Took them a lot of time. But looks like they are finally working on a modular Android that should make it easy for manufacturers to deliver software updates.
Android Developers Blog: Here comes Treble: A modular base for Android
Android Developers Blog: Here comes Treble: A modular base for Android
Project Treble aims to do what CTS did for apps, for the Android OS framework. The core concept is to separate the vendor implementation — the device-specific, lower-level software written in large part by the silicon manufacturers — from the Android OS Framework.
This is achieved by the introduction of a new vendor interface between the Android OS framework and the vendor implementation. The new vendor interface is validated by a Vendor Test Suite (VTS), analogous to the CTS, to ensure forward compatibility of the vendor implementation.