Android Operating System

An Android Operating System is a mobile operating system that operates on Android devices to support Android Apps.

• Context:
  • It can have derivations, such as Android Wear OS.
  • …
• Example(s):
  • Android Cupcake,
  • Android Donut,
  • Android Eclair,
  • Android Froyo,
  • Android Gingerbread,
  • Android Honeycomb,
  • Android Ice Cream Sandwich,
  • Android Jelly Bean,
  • Android Kitkat,
  • Android Lollipop,
  • Android Marshmallow,
  • Android Nougat,
  • Android Oreo,
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • iOS,
  • MS-DOS,
  • PlayStation OS,
  • Linux OS,
  • Tizen OS,
  • Unix OS,
  • Widows OS.
• See: Open Handset Alliance, Unix-Like, Google Android Studio, Android TV, Android Auto, Android Wear.

---

---

References

2017

• (Wikipedia, 2017) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system) Retrieved:2017-4-6.
  • Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google, based on the Linux kernel and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android's user interface is mainly based on direct manipulation, using touch gestures that loosely correspond to real-world actions, such as swiping, tapping and pinching, to manipulate on-screen objects, along with a virtual keyboard for text input. In addition to touchscreen devices, Google has further developed Android TV for televisions, Android Auto for cars, and Android Wear for wrist watches, each with a specialized user interface. Variants of Android are also used on notebooks, game consoles, digital cameras, and other electronics.

    Initially developed by Android Inc., which Google bought in 2005, Android was unveiled in 2007, along with the founding of the Open Handset Alliancea consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Beginning with the first commercial Android device in September 2008, the operating system has gone through multiple major releases, with the current version being 7.0 "Nougat", released in August 2016. Android applications ("apps") can be downloaded from the Google Play store, which features over 2.7 million apps as of February 2017. Android has been the best-selling OS on tablets since 2013, and runs on the vast majorityof smartphones. In September 2015, Android had 1.4 billion monthly active users, and it has the largest installed base of any operating system.

    Android's source code is released by Google under an open source license, although most Android devices ultimately ship with a combination of free and open source and proprietary software, including proprietary software required for accessing Google services. Android is popular with technology companies that require a ready-made, low-cost and customizable operating system for high-tech devices. Its open nature has encouraged a large community of developers and enthusiasts to use the open-source code as a foundation for community-driven projects, which deliver updates to older devices, add new features for advanced users or bring Android to devices originally shipped with other operating systems. Historically, Android's platform fragmentation caused issues with security, in which the majority of Android devices did not receive security patches, but recent developments have improved the situation. The success of Android has made it a target for patent and copyright litigation as part of the so-called “smartphone wars” between technology companies.

2017

• (Wikipedia, 2017) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history Retrieved:2017-11-21.
  • The version history of the Android mobile operating system began with the public release of the Android beta in November 5, 2007. The first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released in September 2008. Android is continually developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance, and it has seen a number of updates to its base operating system since the initial release.

    Versions 1.0 and 1.1 were not released under specific code names. Android code names are confectionery-themed and have been in alphabetical order since 2009's Android 1.5 Cupcake, with the most recent major version being Android 8.0 Oreo, released in August 2017.

    Note: To clarify, support for e.g. Android 4.4.4 KitKat (Google's support cut-off), means at least security patches in 2014, 2016 and up to and including at least September 2017. The updates may or may not reach actual users' devices; that depends on vendors. Google (and others) may support their own users' devices with a major upgrade only, instead of a security update to those older versions, but it's possible to do.

     A version of Android KitKat exclusive to Android Wear devices was released on June 25, 2014, with an API level of 20.

Code name	Version number	Initial release date	API level	Security patches
(No codename)	1.0	September 23, 2008	1	Unsupported
(Internally known as "Petit Four")	1.1	February 9, 2009	2	Unsupported
Cupcake	1.5	April 27, 2009	3	Unsupported
Donut	1.6}}	September 15, 2009	4	Unsupported
Eclair	2.0 – 2.1}}	October 26, 2009	5 – 7	Unsupported
Froyo	2.2 – 2.2.3}}	May 20, 2010	8	Unsupported
Gingerbread	2.3 – 2.3.7}}	December 6, 2010	9 – 10	Unsupported
Honeycomb	3.0 – 3.2.6}}	February 22, 2011	11 – 13	Unsupported
Ice Cream Sandwich	4.0 – 4.0.4}}	October 18, 2011	14 – 15	Unsupported
Jelly Bean	4.1 – 4.3.1}}	July 9, 2012	16 – 18	Unsupported
KitKat	4.4 – 4.4.4}}	October 31, 2013	19 – 20	Supported; See clarification
Lollipop	5.0 – 5.1.1}}	November 12, 2014	21 – 22	Supported
Marshmallow	6.0 – 6.0.1}}	October 5, 2015	23	Supported
Nougat	7.0 – 7.1.2}}	August 22, 2016	24 – 25	Supported
Oreo	8.0}}	August 21, 2017	26	Supported
l |show=111100}}

---