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Android (operating system) facts for kids

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Android
Android logo 2019 (stacked).svg
Screenshot
Android 13 home screen with Pixel Launcher
Company / developer Various (mostly Google)
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; 15 years ago (2008-09-23)
Latest stable release Android 13 / August 15, 2022; 19 months ago (2022-08-15)
Latest unstable release Android 14: DP1 / February 8, 2023; 13 months ago (2023-02-08)
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

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.

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 Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0 1 September 23, 2008 N/A N/A
Android 1.1 Petit Four Old version, no longer maintained: 1.1 2 February 9, 2009
Android Cupcake Cupcake Old version, no longer maintained: 1.5 3 April 27, 2009
Android Donut Donut Old version, no longer maintained: 1.6 4 September 15, 2009
Android Eclair Eclair Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0 5 October 27, 2009
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0.1 6 December 3, 2009
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.1 7 January 11, 2010
Android Froyo Froyo Old version, no longer maintained: 2.2 – 2.2.3 8 May 20, 2010 3.2.25 (October 2014)
Android Gingerbread Gingerbread Old version, no longer maintained: 2.3 – 2.3.2 9 December 6, 2010 10.0.84 (November 2016)
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.3.3 – 2.3.7 10 February 9, 2011
Android Honeycomb Honeycomb Old version, no longer maintained: 3.0 11 February 22, 2011
Old version, no longer maintained: 3.1 12 May 10, 2011
Old version, no longer maintained: 3.2 – 3.2.6 13 July 15, 2011
Android Ice Cream Sandwich Ice Cream Sandwich Old version, no longer maintained: 4.0 – 4.0.2 14 October 18, 2011 14.8.49 (February 2019)
Old version, no longer maintained: 4.0.3 – 4.0.4 15 December 16, 2011
Android Jelly Bean Jelly Bean Old version, no longer maintained: 4.1 – 4.1.2 16 July 9, 2012 21.33.56 (September 2021)
Old version, no longer maintained: 4.2 – 4.2.2 17 November 13, 2012
Old version, no longer maintained: 4.3 – 4.3.1 18 July 24, 2013
Android KitKat Key Lime Pie Old version, no longer maintained: 4.4 – 4.4.4 19 October 31, 2013 October 2017 22.45.16 (November 2022)
Old version, no longer maintained: 4.4W – 4.4W.2 20 June 25, 2014 ?
Android Lollipop Lemon Meringue Pie Old version, no longer maintained: 5.0 – 5.0.2 21 November 4, 2014 November 2017
Old version, no longer maintained: 5.1 – 5.1.1 22 March 2, 2015 March 2018
Android Marshmallow Macadamia Nut Cookie Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0 – 6.0.1 23 October 2, 2015 August 2018
Android Nougat New York Cheesecake Old version, no longer maintained: 7.0 24 August 22, 2016 August 2019
Old version, no longer maintained: 7.1 – 7.1.2 25 October 4, 2016 October 2019
Android Oreo Oatmeal Cookie Old version, no longer maintained: 8.0 26 August 21, 2017 January 2021
Old version, no longer maintained: 8.1 27 December 5, 2017 October 2021
Android Pie Pistachio Ice Cream Old version, no longer maintained: 9 28 August 6, 2018 January 2022
Android 10 Quince Tart Older version, yet still maintained: 10 29 September 3, 2019 November 2022
Android 11 Red Velvet Cake Older version, yet still maintained: 11 30 September 8, 2020
Android 12 Snow Cone Older version, yet still maintained: 12 31 October 4, 2021
Android 12L Snow Cone v2 Older version, yet still maintained: 12.1 32 March 7, 2022
Android 13 Tiramisu Current stable version: 13 33 August 15, 2022
Android 14 Upside Down Cake Future release: 14 34 Q3 2023 N/A N/A
Legend:
Old version
Older version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release

Mascot

Irina Blok
Irina Blok, creator of the Android mascot
Android-robot-googleplex-2008
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.

Samsung Smartphones
Samsung Galaxy with Android 5.0, 6.0, 7.0

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

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Android para niños

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