You’ve heard it time and time again, Android is one sweet tasting – but fragmented as hell – OS. Ina Fried writing for Recode:

 That often means a lot more time and money spent testing and supporting Android than Apple’s iOS, but with Android making up the majority of smartphones out there, what’s a large developer to do? 

Apparently the answer is to take drastic measures like cutting out nearly all Android handset makers.

 Salesforce is taking a rather unusual stance in an effort to avoid this problem. Starting with an update to its Salesforce1 app later this year, the company will offer support for its app only to those using certain Google Nexus or Samsung Galaxy devices. 

According to a support document by Salesforce:

 Due to the wide array of available Android devices, we are targeting our support to a select number of Android devices to continue improving our overall Salesforce1 for Android user experience. 

That means that if you’re a Sony Mobile user, you’re simply out of luck. Supported devices will include:

• Samsung Galaxy S5
• Samsung Galaxy S6
• Samsung Galaxy S7
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
• Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
• Samsung Tab A 9.7
• Google Nexus 5X
• Google Nexus 6P

Just recently, I talked about Samsung being the bellwether for Android and this is frankly more proof of that. Despite Google touting how open Android is with tons of manufacturers behind it, the reality is that the only one that matters is Samsung. As for the Google phones on the list, it’s not like Salesforce could say no to devices from the creators of Android. Otherwise, those phones based on sales volume wouldn’t be supported going forward either.

For Sony and other smaller Android handset makers sake like LG and HTC, let’s hope that this doesn’t turn into a developer rebellion where they attempt to fix fragmentation issues by simply not supporting devices.

Discuss:

Do you find this news worrisome?