets rests on FuchsiaOS, the operating system that will replace Android, with a clear cross-platform focus.
With FuchsiaOS, Google has an excellent opportunity to differentiate its operating system on mobiles versus tablets
Switching to a new operating system that aims to dominate mobiles, tablets, home devices and more can be Google’s great opportunity to present a system that differentiates the user experience on mobile and tablet. The first steps of FuchsiaOS, yes, leave some doubts, because FuchsiaOS in Google Nest is exactly the same as Android, with small changes in development.