John Gruber, writing on Daring Fireball:
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/06/25/wong-ios-14-android
Do you get the sense that Google, company-wide, is all that interested in Android? I don’t. Both as the steward of the software platform and as the maker of Pixel hardware, it seems like Google is losing interest in Android. Flagship Android hardware makers sure are interested in Android, but they can’t move the Android developer ecosystem — only Google can.
The iPhone was made because Apple execs wanted something better than their current phones, and iOS to power that.
Android was bought because Google was afraid Microsoft would lock them out of Mobile and the Pixel was made for several conflicting reasons.
Because of its modular, multi-vendor nature, Android will always be a burden to Google in a way iOS-just-for-iPhone won’t be to Apple.
Likewise, until Pixel as testbed, revenue generator, or halo product is sorted out, the results will always be less than the sum of the agendas.