In a long overdue move Google, Inc. is considering shaming smartphone makers and carriers who do not offer users upgrades and security patches to its Android mobile operating system, a report claimed Wednesday.

Bloomberg claims that Google will be taking a “carrot and stick” approach to Android phone makers that includes the possibility of publishing a “shame” list of phone makers who fail to offer updates to their users; according to Phandroid the list already exists but is only distributed to Google partners, whereas making it public would put pressure on Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to not only provide updates but to drive competition as well.

Android fragmentation, the process where phones run different versions of Android due to the fact that manufacturers and/or telcos fail to provide updates, has long been seen as one of its biggest weaknesses. While Google provides regular monthly security updates, let alone roughly a full new version of Android once a year, those updates take months, and sometimes even years to make their way to Android smartphone users, and that’s if they ever get them at all.

The failure of manufacturers and telcos to provide updates causes a number of problems, exposing users to security risks; as Android progresses, apps made for the operating system may not work on older versions, creating an interoperability problem.

A start

As of March, Android 5.0 Lollipop had become the most used version of the operating system, but only with a market share of 36.1 percent versus Android 4.4 KitKat holding a 34.3 percent share. In context, Google released Android 6.0 Marshmallow in October last year, and yet at the time it held only a 2.3 percent share. All this at a time where Google is already previewing Android 7.0 “N.”

The best you can say about Google’s proposal to name and shame recalcitrant smartphone manufacturers is that it’s a start, but surely they could do more.

At the very least, Google could compartmentalize the security aspects of Android from the custom skins and apps installed by manufacturers and telcos alike and bypass them by pushing out updates directly; it may be a slightly far-fetched idea, but ultimately one that could work.

There’s no easy answer to the problem, but the longer Google allows it to occur the more fragmented the Android market becomes.

Image credit: rbulmahn/Flickr/CC by 2.0