On: Android 17 is the first since 3.x to add new APIs without releasing to the AOSP

[pjmlp]

They can easily go back 30 years ago, when each one had their own proprietary in-house OS, using current Android as baseline, or something BSD like PlayStation.

[alightsoul → pjmlp]

This is what phone manufacturers do. Very few use vanilla AOSP with just Google mobile services and their own hardware drivers.