Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google. It is based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open source software, and is designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. In addition, Google has further developed Android TV for televisions, Android Auto for cars, and Wear OS for wrist watches, each with a specialized user interface. Variants of Android are also used on game consoles, digital cameras, PCs and other electronics.
It has the largest installed base of any mobile operating system and, as of September 2019, the highest market share in the smartphone market worldwide. Google Play Store, the primary app store for Android devices, has more than 2.9 million apps.
It was developed by Android Inc., which Google bought in 2005. There were at least two internal software releases inside Google and the OHA before the public release on November 5, 2007.
The release on November 5, 2007, was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. On December 6, 2008, the first software 1.0 SDK was released, and on February 9, 2009, the first device, the HTC Dream, was announced, also known as the T-Mobile G1, released on October 22, 2008.
It is a Linux-based operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. The OS was developed by the Open Handset Alliance, led by Google, and other companies.
The OS offers a unified approach to application development. The SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language.
The platform is built on Linux, giving developers a powerful and open development platform. Android is open source; it can be freely modified and distributed by anyone.
Android is different from other mobile operating systems because it uses a virtual machine to run applications written in Java. This gives it the ability to run applications not specifically designed for Android.
It is also designed to be modular, so manufacturers can easily create custom operating system versions for their devices. For example, a device with a physical keyboard can have a different user interface than a device without a keyboard.
Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware