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Android is Google’s mobile operating system, launched in September 2008, although its history technically began with the release of the Android alpha in November 2007. To this day, Android powers the majority of the world’s smartphones and comes in several different flavors across many phone makers.

What is Android?

Android Inc.

Android, before it was Android, was a company called Android Inc. That company was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 2003 by a crew of four: Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Chris White. The company and its project was acquired by Google in 2005 for a sum of more than $50 million, although the exact number is unknown. The company’s founders joined Google as part of the deal.

In its infancy, Android was an operating system built not for touch screen smartphones like the iPhone, but rather BlackBerry-like devices with physical keyboards. It’s well documented that after Apple shocked the world with the iPhone, ahead of its nearest competition by at least a couple years, Google and Android Inc. had to go back to the drawing board to build something competitive.

Adoption by third-party makers

It didn’t take long after the launch of the iPhone for various manufacturers to enter the market with their alternatives — and Google’s Android immediately became the obvious platform of choice for just about everyone except Microsoft. HTC was the first manufacturer on board, and introduced the T-Mobile G1 running Android in September 2008. Soon after, HTC, Motorola, Samsung, and carriers like Sprint and T-Mobile jumped on board to form the Open Handset Alliance.

Android makers across the world

Iconic Android handsets

There have been thousands of Android phones released since Android’s inception, but some have been more important to the platform’s history than others. There was the original T-Mobile G1, as mentioned, but there was also the HTC One Google Play Edition, Moto G, Samsung Galaxy S4, and others. Some of the most iconic Android handsets include:

  • HTC G1
  • HTC Nexus One
  • Samsung Galaxy S, S2, S3, S4, and their successors
  • HTC Incredible S
  • Samsung Nexus S
  • Samsung Galaxy Nexus
  • Samsung Galaxy Note
  • Nokia 8
  • BlackBerry KeyOne
  • Google Pixel and its successors

In more modern times, there are several Android smartphones makers that popped up across various niches and in several international markets. Huawei is a dominant Android maker in China and many European markets, while Samsung is by far the most popular maker in the United States by far — effectively creating a duopoly with Apple. Today, there are dozens of major device makers contributing to the Android ecosystem.

Full list of Android OEMs

History of major Android versions

Android has seen countless software revisions over the course of its life, but in modern times the OS usually sees a major release on an annual cadence. In the earlier days, Google famously gave its major software releases dessert-themed codenames, but retired that practice in 2019 with the release of Android 10.

VersionNameReleaseDevices
2.3GingerbreadFebruary 9, 2011Nexus S
4.0Ice Cream SandwichOctober 19, 2011Galaxy Nexus
4.1Jelly BeanJuly 9, 2012Nexus 7
4.2Jelly BeanNovember 13, 2012Nexus 4, 10
4.3Jelly BeanJuly 24, 2013Nexus 7 (2013)
4.4KitKatOctober 31, 2013Nexus 5
5.0LollipopNovember 3, 2014Nexus 6, 9
5.1LollipopMarch 9, 2015Android One
6.0MarshmallowOctober 5, 2015Nexus 5X, 6P
7.0NougatAugust 22, 2016Nexus 5X, 6P
7.1NougatOctober 4, 2016Pixel, Pixel XL
8.0OreoAugust 21, 2017Pixel, Pixel XL
8.1OreoDecember 5, 2017Pixel, Pixel XL
9PieAugust 6, 2018Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL
1010September 3, 2019Pixel 3, 3a
1111September 8, 2020Pixel 4

List of major Android OS platforms

While Android proper is certainly the most widespread of Google’s Android operating systems, the company has also launched many offshoots of the main OS over the years. There’s Android Auto, Android Wear (now Wear OS), Android TV (now rebranded to Google TV), as well as versions of Android built for tablets and Android Things (now defunct).

Google warning Android developers to disclose crash reports in apps or be removed from Play Store

Google Play Store

Crashing apps happen on all platforms, but on Android, they can be more common because of the numbers of variables developers have to work around. To get data on why an app is crashing, developers often collect crash reports once the user reopens an app. However, some developers are getting a warning from Google to change the way those reports are being collected…


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Review: 4 months later, the OnePlus 5T is still the best value in an Android smartphone

OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T Android 10

Last year we saw a trend that absolutely no one was in favor of, higher smartphone prices than ever before. Right as mid-range devices started getting good enough to turn some people away from flagships, everyone decided reaching nearly a thousand dollars for a smartphone was completely acceptable.

However, there are still phones that can blow you away for far less money. That’s where the OnePlus 5T comes in. It packs nearly everything you’d expect from a flagship, but for half the price.t


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Touchscreen issues w/ large dead zones are plaguing some Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ units

There are a lot of important elements to smartphones, but arguably one of the most crucial to day-to-day use is the screen. A poor screen can really take away from the experience, and that’s especially true when it’s the fault of the touchscreen. According to user reports, quite a few Samsung Galaxy S9 devices are having problems in this area, and it’s no fun…


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Sketchy leak claims OnePlus 6 pricing could hit $749 w/ 256GB storage, Snapdragon 845

We’re probably just a couple of months away from the debut of OnePlus’ next flagship, the OnePlus 6. There’s a lot to be excited about with the company’s next flagship, but the price might not be one of them. With incremental price increases on each flagship to date, OnePlus might be pushing further with a massive price tag on the OnePlus 6…


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Should the police be able to request your location from Google? [Poll]

Google Maps

Over the weekend, Google was found to be giving the police in Raleigh, NC  private user location data when served with a search warrant. While this has been done in the hope to catch a criminal, it also ends up giving law enforcement innocent people’s private data just for being in the area.

How do you feel about Google potentially handing over your private location history to the police?


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