Android (operating system) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Android
	; The Android logo
	Android 6.0
Company / developer	Google; Open Handset Alliance; Android Open Source Project
Programmed in	C (core), C++, Java (UI)
OS family	Unix-like, Linux (kernel)
Working state	Current
Source model	Open source
Initial release	23 September 2008
Latest stable release	6.0 "Marshmallow" / October 5, 2015; 5 years ago
Marketing target	Smartphones, tablet computers, TVs, cars and wearable devices
Available language(s)	Multi-lingual
Package manager	Google Play, APK
Supported platforms	32- and 64-bit: ARM architectures, x86, x86-64, MIPS and MIPS64
Kernel type	Monolithic (modified Linux kernel)
Default user interface	Graphical (Multi-touch)
License	Apache License 2.0; Linux kernel patches under GNU GPL v2

Android is an operating system for mobile devices. It is mostly used for Smartphones, like Google's own Google Nexus, 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.

Google says that over 1.3 million Android smartphoness are sold every day. Most are running 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.

Android programs

Programs for Android, also called "apps", come from the Google Play store. The Android programs have an extension of .apk. Android programs are built inPython, C, C++, or Java programming languages but theUI is always made using Java and XML. There are over 1,600,000 apps available for Android.

Android version numbers and names

Samsung Galaxy with Android 5.0, 6.0, 7.0

Each version of Android has both a number and a name based on a dessert. The version numbers and names are:

Beta versions: Astro and Bender
1.5: Cupcake
1.6: Donut
2.0 and 2.1: Eclair
2.2: Froyo (FROzen YOgurt)
2.3: Gingerbread
3.x: Honeycomb (a tablet-only version)
4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich
4.1, 4.2 and 4.3: Jelly Bean
4.4: KitKat
5.0 and 5.1: Lollipop
6.0 and 6.0.1: Marshmallow
7.0 and 7.1: Nougat
8.0: Oreo

Mascot

Irina Blok, creator of the Android mascot

A giant Android mascot at Googleplex in 2008

The mascot of Android is a green android robot, as related to the software's name. Although it has no official name, the Android team at Google reportedly call it "Bugdroid". Due to Android's high popularity in the 2010s, it has become one of the most recognizable icons in the technology world.

It was designed by then-Google graphic designer Irina Blok on November 5, 2007 when Android was announced. Contrary to reports that she was tasked with a project to create an icon, Blok confirmed in an interview that she independently developed it and made it open source. The robot design was initially not presented to Google, but it quickly became commonplace in the Android development team, with various different variations of it created by the developers there who liked the figure, as it was free under a Creative Commons license. Its popularity amongst the development team eventually led to Google adopting it as an official icon as part of the Android logo when it launched to consumers in 2008.

Since then the robot figure has had plenty of other variations created.

Related pages

Images for kids

Eric Schmidt, Andy Rubin and Hugo Barra at a 2012 press conference announcing Google's Nexus 7 tablet
HTC Dream or T-Mobile G1, the first commercially released device running Android (2008).
Android green figure, next to its original packaging
Android-x86 running on an ASUS EeePC netbook; Android has been unofficially ported to traditional PCs for use as a desktop operating system.
The first-generation Nexus 7 tablet, running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Ouya, a video game console which runs Android