Farewell, fragmentation? Google shells out $23M for Android-boosting company FlexyCore

Google just spent $23.1 million to make sure future low-end Android phones run just as well as high-end ones.

Google has acquired France’s FlexyCore, the company behind Android performance amplifier DroidBooster.

While owners of high-end devices rarely need such an app, using DroidBooster is often a major boon for people trying to breathe life into their dated Android handsets — especially if they’re trying to run newer apps.

Or at least it used to be. Though Google only confirmed the acquisition today, the company has already taken DroidBooster off Google Play. Good apps die hard.

Buy why FlexyCore?  And why now? One possible explanation is that Google wants to be able to deliver roughly the same Android experience no matter what device the operating system is running on.

This is tough to pull off on low-end devices today, but perhaps it will be more feasible with the sort of performance optimization skill that FlexyCore specializes in. As Google confirmed in a statement, the FlexyCore team has already been integrated into the larger Android team, so perhaps this effort is already underway.

Google may not ever cure Android fragmentation entirely, but its FlexyCore acquisition could certainly help.