History of Android Operating System

 

Today we look at the story behind the making of Android Operating System

Android, Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California in October 2003 by Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger), Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc.) with the intentions of developing an advanced operating system for digital cameras.

Though, when it was realized that the market for the devices was not large enough, the company diverted its efforts toward producing a smartphone operating system that would rival Symbian and Microsoft Windows Mobile.

Google bought Android, Inc in 2005 for at least $50 million and the (OHA) Open Handset Alliance – a consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices was founded. Android was now was officially born on November 5, 2007 with the release of the Android alpha (software testing). Then the first commercial version being the Android 1.0 and 1.1 was released on 23rd September 2008 and 9^th February 2009 respectively. Since then, Google and the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) have grown Android to be one of the most dominant operating systems in the world. But that didn’t just happen overnight. Like all of us, Android went through some awkward years and learned some hard lessons before becoming the OS it is today. Now Google has further developed Android TV for televisions, Android Auto for cars, Android Wear for wrist watches, each with a specialized user interface. Variants of Android are also used on notebooks, game consoles, digital cameras and other electronics.

2009 - Cupcake (Android 1.5)

Cupcake 1.5 was released on 27th April 2009 and it had some alphas and betas for T-Mobile’s G1 before this release, but cupcake was its first confectionary-named operating system. It got lots of fun stuff in this update, including support for third-party virtual keyboards, no more hardware keys, widgets and the ability to upload videos and photos to YouTube and Picasa. Cupcake made the T-Mobile’s G1 something to behold (at least for 2009), but this was just a humble beginning. Android had tons of work to do.

 2009 - Donut (Android 1.6) rise of CDMA Smartphones

Android Donut is a discontinued version and was the OS that started making others forsake their Palm Pres and start taking Android more seriously. This update brought along universal search, support for additional screen sizes, text-to-speech superpowers and CDMA compatibility (hello, Verizon).
The update began pushing out to all possible handsets on October 1, 2009.

2009 - Eclair (Android 2.0)

A discontinued version, unveiled on October 26, 2009. The Eclair camera got a little TLC with some much needed flash support, digital zoom, and white balance features to name a few, and how about them live wallpapers! Google also put some thought into a smarter keyboard that could select contact names as suggestions. Not the biggest update in Android’s history, but perhaps one the more deliciously named.

2010 - Froyo (Android 2.2)

Android Froyo is a discontinued version of the Android mobile operating system developed by Google, spanning versions between 2.2 and 2.2.3. Unveiled on May 20, 2010, during the Google I/O conference.
One of the most prominent changes in the Froyo release was USB tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot functionality. Other changes include support for the Android Cloud to Device Messaging (C2DM) service, enabling push notifications, Additional application speed improvements, implemented through JIT compilation and displayed within applications as top-of-the-screen banners.
As of November 2, 2015, statistics issued by Google indicate that 0.2% of all Android devices accessing Google Play run Froyo.

2010 - Gingerbread (Android 2.3)

Android 2.3–2.3.7 "Gingerbread" is a discontinued version of the Android mobile operating system developed by Google and released in December 2010.
Gingerbread's user interface was refined in many ways, making it easier to master, faster to use, and more power-efficient. A simplified color scheme with a black background gave vividness and contrast to the notification bar, menus, and other user interface components. Improvements in menus and settings resulted in easier navigation and system control. Unfortunately, software skinning was in full swing and stock Android began to recede into the background. Only a handful of handsets, like the Google Nexus S, the Nexus One, and the T-Mobile G2, even saw these changes as designed above.
The Nexus S smartphone, released in 2010, was the first phone from the Google Nexus line that ran Gingerbread, and also the first one from the line with built-in NFC (Near Field Communication) functionality.
Gingerbread uses version 2.6.35 of the Linux kernel.

2011 - Honeycomb (Android 3.0) majorly for Tablets

Honeycomb series Android 3.0–3.2.6 are a discontinued and still available version of the Android platform that was released on February 22, 2011 and designed for devices with larger screen sizes, particularly tablets. Besides the addition of new features, Honeycomb introduced a new so-called "holographic" user interface theme and an interaction model that built on the main features of Android, such as multitasking, notifications and widgets.The iPad released only months earlier in the fall of 2010, and Android needed an OS that could compete in a bigger form factor not fit for your pocket. This included what Google called a “Holographic” interface and a more intuitive keyboard for bigger devices.

 

2011 - Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) “Android’s most significant upgrade to date.” 

 ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system, the codename for version 4.0 of the Android operating system reoriented toward the mobile phone with an updated interface and the complete dissolution of hardware buttons. This made the actions bar and the ever-important recent apps button come to life. The design brought about the merger of Android’s tablet OS (Honeycomb) and the mobile OS (Gingerbread, Froyo, et al). Apps were more powerful, multitasking was now front and center, and you could start to really see the computer-class power that were being packed inside smartphones. In fact,  it was called “Android’s most significant upgrade to date.”

2012 - Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) The rise of 'GOOGLE NOW!'

Spanning from versions between 4.1 and 4.3.1, the first of these three, 4.1, was unveiled at Google's I/O developer conference in June 2012, focusing on performance improvements designed to give the operating system a smoother and more responsive feel, improvements to the notification system allowing for "expandable" notifications with action buttons, and other internal changes. Two more releases were made under the Jelly Bean name in October 2012 and July 2013 respectively, including 4.2—which included further optimizations, multi-user support for tablets, lock screen widgets, quick settings, and screen savers, and 4.3—contained further improvements and updates to the underlying Android platform.

2013 - KitKat (Android 4.4) codenamed "Key Lime Pie"

Spanning versions between 4.4 and 4.4.4. Unveiled on September 3, 2013, KitKat focused primarily on optimizing the operating system for improved performance on entry-level devices with limited resources. 
KitKat (Android 4.4) codenamed "Key Lime Pie"  but John Lagerling, director of Android global partnerships, and his team, decided to drop the name, arguing that "very few people actually know the taste of a key lime pie". Aiming for a codename that was "fun and unexpected", his team pursued the possibility of naming the release "KitKat".

 2014 - Lollipop (Android 5.0)

The Lollipop spanning versions were between 5.0 and 5.1.1 unveiled on June 25, 2014, during the Google I/O conference, it became available through official over-the-air (OTA) updates on November 12, 2014, for select devices that run distributions of Android serviced by Google (such as Nexus and Google Play edition devices) re-imagining of the Android operating system that started all the way back with Ice Cream Sandwich. Icons, animations, and the multitasking menu were completely redone with Google’s Material Design approach, and the Android lockscreen became much more useful with better notification integration. Its source code was made available on November 3, 2014 and thankfully added “silent mode” back in for notifications.

2015 - Marshmallow (Android 6.0)

Android 6.0 "Marshmallow" is a version of the Android mobile operating system. First unveiled in May 2015 at Google I/O under the codename "Android 'M'", it was officially released in October 2015.
Marshmallow primarily focuses on improving the overall user experience of Lollipop, introducing a new permissions architecture, new APIs for contextual assistants (a feature notably leveraged by "Google Now On Tap"—a new capability of the Google Search app), a new power management system that reduces background activity when a device is not being physically handled, native support for fingerprint recognition and USB Type-C connectors, the ability to migrate data and applications to a microSD card and use it as primary storage, as well as other internal changes.