And easier ways to manage conversations, privacy settings and so much more. Android is made for business—no matter what your business is. That means more Android devices to choose from, built for any job. Android has been the best-selling OS worldwide on smartphones since 2011 and on tablets since 2013. Any device you have hidden on Google Play won’t appear on this page.
- Google added new toggles in the Quick Settings specifically for this purpose.
- Watch, play, and do whatever you want, whenever you want with 5000+ apps from Google play.
- It uses an Android Virtual Device function that lets developers emulate specific devices.
- A budget Android phone running an older version of the platform offers a radically different experience than the latest Samsung flagship.
- The software is available for developers, and was released in 2016.
For example, it is impossible to sideload apps on an out-of-the-box iPhone, and there’s only one app store . Apple also tightly controls the kinds of apps developers can make for iPhones. However, the Android you get with almost all smartphones has tons of other software incorporated that is not open source. Most of this software falls under a system called Google Play Services. This brings Google-branded products to Android, including the Google Play Store, Gmail, YouTube, etc. When most people think of Android, they think of phones.
Android 1.0 Alpha
It was designed by then-Google graphic designer Irina Blok on November 5, 2007, when Android was announced. Contrary to reports that she was tasked with a project to create an icon, Blok confirmed in an interview that she independently developed it and made it open source. Its popularity amongst the development team eventually led to Google adopting it as an official icon as part of the Android logo when it launched to consumers in 2008. A year earlier, Gruman had stated that Microsoft’s own mobile Office apps were “better on iOS and Android” than on Microsoft’s own Windows 10 devices.
Google quickly released versions 4.2 and 4.3 under the Jelly Bean label in October 2012 and July 2013, respectively. Other notable changes with ICS included support for all on-screen buttons, swipe gestures to dismiss notifications and browser tabs, and the ability to monitor your data usage over mobile and Wi-Fi. Other features included the introduction of the Quick Search Box, and quick toggling between the Camera, Camcorder, and Gallery to streamline the media-capture experience. Donut also introduced the Power Control widget for managing Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, etc. Google quickly launched Android 1.6 Donut in September 2009. The new OS now offered support for carriers using CDMA-based networks.