Android 15 may allow you to update your phone’s NFC stack through Google Play

Google has been working for several years to reduce fragmentation in the Android ecosystem. When I talk about Android fragmentation, I’m referring to how there are so many different implementations of the Android operating system. That’s not a problem in and of itself, considering Google intentionally lets device manufacturers customize Android to their liking. However, it makes distributing OS updates a little more difficult. One solution to this problem that Google devised in his 2019 is called Project Mainline.

Project Mainline packages certain operating system components as modules. Then it will be distributed directly by Google rather than his OEM of the device. This makes updating between devices much easier. Instead of waiting for a device’s specific OEM or carrier to integrate, test, and distribute security and feature updates to core OS components, you can leave it in Google’s hands.

When updates for Project Mainline modules are available, Google pushes them to all users through the Google Play Store using a mechanism called Google Play System Updates. Project Mainline modules are signed by Google, so you can push Mainline module updates to devices from other manufacturers.

Android 15 turns the NFC stack into an updatable Project Mainline module

When Project Mainline debuted with Android 10, there were only 12 modules. Over the years, Google has made more and more parts of Android modular. Android 14 now has 37 updatable modules. In the upcoming Android 15 update, the number of Project Mainline modules may increase to a total of 40. While exploring the first Android 15 beta released earlier today, I discovered the presence of three new APEX packages at com.android.nfcservices, com. .google.android.crashrecovery, and com.google.android.profiling.

APEX is the packaging format used by Project Mainline. This means that these three packages may be new Mainline modules. I say “potentially” because there are some APEX packages that are not part of Project Mainline. This is because these updates are not processed through Google Play System Update. However, we won’t know if this applies to these three modules until we get closer to the release of Android 15.

Anyway, the first APEX package I mentioned, com.android.nfcservices, is the most interesting of the three packages, as it contains a copy of Android’s NFC stack. NFC stands for Near Field Communication and is an ultra-short range wireless communication technology widely used for contactless payments. By incorporating Android’s NFC stack into his APEX module, Google is preparing to turn it into an updateable Project Mainline module.Indeed, I heard that was the plan from the beginning Back to May 2023.

Paving the way for faster release of security fixes and new features

By making it easier to update the NFC stack, Google will be able to provide security fixes and new features to users more quickly. For example, Android 15 introduces many new features to the NFC stack. One such new feature is a new observation mode that makes tap-to-pay “more seamless and reliable.” As devices with Android’s new updatable NFC stack start shipping, Google will likely push out further updates bringing new features like this.

In fact, with today’s release of Android 15 Beta 1, Google has quietly enabled Android’s new updatable NFC stack on Pixel smartphones. However, it appears that the company made a mistake in the migration process. As a result, NFC will be completely broken for his Pixels users running the first beta version. Hopefully, Google will quickly release an update to fix these NFC issues in the Android 15 beta. Because NFC is important for the operation of the default wallet app.

April 11, 2024