Earlier this week, Google released Android 4.4.3, the third incremental upgrade KitKat has received since its release last October. By yesterday, the update had rolled out not just to the currently supported Nexus devices (the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, the 2012 and 2013 Nexus 7s, and the Nexus 10), but to the unlocked US versions of the Moto X, Moto G, and Moto E, and the Google Play editions of both the old and new HTC Ones, the Samsung Galaxy S4, and the Sony Z Ultra. Only the Google Play edition LG G Pad and Moto G have been excluded so far, and it's a fair bet that those updates will be here soon.

It doesn't sound like a huge deal. Nexus, Google Play edition, and Moto devices are supposed to get quick updates. That's part of the reason people buy them. There's something a little strange about the way this update has come out, though. In the past, there has been a larger gap between the delivery of updates to Nexus devices and Google Play and Moto ones. Android 4.4.2 began rolling out to Nexus devices about a week before they began hitting Google Play phones , version 4.4 came to Nexus devices on November 14 and Google Play devices on November 26 , and version 4.3 came to Google Play phones a little over a week after it came to the Nexus family

It's actually unprecedented for Nexus and Google Play devices to get an update—even a small update—all at once. Even the timing suggests that this was intentional. We got our first reports of the update at the end of March and the final KTU84L build was created on May 1, but it only started rolling out a month later. It's almost like Google held the update until everyone was ready, just so it could deliver it to multiple devices across multiple OEMs on the same day.

Ordinarily we would let this kind of thing pass by without comment. Android 4.4.3 isn't a gigantic update, though its changelog is extensive and it does appear to update the kernel and baseband versions on the phones we've installed it on (which suggests non-trivial changes). Considered in the context of Google I/O and those "Android Silver" rumors, though, this rollout is significant—Google has been trying to work around the Android update problem for some time now, and at this point, any development is worth examining.

The promise of Android Silver

If you're not up on the latest Android rumors, the Android Silver program is supposed to give Google a way to wrest control of its platform back from the OEMs that have simultaneously proliferated and perverted it. Android Silver phones and tablets will supposedly receive prompt software updates and will limit the number of customizations and applications that OEMs can add on top of the "stock" version of Android that ships on Nexus and Google Play edition devices. Such a program, assuming it exists, will require cooperation and collaboration between Google, its hardware partners, and the cellular carriers.

Some of this collaboration is already part and parcel of the Google Play edition program. The manufacturers of Google Play devices work together with Google to get these software updates ready—the OEMs supply the kernel, drivers, and other device-specific changes (HTC's BoomSound speaker optimizations, the S4's flip covers , support for SD card slots in the devices that have them), and Google provides everything else. Using Google Play edition devices from different manufacturers feels similar because Google is in the driver's seat dictating how things look and feel.

Since the program was introduced in the Galaxy S4 Google Play edition a year ago, Google has slowly but surely drawn more Android OEMs to the program. HTC contributes the M7 and M8, Motorola has the Moto G, Sony has the Z Ultra, and LG has the G Pad 8.3. This list includes essentially every Android device manufacturer that matters in the US, which means that all of them have experience developing and delivering updated Android code relatively quickly—a big departure from the notoriously lengthy and scattershot Android update process we're all currently familiar with, even if it's only happening on a handful of phones.

Android Silver would supposedly replace the four-year-old Nexus program, ending Google's contributions to the Android hardware ecosystem, but Google has worked with its partners to put these updates together for long enough that it no longer needs to ship its own hardware to deliver the software experience (whether the Nexus devices' low, Google-subsidized prices will also carry over to Android Silver devices is unknown).

Problems yet to come

Even if we assume that Google has its OEMs in line with respect to issuing certain updates to certain phones at certain times, there are other hurdles that need to be overcome for an Android Silver-like program to achieve its goals. The largest will be the US phone carriers, whose insistence on lengthy validation processes for updates hold things back just as much as the OEMs do. Most of the Nexus, Moto, and Google Play edition devices getting this update are the unlocked versions that aren't subject to carrier delays.

There are glimmers of hope here, though. Back when Android 4.4 was released for the Moto X, the carriers started putting it out pretty quickly, even the notoriously slow Verizon. Motorola was owned by Google at that point (and still is, until the Lenovo deal closes), so it's possible that Google has been working with the carriers to prioritize updates for certain devices.

The keynote at Google I/O often brings new Android versions and new gadget announcements, so if Android Silver is actually in the cards, we might hear about it later this month. Based on the way this particular update has rolled out, though, it seems like the Google Play edition program could be practice for something bigger.