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Google has been grappling for two years with the fragmentation of the Android user experience. While the open source nature of its operating system should encourage diversity, this has sometimes led to user confusion, sub-standard user interfaces and poorly working applications. Worst for the search giant, some vendors' twists on the Android look and feel make it harder for consumers to use its services, and invite unfavourable comparison with the consistent Apple UI. However, attempts to unify the experience - most notoriously when Google restricted the Honeycomb tablet release to just a few trusted partners with 'quality' implementations - have been controversial. Its latest tactic is more subtle, but still raises questions of how far it will try to impose its will on its partners as it launches the new Android release, Ice Cream Sandwich.

It has made its Holo system themes compulsory for any firm supporting that release, also known as Android 4.0. The search leader insists that OEMs will still be able to develop customized interfaces, but stated in a corporate blog post that Holo is now "a requirement for devices running Android 4.0 and forward" and essential for accessing Android Market. "If the device has Android Market it will have the Holo themes as they were originally designed," says the post.

Google justified the outburst of control freakery by saying it would make it easier for developers to ensure that their applications look good and perform smoothly on any Android 4.0 device, regardless of screen size or other specs. "Before Android 4.0, the variance in system themes from device to device could make it difficult to design an app with a single predictable look and feel. We set out to improve this situation for the developer community in Ice Cream Sandwich and beyond," Google said.

It is well aware of the negative side of this strategy, and accusations that it is betraying its open source claims and behaving more like Microsoft, with its tough restrictions on WP7 licensees. But it also knows that, if Android Market is confusing and unpredictable, consumers and developers may be tempted by alternative Android power bases, notably Amazon's AppStore. Google said on its blog that it had "no desire to restrict manufacturers from building their own themed experience across their devices", using the DeviceDefault theme.

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