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Android (operating system)

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Android
Screenshot
Android 14 home screen with Pixel Launcher
DeveloperGoogle,
Open Handset Alliance
Written inJava (UI), C (core), C++ and more[1]
OS familyUnix-like
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source (most devices include proprietary components, such as Google Play)
Initial releaseSeptember 23, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-09-23)[2]
Latest releaseAndroid 13 / August 15, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-08-15)
Latest previewAndroid 14 Beta 5.2 / August 25, 2023; 21 months ago (2023-08-25)
Repository
Marketing targetSmartphones, tablet computers, smart TVs (Android TV), Android Auto and smartwatches (Wear OS)
Available in100+ languages[3]
Package managerAPK (primarily through Google Play; installation of APKs also possible locally or from alternative sources such as F-Droid)
Platforms64-bit ARM, x86-64, unofficial RISC-V support; 32-bit (for e.g. ARM) was supported[4][5]
Kernel typeMonolithic (modified Linux kernel)
Default
user interface		Graphical (multi-touch)
LicenseApache License 2.0
GNU GPL v2 for the Linux kernel modifications[6]
Official websiteandroid.com

Android is an operating system used in mobile devices. It is mostly used for smartphones, like Google's own Google Pixel, as well as by other phone manufacturers like HTC and Samsung. It has also been used for tablets such as the Motorola, Xoom and Amazon Kindle. A modified Linux kernel is used as Android's kernel.[7]

Google says that over 1.3 million Android smartphones are sold every day.[8] Most mobile phones run Android, making it the most popular mobile operating system. It is also the most popular operating system in general.

It supports multitasking and two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphics.

Security updates are not provided on versions older than Android 10. Newer versions receive security updates if the phone manufacturer supports them. Phones which have Android 10 and above receive security updates (like app updates) directly from Google Play.

The current stable version is Android 13, released on August 15, 2022. As of October 2022, Android 9 is the most used version.

Android programs

Programs for Android, also called "apps" (short for applications), usually come from the Google Play Store. The Android programs have a file extension of .APK. On May 7, 2019, Kotlin replaced Java as Google’s preferred language for Android app development. Java is still supported, as is C++. Google states that[9] "Android apps can be written using Kotlin, Java, and C++ languages". Other languages may also be used; such as Python and Go, and those languages and even C++ may have restrictions. Large portions of the operating system itself are also written in Java. Over 2.6 million apps are available for Android in the Google Play Store.[10] Some apps are distributed elsewhere.

Android, Inc. began working on the Android operating system in 2003. In the future, Google bought it in 2005. The software development kit (SDK) for Android OS was launched on November 12, 2007, while the beta version was made available on November 5, 2007.

In October 2008, the T-Mobile G1 (also known as the HTC Dream) became the first Android smartphone to be made available to the general market.

Google revealed in August 2019 that the candy scheme was coming to an end and that future Android releases would instead use numerical ordering.

Android 10 was the first Android version to be made available in numerical order.

Android version numbers and names

Versions of Android have a number and have had a name based on confectioneries, up to and including Android 9 Pie, but since then it has mostly been a number, with the code name usually only being used internally and by Developers and manufacturers. The version numbers and names are:

Name Internal codename[11] Version number(s) Release date
Android 1.0 — Old version, not maintained: 1.0 September 23, 2008
Android 1.1 Petit Four Old version, not maintained: 1.1 February 9, 2009
Android Cupcake Cupcake Old version, not maintained: 1.5 April 27, 2009
Android Donut Donut Old version, not maintained: 1.6 September 15, 2009
Android Eclair Eclair Old version, not maintained: 2.0 October 27, 2009
Old version, not maintained: 2.0.1 December 3, 2009
Old version, not maintained: 2.1 January 11, 2010[12]
Android Froyo Froyo Old version, not maintained: 2.2 – 2.2.3 May 20, 2010
Android Gingerbread Gingerbread Old version, not maintained: 2.3 – 2.3.2 December 6, 2010
Old version, not maintained: 2.3.3 – 2.3.7 February 9, 2011
Android Honeycomb Honeycomb Old version, not maintained: 3.0 February 22, 2011
Old version, not maintained: 3.1 May 10, 2011
Old version, not maintained: 3.2 – 3.2.6 July 15, 2011
Android Ice Cream Sandwich Ice Cream Sandwich Old version, not maintained: 4.0 – 4.0.2 October 18, 2011
Old version, not maintained: 4.0.3 – 4.0.4 December 16, 2011
Android Jelly Bean Jelly Bean Old version, not maintained: 4.1 – 4.1.2 July 9, 2012
Old version, not maintained: 4.2 – 4.2.2 November 13, 2012
Old version, not maintained: 4.3 – 4.3.1 July 24, 2013
Android KitKat Key Lime Pie Old version, not maintained: 4.4 – 4.4.4 October 31, 2013
Old version, not maintained: 4.4W – 4.4W.2 June 25, 2014
Android Lollipop Lemon Meringue Pie Old version, not maintained: 5.0 – 5.0.2 November 4, 2014[13]
Old version, not maintained: 5.1 – 5.1.1 March 2, 2015[14]
Android Marshmallow Macadamia Nut Cookie Old version, not maintained: 6.0 – 6.0.1 October 2, 2015[15]
Android Nougat New York Cheesecake Old version, not maintained: 7.0 August 22, 2016
Old version, not maintained: 7.1 – 7.1.2 October 4, 2016
Android Oreo Oatmeal Cookie Old version, not maintained: 8.0 August 21, 2017
Old version, not maintained: 8.1 December 5, 2017
Android Pie Pistachio Ice Cream[16] Old version, not maintained: 9 August 6, 2018
Android 10 Quince Tart[17] Old version, not maintained: 10 September 3, 2019
Android 11 Red Velvet Cake[17] Old version, not maintained: 11 September 8, 2020
Android 12 Snow Cone Old version, still maintained: 12 October 4, 2021
Android 12L Snow Cone v2 Old version, still maintained: 12.1[a] March 7, 2022
Android 13 Tiramisu Old version, still maintained: 13 August 15, 2022
Android 14 Upside Down Cake[20] Latest version: 14 October 4, 2023
Android 15 Vanilla Ice Cream[21] 35 April 11, 2024[22]
Legend:
Old version, not maintained
Old version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version

References

  1. ↑ "Android Language Breakdown". Open Hub. October 25, 2017. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  2. ↑ Morrill, Dan (September 23, 2008). "Announcing the Android 1.0 SDK, release 1". Android Developers Blog. Google. Archived from the original on March 5, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Android 7.0 Nougat". Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved September 5, 2016. Internationalization
    Multi-locale support [..]
    New languages supported: Coupled with allowing you to select multiple languages preferences, Android Nougat allows you to select from 100 new languages and 25 locales for commonly used languages such as English, Spanish, French, and Arabic. This enables Apps to better support and understanding your language preferences even if your devices lacks official support for it.
  4. ↑ García, Érika (September 2021). "Google bans 32-bit apps from Android for good". Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  5. ↑ "32-bits is dead: Here's what it means for Android, Apple, and more". Android Authority. June 12, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Licenses". Android Source. Google. Archived from the original on December 15, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Google Play services". Google Developers.
  8. ↑ "There Are Now 1.3 Million Android Device Activations Per Day". TechCrunch. September 5, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Application Fundamentals". Android Developers.
  10. ↑ "Number of apps on Android Devices". statista. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Codenames, Tags, and Build Numbers". Android Open Source Project. Google. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Android 2.1 SDK". Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  13. ↑ "refs/tags/android-5.0.0_r1 – platform/system/core – Git at Google". android.googlesource.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  14. ↑ "refs/tags/android-5.1.0_r1 – platform/system/core – Git at Google". android.googlesource.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  15. ↑ "refs/tags/android-6.0.0_r1 – platform/system/core – Git at Google". android.googlesource.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  16. ↑ Parker, Steven. "Android P being referred to as 'Pistachio Ice Cream' internally at Google". Neowin. Neowin LLC. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Gartenberg, Chaim (July 23, 2020). "Even Android 11 is cake". The Verge. Vox Media, LLC. Archived from the original on December 17, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2021. Burke revealed last year that Android Q had been internally known as "Quince Tart"
  18. ↑ "Factory Images for Nexus and Pixel Devices". Google Developers. Archived from the original on April 4, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  19. ↑ Amadeo, Ron (March 7, 2022). "Android 12L is official as "Android 12.1," rolling out now to Pixel phones". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  20. ↑ Bradshaw, Kyle (April 22, 2022). "Android 14 gets official internal codename… Upside Down Cake". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  21. ↑ Cantisano, Timi (March 3, 2023). "Android 15 dessert-themed codename revealed as 'Vanilla Ice Cream'". XDA Developers. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  22. ↑ Cite error: The named reference A15RN was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).

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