From Android 1.0 to Android 16: How Google’s cellular OS has developed since 2008

Android 1.5 Cupcake was the primary time a model of the OS can be named after a candy deal with, releasing in early 2009 and giving Android a playful id that resonated with folks. Right here, Android performed into its playful demeanor by introducing third-party app widgets that may be added to the house display screen, like a music participant and a calendar, added stereo assist for Bluetooth, and allowed folks to add movies to YouTube. It even phased out the bodily keyboard mannequin on their telephones, just like the T-Cell myTouch 3G, and constructed them with the on-screen keyboard to maintain up with the iPhone.

Google solidified the dessert-themed codenaming for Android with the discharge of Android 1.6, Donut, rolling it out to Android customers on September 15, 2009, and filling in holes that Cupcake couldn’t. It added Android’s first common search field to make it simpler to look contacts and different subjects, gave builders the flexibility to incorporate their apps and different content material within the search outcomes of Android Market (which can later be known as Google Play Retailer), and allowed Android to run on completely different display screen sizes and resolutions. Donut additionally kickstarted Android’s enlargement by including CMDA assist for different carriers, beginning with Verizon.

Google launched Android 2.3, Gingerbread, on the Nexus S simply in time for the vacations on December 6, 2010. On the time, the Android mascot, who’s normally as inexperienced as Kermit the Frog, was dressed because the gingerbread man to advertise the replace, whereas Google painted Android’s UI with a black and inexperienced coloration scheme, giving the OS a definite design and customers a better time navigating the Android system. Gingerbread even gave the reward of Close to Discipline Communication (NFC) assist.

Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, got here as quick because the Honeycomb went. This launch appeared on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on December 16, 2011, making use of a revamped trendy, minimalist design applied all through the OS and Android’s app ecosystem, nicknamed “Holo,” and launched the Roboto typeface. ICS additionally made it simple to swipe away notifications and up to date apps, and added the flexibility to ship content material to a different Android consumer by way of NFC, up to date the contacts supervisor with social media integration, and the flexibility to entry the digital camera and management music from the lock display screen.

The Jelly Bean replace – spanning  from Android 4.1, which dropped July 9, 2012, by way of Android 4.3, which launched July 24, 2013 – made Android run smoother and extra responsive than earlier updates. Android customers received to expertise expandable and actionable notifications, the latter of which introduced motion buttons similar to “Name again” or “Message” in case of a missed name. Jelly Bean launched the flexibility for customers so as to add widgets on the lock display screen, just like the world clock, Gmail, and the messaging app. Customers additionally had the flexibility to open the digital camera by swiping from the fitting facet of the display screen.

Named after the favored chocolate bar, Android 4.4 gave customers a break, because it have been, from the darker backgrounds that have been provided by earlier updates in trade for light-colored wallpapers October 31, 2013. To enrich the candy-colored backgrounds that got here with the KitKat replace, the Google search bar turned translucent and gained “Okay, Google” assist, permitting folks to seek for what they want with simply the sound of their voice. Google Now, which was launched in Jelly Bean, received its devoted panel of the house display screen that might be accessed with only a swipe.

Android 5.0, Lollipop, which was launched on November 4, 2014, marked a big shift in design and efficiency with the introduction of Materials Design and Android Runtime (ART). Materials Design, now an business customary UI design for Android, introduced concerning the ripple impact for buttons and made notifications seem on the lock display screen for fast entry and the Latest App listing present up as playing cards, giving customers the flexibility to sift by way of them like papers in a file cupboard. Sadly, it eliminated the customization of widgets from the lock display screen.

On the efficiency entrance, Android 6.0, Marshmallow – launched in 2015 – was as mushy of an replace because the pillow-y candy deal with for which it was named save for the introduction of opt-in permissions and Now On Faucet. Principally, Now On Faucet was a brand new function inside Google Now that supplied context-sensitive search outcomes to info at present on show in any app once you maintain down the Dwelling button. {Hardware}-wise, it added native assist for fingerprint recognition and USB-C charging cables, the latter of which has since turn into a common customary within the smartphone business.

One of the crucial important upgrades Nougat delivered to Android in 2016 was split-screen mode, permitting two apps to take up two halves of all the cellphone display screen, like Google Chrome and a notes app for customers who are likely to do their analysis on the go. Break up-screen mode was a function that may usually be present in Home windows computer systems to make work extra environment friendly for enterprise people and college students , so it was a shock to see it on an Android cellphone. Different necessary upgrades included the addition of the “Clear All” button to the overview display screen, picture-in-picture assist for Android TV, and Google Assistant.

Because the title of this replace suggests, Google sandwiched a number of new options into Android units in 2017, together with native picture-in-picture assist for video, downloadable fonts, printing assist, notification channels that allow you to set up how apps can warn you (or not), and the flexibility to snooze notifications in order that they wouldn’t distract you’re employed or the rest. Oreo additionally featured Undertaking Treble, a modular structure that made it simpler for {hardware} builders to ship software program updates in a well timed method, and launched Android Go for finances telephones operating 2 GB of RAM or much less.

Android 9, Pie, was served up in 2018 with a superb assortment of upgrades. One in every of them is the brand new gesture-driven navigation system that overhauled the Dwelling, Again, and Overview keys and changed them with a multifunctional, pill-shaped Dwelling button and a small Again button that seems as wanted whereas getting round your cellphone. Pie even launched a brand new dashboard known as Digital Wellbeing, which gave you an concept of the way you’re utilizing your cellphone, how lengthy you employ completely different apps every day, and instruments you should use to restrict your display screen time – much like Display screen Time on iPhone.

When Android 10 got here out in 2019, Google lastly put its dessert-themed names for its software program updates to relaxation in favor of numerical names to make the Android expertise extra globally accessible. Android 10 revamped the UI by changing the gesture-driven navigation system with a closely swipe-driven one so customers might seamlessly swap between apps and multitask, and added new privateness permissions to present customers extra management over location information. It launched a system-wide darkish theme to make it simpler to make use of the cellphone in a low-light surroundings and improve visibility for customers with low imaginative and prescient – or individuals who simply don’t like brilliant lights.

Android 13, which launched in 2022, was very refined with its system upgrades, which have been added at some factors all through its 365-day lifetime. It introduced a brand new native QR code scanning operate to Android Fast Settings, enhanced the system clipboard interface, redesigned the music participant to have the album cowl of every music seem within the background, and made the variety of energetic apps seem on the backside of the notifications panel. Aside from that, it required apps to request permission from customers earlier than they might ship notifications, which made for a much less distracting expertise.

The 2023 launch of Android 14 was simply as refined because the final replace, however that doesn’t imply its UI replace was much less bold. The font dimension might be elevated as much as 200% – up from 130% in earlier updates – to make apps and articles extra accessible for customers with visible disabilities. It additionally expanded Materials You so as to add new customization choices for the lock display screen, a brand new system for dragging and dropping textual content in between apps, and a context-requiring system for why apps need entry to a consumer’s location after they request it, including one other layer of privateness and safety to Android.

Android 16

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