Android (operating system) facts for kids
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Screenshot
Android 13 home screen with Pixel Launcher
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| Company / developer | Various (mostly Google) |
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| Programmed in | Java (UI), C (core), C++ and others |
| OS family | Unix-like (modified Linux kernel) |
| Working state | Current |
| Source model | Open source, freeware (most devices include proprietary components, such as Google Play Services or One UI) |
| Initial release | September 23, 2008 |
| Latest stable release | Android 13 / August 15, 2022 |
| Latest unstable release | Android 14: DP1 / February 8, 2023 |
| Marketing target | Smartphones, tablet computers, smart TVs (Android TV), Android Auto and smartwatches (Wear OS) |
| Package manager | APK-based |
| Supported platforms | ARM64 (previous versions were also compatible with ARMv7, x86-64 and RISC-V unofficially supported via third-party solutions) |
| Kernel type | Monolithic (Linux kernel) |
| Userland | Bionic libc, mksh shell, Toybox as core utilities |
| Default user interface | Graphical (multi-touch) |
| License |
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Android is an operating system for mobile devices. It is mostly used for , 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.
The source code has been used to develop variants of Android on a range of other electronics, such as game consoles, digital cameras, portable media players, PCs, 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, Amazon Appstore (including for Windows 11), Samsung Galaxy Store, Huawei AppGallery, Cafe Bazaar, and GetJar, or open source platforms like Aptoide or F-Droid.
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.
Contents
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
Each version of Android has both a number and a name based on a dessert. The version numbers and names are:
| Name | Internal codename | Version number(s) | API level |
Initial stable release date |
Latest security patch date | Latest Google Play Services version (release date) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Android 1.0 | N/A | 1.0 | 1 | September 23, 2008 | N/A | N/A |
| Android 1.1 | Petit Four | 1.1 | 2 | February 9, 2009 | ||
| Android Cupcake | Cupcake | 1.5 | 3 | April 27, 2009 | ||
| Android Donut | Donut | 1.6 | 4 | September 15, 2009 | ||
| Android Eclair | Eclair | 2.0 | 5 | October 27, 2009 | ||
| 2.0.1 | 6 | December 3, 2009 | ||||
| 2.1 | 7 | January 11, 2010 | ||||
| Android Froyo | Froyo | 2.2 – 2.2.3 | 8 | May 20, 2010 | 3.2.25 (October 2014) | |
| Android Gingerbread | Gingerbread | 2.3 – 2.3.2 | 9 | December 6, 2010 | 10.0.84 (November 2016) | |
| 2.3.3 – 2.3.7 | 10 | February 9, 2011 | ||||
| Android Honeycomb | Honeycomb | 3.0 | 11 | February 22, 2011 | ||
| 3.1 | 12 | May 10, 2011 | ||||
| 3.2 – 3.2.6 | 13 | July 15, 2011 | ||||
| Android Ice Cream Sandwich | Ice Cream Sandwich | 4.0 – 4.0.2 | 14 | October 18, 2011 | 14.8.49 (February 2019) | |
| 4.0.3 – 4.0.4 | 15 | December 16, 2011 | ||||
| Android Jelly Bean | Jelly Bean | 4.1 – 4.1.2 | 16 | July 9, 2012 | 21.33.56 (September 2021) | |
| 4.2 – 4.2.2 | 17 | November 13, 2012 | ||||
| 4.3 – 4.3.1 | 18 | July 24, 2013 | ||||
| Android KitKat | Key Lime Pie | 4.4 – 4.4.4 | 19 | October 31, 2013 | October 2017 | 22.45.16 (November 2022) |
| 4.4W – 4.4W.2 | 20 | June 25, 2014 | ? | |||
| Android Lollipop | Lemon Meringue Pie | 5.0 – 5.0.2 | 21 | November 4, 2014 | November 2017 | |
| 5.1 – 5.1.1 | 22 | March 2, 2015 | March 2018 | |||
| Android Marshmallow | Macadamia Nut Cookie | 6.0 – 6.0.1 | 23 | October 2, 2015 | August 2018 | |
| Android Nougat | New York Cheesecake | 7.0 | 24 | August 22, 2016 | August 2019 | |
| 7.1 – 7.1.2 | 25 | October 4, 2016 | October 2019 | |||
| Android Oreo | Oatmeal Cookie | 8.0 | 26 | August 21, 2017 | January 2021 | |
| 8.1 | 27 | December 5, 2017 | October 2021 | |||
| Android Pie | Pistachio Ice Cream | 9 | 28 | August 6, 2018 | January 2022 | |
| Android 10 | Quince Tart | 10 | 29 | September 3, 2019 | November 2022 | |
| Android 11 | Red Velvet Cake | 11 | 30 | September 8, 2020 | ||
| Android 12 | Snow Cone | 12 | 31 | October 4, 2021 | ||
| Android 12L | Snow Cone v2 | 12.1 | 32 | March 7, 2022 | ||
| Android 13 | Tiramisu | 13 | 33 | August 15, 2022 | ||
| Android 14 | Upside Down Cake | 14 | 34 | Q3 2023 | N/A | N/A |
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Legend:
Old version
Older version, still maintained
Latest version
Future release
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Mascot
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
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HTC Dream or T-Mobile G1, the first commercially released device running Android (2008)
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Eric Schmidt, Andy Rubin and Hugo Barra at a 2012 press conference announcing Google's Nexus 7 tablet
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Front buttons (home, menu/options, go back, search) and optical track pad of an HTC Desire, a 2010 smartphone with Android OS
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The stack of Android Open Source Project
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Ouya, a video game console which runs Android
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Android-x86 running on an ASUS Eee PC netbook
See also
In Spanish: Android para niños
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 | Nelson Merced |
 | Jovita Idar |
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