Project Treble

Project Treble originated with the release of Android 8.0 Oreo and marks a revolutionary change in the system's architecture. It can be imagined as a fragmentation of the integral framework and the implementation of a manufacturer's old and new operating system.

How Does Project Treble Work?

The Android operating system consists mainly of the following layers:

• Applications - Programs that can be downloaded via Google Play. The individual app developers are responsible for its development.
• Kernel - A part of the system that processes user requests. Software engineers such as Qualcomm, Mediatek and others work with this.
• HAL (hardware abstraction layer) - a layer that allows communication between the application and the system's kernel. Managed by the device's manufacturer.

For example:

Many phones use one camera system. The Sony Exmor RS IMX378 is used by Google Pixel, Xiaomi Mi5S and BlackBerry KEYone. Even when all of these phones have the same operating system, the photos look different for each device because each phone uses a different HAL. HAL basically solves the amount of software editing, such as contrast, colour rendering, and so on.

HAL is tailor-made for each specific hardware and software. By changing one or the other, it stops working as it should. Project Treble, however, has defined unchangeable interfaces by which hardware (camera, microphone, etc.) changes us sikved by the software. You can imagine this as a "software connector" that allows you to attach various different codes.