Ever wonder about a time when smartphones were just beginning to be introduced to the public? What would a smartphone without emails, Whatsapp and the Voice Assistant have even been like?
Android is a mobile operating software designed for touchscreen mobile smartphones and tablets. Though it is commercially sponsored by Google, it is developed by the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 84 brands of electronic developers such as Dell, Intel, Motorola, Samsung, Google, Vodafone, etc. Since 2011 it has been the best selling OS on smartphones and on tablets since 2013. Currently, it has over 3 billion active users per month, and its electronic market, better known as the Google Play Store has over 3 million compatible apps.
Android 1.0:
The first version of Android, named Android 1.0 was released on September 23, 2008. The most prominent and innovative feature of this version was the Google Play Store, which allowed users to download applications on their devices. A web browser that ran on the HTML language with the ability to open more windows than one was also included. On the communication side, it included instant messaging and SMS, and notifications appear on a status bar at the top of the screen.
Android Cupcake:
The next version, Android 1.5 was the first to follow the company’s naming theme of desserts and confectionery. This version was called Android Cupcake and was released on April 27, 2009. This version was launched along with Samsung’s brand new Galaxy series at the time. It pioneered some of the long-standing features of Android phones to this day, like the ability to upload videos on Youtube, screen rotations and downloading of keyboards from third parties other than Google and Samsung, widgets, the copy and paste function and access to phone usage history.
Android 1.6 Donut was released on September 15, 2009. This version included support for CDMA based networks (otherwise known as 2G and 3G wireless communications). This was the first version to support different screen sizes, so that manufacturers could produce devices in various comfortable sizes for customers. It also included a shortcut search bar in the homescreen, and a Power-Controlling Widget to manage Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS in order to optimize and allow for more data usage.
Android Eclair:
Android 2.0 Eclair was launched on October 27, 2009. This was the first version to enable text-to-speech support for differently abled users. It supported multiple Google accounts at the same time and the ability to switch between them. Other accessibility features included Live Wallpapers, Google Maps and unlocking the device with a drag-and-drop motion.
Android Froyo:
Android 2.2 Froyo was launched on May 20, 2010, and came along with multiple new features. They consisted of mobile Wifi hotspots, push notification and the ability to lock the phone with a PIN code, as well as Adobe Flash support for several applications.
Android Gingerbread:
Android 2.3 Gingerbread was launched on December 6, 2010. This version had an updated UI design, called Nexus S. It was co-developed by Google and Samsung and was designed with increased speed and simplicity. It also supported extra large sizes and resolutions and was the first to include a front camera. It introduced Near Field Communication technology, which is used for e-banking and other payment apps.
Android Honeycomb:
Android 3.0 Honeycomb was released on February 22, 2011 and was only available for tablet devices with larger resolutions and included functions that were not available on smaller screens. One feature that carried on to the next version regardless of size, was the elimination of physical buttons for the Start, Home and Menu functions, placing virtual buttons on the interface directly instead.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was released on October 19, 2011, and combined the features of the Honeycomb version. This time, it had facial recognition software that allowed users to unlock their phones using the front camera. It allowed us to monitor the use of mobile data and Wi FI. This time users could make sliding gestures to reject notifications and had access to photo editors and had galleries that sorted photos and videos by date, person and location.
Android Jelly Bean:
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean was released on June 27, 2012. The most popular feature introduced was Google Now, which was an application that gave direct access to the news, weather, contacts, nearby locations, calendars and emails. It had an undertaking called “Project Butter” that helped with UI improvements and functionality.
Android Kitkat:
Android 4.4 Kitkat was launched on September 3rd, 2013. It was optimized to run on a greater range of Android devices than the previous versions. It came with an expanded minimum range of 512 MB. The former blue accents of color schemes were changed to white, and all in-built applications came with lighter color schemes. A brand new feature was the voice command, “Ok Google” to activate the Google Now application.
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