The version history of the Android mobile operating system began with the release of
the Android beta in November 2007. The first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released
in September 2008. Android is under ongoing development by Google and the Open Handset
Alliance, and has seen a number of updates to its base operating system since its initial
release. Since April 2009, Android versions have been
developed under a confectionery-themed code name and released in alphabetical order; the
exceptions are versions 1.0 and 1.1:
On September 3, 2013, Google announced that 1 billion activated devices now use the Android
OS worldwide. The most recent major Android update was KitKat 4.4, which was released
to commercial devices on November 22, 2013, via an OTA update.
Pre-commercial release versions Android alpha
There were at least two internal releases inside Google and the OHA before the Android
beta was released in November 2007. For the milestones in internal releases, names of
fictional robots were chosen, with various releases code-named "Astro Boy", "Bender"
and "R2-D2". Dan Morrill created some of the first mascot logos, but the current green
Android logo was designed by Irina Blok. The project manager, Ryan Gibson, conceived of
the confections naming scheme that has been used for the majority of the public releases,
starting with Android 1.5. Android beta
The Android beta was released on November 5, 2007, while the software development kit
was released on November 12, 2007. The November 5 date is popularly celebrated as Android's
"birthday". Public beta versions of the SDK were released in the following order:
November 16, 2007: m3-rc22a December 14, 2007: m3-rc37a
February 13, 2008: m5-rc14 March 3, 2008: m5-rc15
August 18, 2008: 0.9 September 23, 2008: 1.0-r1
Version history by API level The following tables show the release dates
and key features of all Android OS updates to date, listed chronologically by their official
application programming interface levels.
Hardware requirements
The main hardware platform for Android is the 32-bit ARMv7 architecture. The unofficial
Android-x86 project provides support for the x86 architecture, and Google TV uses a special
x86 version of Android. Since 2012, Intel processors began to appear on more mainstream
Android platforms, such as phones. Minimum hardware requirements have been upgraded
in steps over time, with the new Android versions releases. Original minimums were 32 MB of
RAM, 32 MB of Flash memory, and a 200 MHz ARM architecture processor. As of October
2011 and version 4.0, a graphics processing unit that supports OpenGL ES 2.0 hardware
acceleration is mandatory, regardless of whether applications directly use the OpenGL ES or
not. As of November 2013 and Android version 4.4,
an ARMv7 processor is required, while recommended minimum amount of RAM is 512 MB. The required
minimum amount of RAM available to Android 4.4 is 340 MB, and all devices with less
than 512 MB of RAM must report themselves as "low RAM" devices. MIPS and x86 architectures
are also supported through unofficial ports. Android was first made to run on 64-bit x86
and then ARM64. Android 4.3 added support for OpenGL ES 3.0; if used, support for both
older versions is still mandatory. In addition to running directly on x86-based
hardware, Android can also be run on x86 architecture by using an Android emulator which is part
of the Android SDK, or by using BlueStacks or Andy.
See also
References
External links Official Android website
Android API Levels via Android Developer Android: A visual history by Chris Ziegler
at The Verge The history of Android by Ron Amadeo at Ars
Technica