Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and

other open source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such

as smartphones and tablets. Android is developed by a consortium of developers known as
the Open Handset Alliance and commercially sponsored by Google. It was unveiled in 2007, with
the first commercial Android device launched in September 2008.
It is free and open source software; its source code is known as Android Open Source Project
(AOSP) which is primarily licensed under the Apache License. However most Android devices
ship with additional proprietary software pre-installed,[10] most notably Google Mobile
Services (GMS)[11] which includes core apps such as Google Chrome, the digital
distribution platform Google Play and associated Google Play Services development platform.
About 70 percent of Android smartphones run Google's ecosystem;[12] competing Android
ecosystems and forks include Fire OS (developed by Amazon.com) or LineageOS. However the
"Android" name and logo are trademarks of Google which impose standards to restrict
"uncertified" devices outside their ecosystem to use Android branding.[13][14]
The source code has been used to develop variants of Android on a range of other electronics,
such as game consoles, digital cameras, PCs and others, each with a specialized user interface.
Some well known derivatives include Android TV for televisions and Wear OS for wearables,
both developed by Google. Software packages on Android, which use the APK format, are
generally distributed through proprietary application stores like Google Play Store or Samsung
Galaxy Store, or open source platforms like Aptoide or F-Droid.
Android has been the best-selling OS worldwide on smartphones since 2011 and on tablets
since 2013. As of May 2017, it has over two billion monthly active users, the largest installed
base of any operating system, and as of March 2020, the Google Play Store features over
2.9 million apps.[15] The current stable version is Android 10, released on September 3, 2019.

Contents

 1History
 2Features
o 2.1Interface
o 2.2Applications
o 2.3Memory management
 3Hardware
 4Development
o 4.1Update schedule
o 4.2Linux kernel
o 4.3Software stack
o 4.4Open-source community
o 4.5Device codenames
 5Security and privacy
o 5.1Scope of surveillance by public institutions
o 5.2Common security threats
o 5.3Technical security features
 6Licensing
o 6.1Leverage over manufacturers
 7Reception
o 7.1Market share
o 7.2Adoption on tablets
o 7.3Platform information
o 7.4Application piracy
 8Legal issues
 o 8.1Patent lawsuit with Oracle
o 8.2Anti-competitive challenges in Europe
o 8.3Others
 9Other uses
 10Mascot
 11See also
 12References
o 12.1Sources
 13External links

History
See also: Android version history

First Android logotype (2007–2014)

Second Android logotype (2014–2019)

Third Android logotype (2019–present)

Android Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California, in October 2003 by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner,
Nick Sears, and Chris White.[16][17] Rubin described the Android project as "tremendous potential in
developing smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner's location and preferences".
[17]
 The early intentions of the company were to develop an advanced operating system for digital
cameras, and this was the basis of its pitch to investors in April 2004.[18] The company then
decided that the market for cameras was not large enough for its goals, and by five months later
it had diverted its efforts and was pitching Android as a handset operating system that would
rival Symbian and Microsoft Windows Mobile.[18][19]
Rubin had difficulty attracting investors early on, and Android was facing eviction from its office
space. Steve Perlman, a close friend of Rubin, brought him $10,000 in cash in an envelope, and
shortly thereafter wired an undisclosed amount as seed funding. Perlman refused a stake in the
company, and has stated "I did it because I believed in the thing, and I wanted to help Andy."[20][21]
In July 2005,[17] Google acquired Android Inc. for at least $50 million.[22] Its key employees,
including Rubin, Miner and White, joined Google as part of the acquisition.[17] Not much was
known about the secretive Android at the time, with the company having provided few details
other than that it was making software for mobile phones.[17] At Google, the team led by Rubin
developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel. Google marketed the platform
to handset makers and carriers on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system.
[23]
 Google had "lined up a series of hardware components and software partners and signaled to
carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation".[attribution needed][24]
Speculation about Google's intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to
build through December 2006.[25] An early prototype had a close resemblance to
a BlackBerry phone, with no touchscreen and a physical QWERTY keyboard, but the arrival of
2007's Apple iPhone meant that Android "had to go back to the drawing board".[26][27] Google later
changed its Android specification documents to state that "Touchscreens will be supported",
although "the Product was designed with the presence of discrete physical buttons as an
assumption, therefore a touchscreen cannot completely replace physical buttons".[28] By 2008,
both Nokia and BlackBerry announced touch-based smartphones to rival the iPhone 3G, and
Android's focus eventually switched to just touchscreens. The first commercially available
smartphone running Android was the HTC Dream, also known as T-Mobile G1, announced on
September 23, 2008.[29][30]

HTC Dream or T-Mobile G1, the first commercially released device running Android (2008)

On November 5, 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of technology companies

including Google, device manufacturers such as HTC, Motorola and Samsung, wireless carriers
such as Sprint and T-Mobile, and chipset makers such as Qualcomm and Texas Instruments,
unveiled itself, with a goal to develop "the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile
devices".[31][32][33] Within a year, the Open Handset Alliance faced two other open
source competitors, the Symbian Foundation and the LiMo Foundation, the latter also developing
a Linux-based mobile operating system like Google. In September
2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google had filed
several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony.[34][35]
Since 2008, Android has seen numerous updates which have incrementally improved the
operating system, adding new features and fixing bugs in previous releases. Each major release
is named in alphabetical order after a dessert or sugary treat, with the first few Android versions
being called "Cupcake", "Donut", "Eclair", and "Froyo", in that order. During its announcement
of Android KitKat in 2013, Google explained that "Since these devices make our lives so sweet,
each Android version is named after a dessert", although a Google spokesperson told CNN in an
interview that "It's kind of like an internal team thing, and we prefer to be a little bit — how should
I say — a bit inscrutable in the matter, I'll say".[36]
In 2010, Google launched its Nexus series of devices, a lineup in which Google partnered with
different device manufacturers to produce new devices and introduce new Android versions. The
series was described as having "played a pivotal role in Android's history by introducing new
software iterations and hardware standards across the board", and became known for its "bloat-
free" software with "timely ... updates".[37] At its developer conference in May 2013, Google
announced a special version of the Samsung Galaxy S4, where, instead of using Samsung's
own Android customization, the phone ran "stock Android" and was promised to receive new
system updates fast.[38] The device would become the start of the Google Play edition program,
and was followed by other devices, including the HTC One Google Play edition,[39] and Moto
G Google Play edition.[40] In 2015, Ars Technica wrote that "Earlier this week, the last of the
Google Play edition Android phones in Google's online storefront were listed as "no longer
available for sale" and that "Now they're all gone, and it looks a whole lot like the program has
wrapped up".[41][42]

Eric Schmidt, Andy Rubin and Hugo Barra at a 2012 press conference announcing Google's Nexus 7 tablet

From 2008 to 2013, Hugo Barra served as product spokesperson, representing Android at press

conferences and Google I/O, Google's annual developer-focused conference. He left Google in
August 2013 to join Chinese phone maker Xiaomi.[43][44] Less than six months earlier, Google's
then-CEO Larry Page announced in a blog post that Andy Rubin had moved from the Android
division to take on new projects at Google, and that Sundar Pichai would become the new
Android lead.[45][46] Pichai himself would eventually switch positions, becoming the new CEO of
Google in August 2015 following the company's restructure into the Alphabet conglomerate,[47]
[48]
 making Hiroshi Lockheimer the new head of Android.[49][50]
In June 2014, Google announced Android One, a set of "hardware reference models" that would
"allow [device makers] to easily create high-quality phones at low costs", designed for consumers
in developing countries.[51][52][53] In September, Google announced the first set of Android One
phones for release in India.[54][55] However, Recode reported in June 2015 that the project was "a
disappointment", citing "reluctant consumers and manufacturing partners" and "misfires from the
search company that has never quite cracked hardware".[56] Plans to relaunch Android One
surfaced in August 2015,[57] with Africa announced as the next location for the program a week
later.[58][59] A report from The Information in January 2017 stated that Google is expanding its low-
cost Android One program into the United States, although The Verge notes that the company
will presumably not produce the actual devices itself.[60][61]
Google introduced the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones in October 2016, marketed as being the
first phones made by Google,[62][63] and exclusively featured certain software features, such as
the Google Assistant, before wider rollout.[64][65] The Pixel phones replaced the Nexus series,
[66]
 with a new generation of Pixel phones launched in October 2017.[67]
In May 2019, the operating system became entangled in the trade war between China and the
United States involving Huawei which like many other tech firms have become dependent on
access to the Android platform.[68][69] In the summer of 2019, Huawei announced it would create an
alternative operating system to Android[70][71] known as Harmony OS,[72] and have filed for
intellectual property rights across major global markets.[73][74] Huawei does not currently have any
plans to replace Android in the near future, as Harmony OS is designed for internet of
things devices, rather than for smartphones.[75]
On August 22, 2019, it was announced that Android "Q" would officially be branded as Android
10, ending the historic practice of naming major versions after desserts. Google stated that these
names were not "inclusive" to international users (due either to the aforementioned foods not
being internationally known, or being difficult to pronounce in some languages).[76][77] On the same
day, Android Police reported that Google had commissioned a statue of a giant number "10" to
be installed in the lobby of the developers' new office.[78] Android 10 was released on September
3, 2019 to Google Pixel phones first.

Features
See also: List of features in Android

Interface
Android's default user interface is mainly based on direct manipulation, using touch inputs that
loosely correspond to real-world actions, like swiping, tapping, pinching, and reverse pinching to
manipulate on-screen objects, along with a virtual keyboard.[79] Game controllers and full-size
physical keyboards are supported via Bluetooth or USB.[80][81] The response to user input is
designed to be immediate and provides a fluid touch interface, often using the vibration
capabilities of the device to provide haptic feedback to the user. Internal hardware, such
as accelerometers, gyroscopes and proximity sensors are used by some applications to respond
to additional user actions, for example adjusting the screen from portrait to landscape depending
on how the device is oriented,[82] or allowing the user to steer a vehicle in a racing game by
rotating the device, simulating control of a steering wheel.[83]
Android devices boot to the homescreen, the primary navigation and information "hub" on
Android devices, analogous to the desktop found on personal computers. Android homescreens
are typically made up of app icons and widgets; app icons launch the associated app, whereas
widgets display live, auto-updating content, such as a weather forecast, the user's email inbox, or
a news ticker directly on the homescreen.[84] A homescreen may be made up of several pages,
between which the user can swipe back and forth.[85] Third-party apps available on Google
Play and other app stores can extensively re-theme the homescreen,[86] and even mimic the look
of other operating systems, such as Windows Phone.[87] Most manufacturers customize the look
and features of their Android devices to differentiate themselves from their competitors.[88]
Along the top of the screen is a status bar, showing information about the device and its
connectivity. This status bar can be "pulled" down to reveal a notification screen where apps
display important information or updates.[85] Notifications are "short, timely, and relevant
information about your app when it's not in use", and when tapped, users are directed to a
screen inside the app relating to the notification.[89] Beginning with Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean",
"expandable notifications" allow the user to tap an icon on the notification in order for it to expand
and display more information and possible app actions right from the notification.[90]
An All Apps screen lists all installed applications, with the ability for users to drag an app from the
list onto the home screen. A Recents screen lets users switch between recently used apps.[85]

Applications
Many, to almost all, Android devices come with preinstalled Google apps including Gmail,
Google Maps, Google Chrome, YouTube, Google Play Music, Google Play Movies & TV, and
many more.
See also: Android software development and Google Play
Applications ("apps"), which extend the functionality of devices, are written using the Android
software development kit (SDK)[91] and, often, the Java programming language.[92] Java may be
combined with C/C++,[93] together with a choice of non-default runtimes that allow better C++
support.[94] The Go programming language is also supported, although with a limited set
of application programming interfaces (API).[95] In May 2017, Google announced support for
Android app development in the Kotlin programming language.[96][97]
The SDK includes a comprehensive set of development tools,[98] including a debugger, software
libraries, a handset emulator based on QEMU, documentation, sample code, and tutorials.
Initially, Google's supported integrated development environment (IDE) was Eclipse using the
Android Development Tools (ADT) plugin; in December 2014, Google released Android Studio,
based on IntelliJ IDEA, as its primary IDE for Android application development. Other
development tools are available, including a native development kit (NDK) for applications or
extensions in C or C++, Google App Inventor, a visual environment for novice programmers, and
various cross platform mobile web applications frameworks. In January 2014, Google unveiled
an framework based on Apache Cordova for porting Chrome HTML 5 web applications to
Android, wrapped in a native application shell.[99] Additionally, Firebase was acquired by Google
in 2014 that provides helpful tools for app and web developers.[100][101]
Android has a growing selection of third-party applications, which can be acquired by users by
downloading and installing the application's APK (Android application package) file, or by
downloading them using an application store program that allows users to install, update, and
remove applications from their devices. Google Play Store is the primary application store
installed on Android devices that comply with Google's compatibility requirements and license
the Google Mobile Services software.[102][103] Google Play Store allows users to browse, download
and update applications published by Google and third-party developers; as of July 2013, there
are more than one million applications available for Android in Play Store.[104] As of July 2013,
50 billion applications have been installed.[105][106] Some carriers offer direct carrier billing for
Google Play application purchases, where the cost of the application is added to the user's
monthly bill.[107] As of May 2017, there are over one billion active users a month for Gmail,
Android, Chrome, Google Play and Maps.
Due to the open nature of Android, a number of third-party application marketplaces also exist for
Android, either to provide a substitute for devices that are not allowed to ship with Google Play
Store, provide applications that cannot be offered on Google Play Store due to policy violations,
or for other reasons. Examples of these third-party stores have included the Amazon
Appstore, GetJar, and SlideMe. F-Droid, another alternative marketplace, seeks to only provide
applications that are distributed under free and open source licenses.[102][108][109][110]

Memory management
Since Android devices are usually battery-powered, Android is designed to manage processes to
keep power consumption at a minimum. When an application is not in use the system suspends
its operation so that, while available for immediate use rather than closed, it does not use battery
power or CPU resources.[111][112] Android manages the applications stored in memory
automatically: when memory is low, the system will begin invisibly and automatically closing
inactive processes, starting with those that have been inactive for the longest amount of time.[113]
[114]
 Lifehacker reported in 2011 that third-party task killer applications were doing more harm than
good.[115]

Hardware
See also: Android hardware requirements
The main hardware platform for Android is ARM (the ARMv7 and ARMv8-A architectures),
with x86 and x86-64 architectures also officially supported in later versions of Android.[116][117][118]
[119]
 The unofficial Android-x86 project provided support for x86 architectures ahead of the official
support.[120][121] The ARMv5TE and MIPS32/64 architectures were also historically supported but
removed in later Android releases.[122] Since 2012, Android devices with Intel processors began to
appear, including phones[123] and tablets. While gaining support for 64-bit platforms, Android was
first made to run on 64-bit x86 and then on ARM64. Since Android 5.0 "Lollipop", 64-bit variants
of all platforms are supported in addition to the 32-bit variants.[116]
Requirements for the minimum amount of RAM for devices running Android 7.1 range from in
practice 2 GB for best hardware, down to 1 GB for the most common screen, to absolute
minimum 512 MB for the lowest spec 32-bit smartphone. The recommendation for Android 4.4 is
to have at least 512 MB of RAM,[124] while for "low RAM" devices 340 MB is the required minimum
amount that does not include memory dedicated to various hardware components such as
the baseband processor.[125] Android 4.4 requires a 32-bit ARMv7, MIPS or x86 architecture
processor (latter two through unofficial ports),[120][121] together with an OpenGL ES 2.0
compatible graphics processing unit (GPU).[126] Android supports OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.1
and as of latest major version, 3.2 and since Android 7.0 Vulkan (and version 1.1 available for
some devices[127]). Some applications may explicitly require a certain version of the OpenGL ES,
and suitable GPU hardware is required to run such applications.[126]
Android devices incorporate many optional hardware components, including still or video
cameras, GPS, orientation sensors, dedicated gaming controls, accelerometers, gyroscopes,
barometers, magnetometers, proximity sensors, pressure sensors, thermometers,
and touchscreens. Some hardware components are not required, but became standard in certain
classes of devices, such as smartphones, and additional requirements apply if they are present.
Some other hardware was initially required, but those requirements have been relaxed or
eliminated altogether. For example, as Android was developed initially as a phone OS, hardware
such as microphones were required, while over time the phone function became optional.
[106]
 Android used to require an autofocus camera, which was relaxed to a fixed-focus camera[106] if
present at all, since the camera was dropped as a requirement entirely when Android started to
be used on set-top boxes.
In addition to running on smartphones and tablets, several vendors run Android natively on
regular PC hardware with a keyboard and mouse.[128][129][130][131] In addition to their availability on
commercially available hardware, similar PC hardware-friendly versions of Android are freely
available from the Android-x86 project, including customized Android 4.4.[132] Using the
Android emulator that is part of the Android SDK, or third-party emulators, Android can also run
non-natively on x86 architectures.[133][134] Chinese companies are building a PC and mobile
operating system, based on Android, to "compete directly with Microsoft Windows and Google
Android".[135] The Chinese Academy of Engineering noted that "more than a dozen" companies
were customising Android following a Chinese ban on the use of Windows 8 on government PCs.
[136][137][138]

Development
The stack of Android Open Source Project

Android is developed by Google until the latest changes and updates are ready to be released, at
which point the source code is made available to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP),
[139]
 an open source initiative led by Google.[140] The AOSP code can be found without modification
on select devices, mainly the Google Nexus and Google Pixel series of devices.[141] The source
code is, in turn, customized by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to run on their
hardware.[142][143] Android's source code does not contain the device drivers, often proprietary, that
are needed for certain hardware components.[144] As a result, most Android devices, including
Google's own, ship with a combination of free and open source and proprietary software, with the
software required for accessing Google services falling into the latter category.