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Android (operating system)

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Android
A flat robot head, a green semicircle with antennas and small holes for eyes.
Wordmark and logo used since 2023
DeveloperVarious (mostly Google)
Written inJava, Kotlin (UI), C (core), C++, Rust[1] and others
OS familyUnix-like (modified Linux kernel)
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source, freeware (most devices include proprietary components, such as Google Play Services or One UI)
Initial releaseSeptember 23, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-09-23)
Latest releaseAndroid 14 / October 4, 2023; 13 months ago (2023-10-04)
Latest previewAndroid 15: Beta 4.1 / July 29, 2024; 3 months ago (2024-07-29)[2]
Repository
Marketing targetSmartphones, tablet computers, smart TVs (Android TV), Android Auto and smartwatches (Wear OS)
Available in100+ languages
Update methodOver-the-air
Package managerAPK-based
PlatformsARM64 (previous versions were also compatible with ARMv7, x86, x86-64, MIPS and RISC-V; these architectures are still unofficially supported via third-party solutions)[3][4]
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux kernel)
UserlandBionic libc, mksh shell, Toybox as core utilities
Default
user interface		Graphical (multi-touch)
License
Official websitewww.android.com Edit this at Wikidata
Support status
Articles in the series
Android version history

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 Fire. A modified Linux kernel is used as Android's kernel.[5]

Google says that over 1.3 million Android smartphones are sold every day.[6] 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 14, released on October 4, 2023.

Android programs

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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[7] "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.[8] 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

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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[9] Version number(s) Release date
Android 1.0 — Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0 September 23, 2008
Android 1.1 Petit Four Old version, no longer maintained: 1.1 February 9, 2009
Android Cupcake Cupcake Old version, no longer maintained: 1.5 April 27, 2009
Android Donut Donut Old version, no longer maintained: 1.6 September 15, 2009
Android Eclair Eclair Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0 October 27, 2009
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0.1 December 3, 2009
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.1 January 11, 2010[10]
Android Froyo Froyo Old version, no longer maintained: 2.2 – 2.2.3 May 20, 2010
Android Gingerbread Gingerbread Old version, no longer maintained: 2.3 – 2.3.2 December 6, 2010
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.3.3 – 2.3.7 February 9, 2011
Android Honeycomb Honeycomb Old version, no longer maintained: 3.0 February 22, 2011
Old version, no longer maintained: 3.1 May 10, 2011
Old version, no longer maintained: 3.2 – 3.2.6 July 15, 2011
Android Ice Cream Sandwich Ice Cream Sandwich Old version, no longer maintained: 4.0 – 4.0.2 October 18, 2011
Old version, no longer maintained: 4.0.3 – 4.0.4 December 16, 2011
Android Jelly Bean Jelly Bean Old version, no longer maintained: 4.1 – 4.1.2 July 9, 2012
Old version, no longer maintained: 4.2 – 4.2.2 November 13, 2012
Old version, no longer maintained: 4.3 – 4.3.1 July 24, 2013
Android KitKat Key Lime Pie Old version, no longer maintained: 4.4 – 4.4.4 October 31, 2013
Old version, no longer maintained: 4.4W – 4.4W.2 June 25, 2014
Android Lollipop Lemon Meringue Pie Old version, no longer maintained: 5.0 – 5.0.2 November 12, 2014
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.1 – 5.1.1 March 9, 2015
Android Marshmallow Macadamia Nut Cookie Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0 – 6.0.1 October 5, 2015
Android Nougat New York Cheesecake Old version, no longer maintained: 7.0 August 22, 2016
Old version, no longer maintained: 7.1 – 7.1.2 October 4, 2016
Android Oreo Oatmeal Cookie Old version, no longer maintained: 8.0 August 21, 2017
Old version, no longer maintained: 8.1 December 5, 2017
Android Pie Pistachio Ice Cream[11] Old version, no longer maintained: 9 August 6, 2018
Android 10 Quince Tart[12] Old version, no longer maintained: 10 September 3, 2019
Android 11 Red Velvet Cake[12] Old version, no longer maintained: 11 September 8, 2020
Android 12 Snow Cone Older version, yet still maintained: 12 October 19, 2021
Android 12L Snow Cone v2 Older version, yet still maintained: 12.1[a] March 7, 2022
Android 13 Tiramisu Older version, yet still maintained: 13 August 15, 2022
Android 14 Upside Down Cake[15] Current stable version: 14 October 4, 2023
Android 15 Vanilla Ice Cream[16] Current stable version: 15 October 15, 2024
Legend:
Old version
Older version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release
Notes
  1. ↑ 12L launched as part of the March 2022 security update to supported Pixel devices. The factory images for March 2022 and subsequent updates display the version as 12.1.[13] The device's about page will still show the Android version as 12.[14]
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References

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  1. ↑ "Memory Safe Languages in Android 13".
  2. ↑ "Release notes". Android Developers. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  3. ↑ García, Érika (September 2021). "Google bans 32-bit apps from Android for good". Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  4. ↑ "32-bits is dead: Here's what it means for Android, Apple, and more". Android Authority. June 12, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Google Play services". Google Developers.
  6. ↑ "There Are Now 1.3 Million Android Device Activations Per Day". TechCrunch. September 5, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Application Fundamentals". Android Developers.
  8. ↑ "Number of apps on Android Devices". statista. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Codenames, Tags, and Build Numbers". Android Open Source Project. Google. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Android 2.1 SDK". Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 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"
  13. ↑ "Factory Images for Nexus and Pixel Devices". Google Developers. Archived from the original on April 4, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ Cantisano, Timi (March 3, 2023). "Android 15 dessert-themed codename revealed as 'Vanilla Ice Cream'". XDA Developers. Retrieved April 27, 2023.

Other websites

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Android (operating system).
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