The Raspberry Pi platform has never lacked for operating systems. Its official website lists at least half a dozen options, led by Raspbian, but the Linux community hasn't been idle either. The only system that has yet to climb aboard is Android, but Google preferred to maintain radio silence… until now. The official AOSP repository already includes a branch dedicated to the Raspberry Pi 3, and though it's empty at the moment, we figure it's just a matter of time before we see compatible code.
The idea of adapting Android to platforms beyond mobile devices is interesting for two reasons: first, its huge ecosystem. While not every app in the store is truly useful, all the services people consider 'essential' these days have a compatible app. Second, Android's own future. Version 6.0 didn't leave a great impression during the launch of the Pixel C tablet, but it has received several updates since then, improving critical aspects of the OS if it plans to have a place on our desktops. What's next on Android's list? From what we've seen, nothing less than the Raspberry Pi 3.
Everything on hand so far is an empty repository, but it wouldn't be there if Mountain View didn't at least intend to run some experiments with the latest Raspberry Pi. Why specifically the latest model? If we pause for a moment, the reasons are plain: its SoC is well documented, it packs four cores at an acceptable clock speed, 1 GB of RAM, built-in WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1 support, and with a microSD slot, storage is hardly an issue. In theory, users would only need to write the image to a card (just as they do with other operating systems) and boot the Raspberry Pi.
Needless to say, the Raspberry Pi 3 receiving official Android support doesn't mean Google will open up access to its services. We all know how this works: Android is open source, but all Google modules (including the Google Play Store) are not. The sideloading route should suffice for loading apps onto the Raspberry Pi 3, yet it would be nice to see Google extend a bit of courtesy and let us use it as a certified device.
