The ecological kingdom established by the Android system is facing increasingly severe challenges.
According to statistics from multiple research institutions, global smartphone sales declined significantly in the first half of 2022. For example, the "Global Mobile Phone Market Tracking Report" released by IDC Consulting in 2022 shows that the global smartphone market shipments reached a historical peak of 1.471 billion units in 2016, and then continued to decline from 2017 to 2020. Although it recovered to 1.355 billion units in 2021, it still cannot return to its former peak so far. This is not just a callback to caused by short-term factors, but the trend changes in long-term cycles are more worthy of attention.
It is obvious that in order to maintain and even enhance the market influence of the Android system, it is necessary to expand new development space. In recent years, with the rise of application services such as cloud games and the change in user demand, the boundaries of Android platforms have gradually extended from mobile to new scenarios, such as cloud, edge, PC and other terminal devices, and are showing an accelerated expansion.
But it cannot be ignored that in the process of penetrating into desktop and other fields, there are many inherent problems in the wild growth stage - many "cracking" and "simulation" that wander in the gray area have impacted the interests of application developers; the gap between the two computing architectures of ARM and X86 also lacks standardized and effective tools to fill it out.
At the key node of the construction of the new Android ecosystem, it is inseparable from the active participation and collaborative innovation of industry-leading enterprises. If a series of actions from Microsoft , Google and PC manufacturers have opened a "window" for the Android system, then the big weapon Intel® Bridge Technology (Intel® BT) launched by Intel can play the core role of paving roads and building bridges, and escort the expansion and protection of the new Android ecosystem.
Intel® BT can dynamically, instantly and efficiently translate ARM instructions into X86 instructions, helping most Android applications to run seamlessly on X86 PCs and cloud servers, building a bridge between ARM and X86. The expansion of the new Android ecosystem is expected to speed up.
expansion bottleneck and breakthrough path of Android system
From the perspective of complex system evolution, the Android ecosystem penetrates from mobile to desktop, cloud, IOT and other scenarios, which is mainly affected by the dual factors of strong pulling of user needs and the coordinated breakthrough of the industry. Discussion of its evolution path must be based on these two dimensions.
The rapid development of the cloud gaming market is an important catalyst for Android to break the existing barriers between different platforms. Relevant statistics from the "Cloud Game Industry Development White Paper (2020)" released by AIAC shows that against the backdrop of the rapid development of the global cloud game market, the compound growth rate of China's cloud game market in the next two years will exceed 100%, of which, the revenue of Android platforms is expected to account for more than 50%, becoming an indispensable driving force for cloud game growth.
However, the high proportion of mid-to-low Android mobile devices and some outdated TV set-top box cannot smoothly run high-quality games, and it is imperative for Android to achieve cross-platform applications; at the same time, since the cloud game program itself runs on a cloud server, the end user cannot get the game package, which reduces the risk of game pirated or modified. Standardized cross-platform development will help many parties benefit.
The mainstream manufacturers from all links in the industry work together to break through, and is also the source of motivation for the Android ecosystem to "break the circle". For example: Microsoft has added Windows Subsystem for Android to the newly released Windows 11, so users can easily use Android applications; Google's ChromeOS ARCVM and Play Games on PC are making all-round efforts to promote the smooth use of Android in desktop and other scenarios; many PC hardware manufacturers have also launched Android-based mobile application support solutions to provide support for the implementation of the new Android ecosystem.
In the blueprint for outlining the new Android ecosystem, it is also inseparable from the finishing touch.As a supplier of underlying architecture and basic platforms, Intel plays an important role in the construction of the new Android ecosystem. Whether it is hardware support or software development , it has invested a lot of resources, and has launched Intel Celadon open source projects, Android cloud gaming solutions and other powerful tools. The most dazzling star is Intel binary conversion solution - Intel® Bridge Technology. This is the password to open up two parallel worlds of ARM and X86, and it is also the bridge for the Android ecosystem to enter a new world.
"Intel® BT" escorts the new ecosystem of Android
In the Google Play Android application market, a considerable proportion of the top 100 games and applications only support ARM_ABI. These games and applications cannot be run directly on mainstream X86 PCs or cloud server .
This situation is not only a market pain point, but also a huge opportunity. Intel® BT bridges ARM and X86 computing architectures well, solving problems that have plagued the industry for a long time. If the application can only provide ARM_ABI support due to third-party dependencies or other reasons, the application can still be executed on the Intel® BT in most cases.
From a purely technical perspective, Intel® BT is a runtime post-compiler (Runtime Post-compiler) that can efficiently convert ARM instructions in Android Apps into X86 instructions, allowing mobile apps developed and packaged for ARM architecture to run on PCs, clouds and other devices of X86 architecture .
As one of the main forces in building a new Android ecosystem, Intel recommends developers to provide native X86_64 ABI support. These mainstream development tools support applications to run on the Intel platform with excellent performance and compatibility, which solves developers' worries from the source and will significantly improve the user experience.
It is worth mentioning that Intel® BT is based on X86 code generated by dynamic rather than static compilation, thus providing developers with a safer and more reliable conversion solution. However, because we are in a complex environment where we are mixed, we may sometimes encounter "inadvertent injuries", so we must strive for broader support in application reinforcement, anti-simulator and platform inspection.
Many applications will first use a reinforcement solution to strengthen the application or SDK to improve security defense capabilities before they are launched in the application store or released. Some reinforcement solutions also introduce native code modules for pure Java/Kotlin Apps, thereby converting applications that are independent of ABI platform into applications that run on specific ABI platforms.
Based on the principle of prudence, Intel recommends using reinforcement solutions that support X86, such as Ai Encryption , Ant Group mPaaS, Bangbang Security , Lebian, NetEase Yidun and other solutions. These manufacturers have adapted the X86 platform and Intel® BT.
anti-simulator and platform inspection are also crucial. Some Android environments on Intel platforms run in virtual machines or containers and are not ARM-architected processors. Some emulator detection solutions simply classify the Intel platform as an emulator solution and restrict applications. In fact, WSA, Chrome OS, Android cloud games and some mobile application engines, such as Huawei mobile application engine, are all developers-friendly and widely accepted and benefited by users. If application developers can conduct more fine-grained inspection strategies for these platforms and allow applications to run in a reasonable platform without barriers, it will help the rapid growth and healthy development of the new Android ecosystem.
accelerates the implementation process of the new Android ecosystem
Application developers are the core role in determining the implementation process of the new Android ecosystem. It is very important to provide them with comprehensive direction guidance and support. The white paper "Building Intel Platform-friendly Android Applications" came into being under such a background.
In the white paper, in addition to launching Intel® BT and explaining its evolution path, Intel also provides detailed reference suggestions from the aspects of Android scenario development principles for PC and other devices, identification and selection of application testing environments, etc., to help developers "help them get on the horse and give them another ride."
In general, Android applications provide native X86_64 ABI support to obtain excellent performance and compatibility is the preferred solution for developers; if applications that only contain ARM_ABI have to be provided, developers can test on WSA, Chromebook based on Intel processors, or mobile application engines such as Huawei; if reinforcement is required, developers are recommended to use a reinforcement solution that supports Intel platform adaptation to resolve compatibility issues.
There is no road in the world, and as more people walk, it becomes a road. In this sense, Intel® BT paves the way and bridges the two worlds of ARM and X86, and more developers need to participate in it, so that the path can be turned into avenues and arrive at the new continent of Android's new ecosystem as soon as possible. Intel is already on the road and looks forward to meeting the developers.
