Android origins..

Overview

Today we live in a world empowered by smartphones. At the heart of almost every smartphone we see a common name: “Android”. Ever since the advent of android, smartphone industry has flourished from simple implementation of browsers to Global Positioning Systems(GPS) to social networking on finger tips.

In this post I would like to look back on the journey, that android has made and list the android version origins of few major functions that we use today in our smart phones.

Journey of Android

Android is a free operating system, implemented for smartphones, tablet devices, smart watches and smart TV’s. It was initially built by Android Inc founded by: Andy Ruby, Nick Sears and Rich Miner. Later in 2005, it was purchased by Google Inc. 

Android is a Linux based OS which was first released on September 23rd 2008 and was called Android 1.0. Over the past 10 years, this open source OS has grown tremendously, taking over 2 billion devices! It has had many versions each of which are named after popular sweets in alphabetical order. (Before android donut, there were android 1.0, 1.1 and cup cake 1.5. but the versions that made a significant impact started from android donut)

Android versions and the features that it implemented

1. Donut (Android 1.6): Released in September 2009, the first ever public release contained a Quick web search, had Screen diversity (the OS could run on any  mobile screen size) and introduced the Google Play store for applications download.
2. Eclair (Android 2.0): Released in October 2009; this version contained the first ever Google Maps Navigation system, added Home screen customisation (Changing wallpapers, themes and placing icons) and introduced Speech to text (Dictating instead of typing messages) option.
3. Froyo (Android 2.2): Released in May 2010. Named in delight of frozen desserts made up of yogurt; Froyo introduced Voice actions (eg: to call specific person), implemented WiFi Hotspot which we all enjoy sharing with our friends! and added some performance improvements.
4. Gingerbread (Android 2.3): Released in December 2010, this is the version that made a major contribution to the gaming field that we all enjoy today. It gave better access to game developers there by enabling them to develop graphically rich games! This version also implemented the NFC technology (Near Field Communication; used to connect 2 devices when they are in close vicinity) and also optimised the battery performance.
5. Honeycomb (Android 3.0): Released in February 2011, this version was mainly introduced for the Tablets which hosted a system bar and an option for quick settings.
6. Ice-cream Sandwich (Android 4.0): Released in October 2011, this android version added additional features to home screen customisation (by implementing folders option); added an option to control your daily internet data usage and introduced Android beam as a content sharing medium via NFC.
7. Jelly Bean (Android 4.1): Released in July 2012, this android version introduced Google Now (an assistant that kept you upto date on weather, commute times, your schedules and appointments). Furthermore it also introduced Actionable Notifications (expand and perform actions in the notification bar) and also added Multi Users Mode allowing same device to be used by more than one person.
8. Kit Kat (Android 4.4): Ah! the one chocolate that many of us like. Released in October 2013, this was the first ever version to host “OK Google!” which launched a google search bar operated by voice. In addition to that it also introduced a Smart Dialler which prioritised the contacts that you talked to most.
9. Lolly Pop (Android 5.0): Kids’ favourite candy! Released in November 2014. In this version, android underwent a major makeover and change of design to make it more user friendly. Furthermore, Multiscreen Functionality to use multiple apps at a time was added and notifications were now available even on lock screen!
10. Marshmallow (Android 6.0): Released in October 2015, this android version gave the power back to the end users by adding Permissions as gateway between users and the apps. Now, users could choose what they shared with the apps they downloaded. Apart from this major functionality, it also worked on battery optimisation.
11. Nougat (Android 7.0): Was released in August 2016. It improvised multi window functionality and worked on rendering Virtual Reality. Furthermore, it provided Instant reply: an option to reply instantly to messages right from the notifications. 
12. Oreo (Android 8.0): Released in August 2017, the latest in the line up of androids in use; The main update in Oreo is the Picture-in-Picture option which allows user to do multiple multi-media tasks like: video calling and playing a video all together! It also added a quick options menu upon long press on apps and it has also reorganised the settings menu.
13. Android P (Android 9.0): Android P is the upcoming version of android and is still under development. The name for this version is yet to be decided and launched. (Comment down below what do you think the name of android P will be!)