Android Operating System
Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel.
Android was primarily designed for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
Android Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California, in October 2003 by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Chris White.
The development of Android started in 2003 by Android, Inc.
Google purchased the Android in 2005.
Android is developed by a consortium of developers known as the Open Handset Alliance, with the main contributor and commercial marketer Google.
Android was unveiled in 2007, with the first commercial Android 1.0 device T-Mobile G1 (aka HTC Dream) launched in September 2008.
Android has been the best-selling OS worldwide on smartphones since 2011 and on tablets since 2013.
The current stable version is Android 10, released on September 3, 2019.
| # | Code name | Version numbers | Initial release date | API level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No codename | 1 | September 23, 2008 | 1 |
| 2 | No codename | 1.1 | February 9, 2009 | 2 |
| 3 | Cupcake | 1.5 | April 27, 2009 | 3 |
| 4 | Donut | 1.6 | September 15, 2009 | 4 |
| 5 | Eclair | 2.0 – 2.1 | October 26, 2009 | 5 – 7 |
| 6 | Froyo | 2.2 – 2.2.3 | May 20, 2010 | 8 |
| 7 | Gingerbread | 2.3 – 2.3.7 | December 6, 2010 | 9 – 10 |
| 8 | Honeycomb | 3.0 – 3.2.6 | February 22, 2011 | 11 – 13 |
| 9 | Ice Cream Sandwich | 4.0 – 4.0.4 | October 18, 2011 | 14 – 15 |
| 10 | Jelly Bean | 4.1 – 4.3.1 | July 9, 2012 | 16 – 18 |
| 11 | KitKat | 4.4 – 4.4.4 | October 31, 2013 | 19 – 20 |
| 12 | Lollipop | 5.0 – 5.1.1 | November 12, 2014 | 21 – 22 |
| 13 | Marshmallow | 6.0 – 6.0.1 | October 5, 2015 | 23 |
| 14 | Nougat | 7 | August 22, 2016 | 24 |
| 15 | Nougat | 7.1.0 – 7.1.2 | October 4, 2016 | 25 |
| 16 | Oreo | 8 | August 21, 2017 | 26 |
| 17 | Oreo | 8.1 | December 5, 2017 | 27 |
| 18 | Pie | 9 | August 6, 2018 | 28 |
| 19 | Android 10 | 10 | September 3, 2019 | 29 |