Android has the largest user base of any desktop and mobile operating system. At the same time, the 'Green Robot' made its way not only to smartphones and tablets: TVs, smartwatches and even cars with Android have become quite common these days. Its triumph was not always obvious, although even during its inception in 2003, this OS, some developers predicted a great future for it.
Starting with the original beta and up to Nougat, Marshmallow and others, we will look at the history of the development of the mobile operating system from Google, including far from the most famous versions today like Android 1.0 and Cupcake
Android Inc. and early non-commercial releases
In October 2003 Android Inc was founded by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears and Chris White. Initially, the guys wanted to create an advanced operating system for digital cameras that turns them into “much smarter devices, aware of the location and preferences of their owner.” It soon became clear that the camera and camcorder market was too modest, and the guys focused on smartphones in an attempt to compete with such giants of the time as Symbian and Windows Mobile.
After an uncertain (due to acute funding problems) start Android Inc, along with many key employees, was acquired by Google on August 17, 2005. From that moment on, the team led by Rubin started developing a mobile operating system based on the kernel Linux. The iconic green robot logo was created by designer Irina Blok, and shortly thereafter, on November 5, 2007, the first beta version was released.
Android 1.0
Is the first commercial version Android introduced on September 23, 2008, and the first device available for purchase Android was HTC Dream. Although this was the first official release, Android 0 brought a number of features we are used to today, such as a web browser, camera support, Gmail sync, YouTube video player, Google Maps, and the ability to sync Calendar and Contacts . Apps could be downloaded from Android Market and launched from the home screen. The first update, Android 1.1 was released on February 9, 2009 and added several new features while fixing many bugs and shortcomings.
Android 1.5 Cupcake
On April 27, 2009, the developers rolled out the next update under the number 1.5, and first of all it is noteworthy that from this version each major release Android began to receive a name dedicated to a particular dessert.
In addition to the original name, the new versions also receive a corresponding figure on the lawn near Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. Functionally, with Android 1.5, the platform has acquired support for small visual applications – widgets. In addition, smartphones running Android 1.5 have the ability to record video in MPEG-4 format, automatically connect to Bluetooth – accessories and add to photos to contact cards.
Android 1.6 Donut
Android 1.6 Donut was released on September 15, 2009. With this release, the operating system looked better than ever: thanks to support for screens with WVGA-resolution and the emerging mutual integration of applications such as Camera and Gallery – now you could take a picture and immediately open the resulting photo with one click.
The text and voice search has also been improved, from now on it includes bookmarks, browser history, contacts and results from the web.
Android 2.0 Éclair
On October 26, we received the third fairly large-scale system update in a year. This update included support for the mail client Microsoft Exchange along with the ability to view emails from different accounts in one mailbox. Android 2.0 received an improved virtual keyboard that allows you to type messages at a much faster speed and a more convenient application for text messaging, in which you can now quickly find the desired SMS or MMS message.
In addition to innovations that simplify correspondence, Android Eclair has made friends with cameras of controlled gadgets with flash, color filters and digital zoom. Following Android 2.0, on December 3, 2009 Google released a small patch – Android 2.0.1 – it did not carry any functional innovations, but only corrected minor bugs.
Android 2.2 Froyo
Version Android 2.2 Froyo (Frozen yoghurt, frozen yoghurt) made us happy with its presence on May 20, 2010 and included a number of improvements to improve performance and overall system speed. Among the usual things today, in Android 2.2 it became possible to use a smartphone as a hotspot and limit the amount of traffic spent through the mobile network.
Also, support for high PPI displays was introduced and the Market app Android was updated to automatically update installed apps. Despite being almost seven years old, Froyo is still quite common (relatively), being installed on 0.1% Android devices.
Android 2.3 Gingerbread
This update was released on December 6, 2010, and its main feature was a fresh interface, putting ease and speed of use first. The built-in virtual keyboard has also undergone a redesign, allowing for more accurate and intuitive typing. In addition, Android 2.3 Gingerbread became the first version to support NFC, and for the first time it had a convenient and seemingly commonplace Download Manager, which allows you to view and edit the history of downloaded files.
Android 3.0 Honeycomb
Honeycomb launched on February 22, 2011, and the main innovation was that it was the first version Android fully focused on tablets. This update brings a new 'holographic' interface. Then the navigation buttons and the Status bar with notifications were moved to the bottom of the screen. Among other things, Android 3.0 introduced an expanded view of contacts and emails, support for multiple tabs and Incognito mode in a standard browser. Also, compatibility with multi-core processors was introduced, opening a new era of high-performance Android – devices.
A couple of minor updates were released a little later: Android 3.1 (May 10, 2011) taught the OS to 'see' USB accessories, play FLAC audio and scale widgets on the home screen, and Android 3.2 included support for Google TV.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
The fourth version Android is considered one of the largest updates to this operating system. The Quartet was released on October 18, 2011, and targeted all devices with Android 2.3 and up. In this update, the interface has been redesigned and a new Roboto font has appeared, which has become the OS system font Android by default. Additionally, in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, there are changes such as:
- Simplified work with folders (for example, before that it was impossible to drag files from one folder to another)
- The camera now supports shooting videos in 1080p
- The standard web browser has learned to sync bookmarks with those from Chrome (if, of course, the latter was logged into a Google account).
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Jelly was introduced on July 9, 2012, and the developers focused on improving performance and interface design. Special attention was paid to working with graphics, in particular, technology, which was supposed to provide a stable user interface at an ideal 60 fps.
In November of the same year Android 4.2 appeared on the market, and on July 24, 2013 – Android 4.3, which made it possible to place widgets on lockscreen and is compatible with 4K screens.
Android 4.4 KitKat
For some time after the release of Jelly Bean, many experts predicted that the next version Android would be called Lime Pie, but on October 31, 2013, the guys from Mountain View presented a new firmware with number 4.4, and according to Google marketers, more the laconic name KitKat, and the first device under the control of KitKat was the Google Nexus 5 announced the same day. In Android 4.4 several tweaks were applied to make the interface more 'fresh'.
However, not all innovations were purely aesthetic in nature: for example, a special mode appeared that allows applications to hide the status bar and on-screen buttons, if necessary, thereby freeing up more space for displaying the application itself. In addition to the aforementioned features, devices upgraded to Android 4.4 now have the ability to emulate NFC cards – in other words, users were able to pay for purchases using a smartphone.
Android Wear
On March 18, 2014, the Android Wear platform was released, designed specifically for smartwatches and other wearable electronics. Android Wear pairs with Android 4.3+ devices and uses Google Now and mobile notifications to tell you the information you want. The first gadgets running Android Wear in June 2014 were the Samsung Gear Live and LG G Watch, and two months later, on September 5, 2014, they were joined by the round Moto 360.
Android Wear was well received by the public, with over 720,000 AW-powered wearables sold in the first 6 months of release alone. At the end of the conversation about Android Wear, I will add that on December 10, 2014, a small system update was released that allowed creating and installing custom watch faces.
Android 5.0 Lollipop
The release of Android 5.0 Lollipop was first announced on June 25, 2014 during the Google I / O 2014 developer conference, while the full release took place on November 12. In the new firmware, the interface was once again redrawn, which received the beloved minimalistic Material Design.
Notifications, multitasking and a huge number of other things have undergone a significant rethinking (unlocking using face recognition, turning on the screen with a double tap, Guest mode – and this is not a complete list).
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
The sixth version Android was presented in May 2015, and it became available almost six months later, in October of the same year. Android 6.0 introduces the previously unavailable Now on Tap feature, which is a contextual search option using browser history for more relevant results.
With Marshmallow, a big system update has also been added regarding the energy saving policy. Now, if you do not use a smartphone, it practically does not consume energy.
Android 7 Nougat
The most current version Android 7 appeared very early in comparison with its predecessors in the form of a beta version (last March), but the full-scale launch fell on August 2016. Differences between Android Marshmallow and Nougat are minimal, but at the same time, the latter has made many users around the world happy with the long-awaited multi-window mode. This feature is most useful on the Pixel C with its large display size, but it also works well on smartphones – especially if you need to work with two apps at the same time.
In addition, in Android 7, you can now quickly respond in instant messengers directly from notifications. As is usually the case, the latest version of the mobile operating system from Google is very slowly ported to third-party devices, but I hope that in 2017 the situation will change for the better – not least thanks to devices sold with Android Nougat out of the box.