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Android version history

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The version history of the Android mobile operating system began with the public release of the Android beta on November 5, 2007. The first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released on September 23, 2008. Android is continually developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance, and it has seen a number of updates to its base operating system since the initial release.

Versions 1.0 and 1.1 were not released under specific code names, although Android 1.1 was unofficially known as Petit Four. Android code names are confectionery-themed and have been in alphabetical order since 2009's Android 1.5 Cupcake, with the most recent major version being Android 9.0 Pie, released in August 2018.

Global Android version distribution since December 2009, as of July 2018. Android Marshmallow v. 6.0 (the oldest supported version) is running on 23.5% of all Android devices accessing Google Play while Android Nougat (v. 7.0 & 7.1) is running on 30.8%, and all supported including the newest Oreo versions, run on 66.4% of devices combined.
Code
name 		Version
number 		Linux kernel
version 		Initial release
date 		API
level
(No codename)[1] Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0 ? September 23, 2008 1
Petit Four[1] Old version, no longer maintained: 1.1 2.6.X February 9, 2009 2
Cupcake Old version, no longer maintained: 1.5 2.6.27[2] April 27, 2009 3
Donut[3] Old version, no longer maintained: 1.6 2.6.29 September 15, 2009 4
Eclair[4] Old version, no longer maintained: 2.0 – 2.1 2.6.29[2] October 26, 2009 5 – 7
Froyo[5] Old version, no longer maintained: 2.2 – 2.2.3 2.6.32 May 20, 2010 8
Gingerbread[6] Old version, no longer maintained: 2.3 – 2.3.7 2.6.35[2] December 6, 2010 9 – 10
Honeycomb[7] Old version, no longer maintained: 3.0 – 3.2.6 2.6.36 February 22, 2011 11 – 13
Ice Cream Sandwich[8] Old version, no longer maintained: 4.0 – 4.0.4 3.0.1[2] October 18, 2011 14 – 15
Jelly Bean[9] Old version, no longer maintained: 4.1 – 4.3.1 3.0.31 to 3.4.39[2] July 9, 2012 16 – 18
KitKat[10] Old version, no longer maintained: 4.4 – 4.4.4 3.10 October 31, 2013 19 – 20
Lollipop[11] Old version, no longer maintained: 5.0 – 5.1.1 3.16.1[2] November 12, 2014 21 – 22[12]
Marshmallow[13] Old version, yet still maintained: 6.0 – 6.0.1 3.18.10[2] October 5, 2015 23
Nougat[14] Old version, yet still maintained: 7.0 – 7.1.2 4.4.1[2] August 22, 2016 24 – 25
Oreo[15] Old version, yet still maintained: 8.0 – 8.1 4.10[2] August 21, 2017 26 – 27
Pie[16] Current stable version: 9.0 4.4.107, 4.9.84, and 4.14.42[17] August 6, 2018 28
Legend:
Old version, not maintained
Old version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release

Pre-commercial release versions

The development of Android started in 2003 by Android, Inc., which was purchased by Google in 2005.[18]

Alpha

There were at least two internal releases of the software inside Google and the OHA before the beta version was released.[19][20]

To avoid confusion, the code names "Astro Boy" and "Bender" were only known to be tagged internally on some early pre-1.0 milestone builds, and thus were never used as the actual code names of the 1.0 and 1.1 release of the OS, as many people are mistakenly calling and repeating on the web.[1] Dan Morrill created some of the first mascot logos, but the current Android logo was designed by Irina Blok.[21] The project manager, Ryan Gibson, conceived the confectionery-themed naming scheme that has been used for the majority of the public releases, starting with Android 1.5 Cupcake.

Beta

The beta was released on November 5, 2007,[22][23] while the software development kit (SDK) was released on November 12, 2007.[24] The November 5 date is popularly celebrated as Android's "birthday".[25] Public beta versions of the SDK were released in the following order:[26]

  • November 12, 2007: m3-rc20a (milestone 3, release code 20a)[27]
  • November 16, 2007: m3-rc22a (milestone 3, release code 22a)[28]
  • December 14, 2007: m3-rc37a (milestone 3, release code 37a)[29]
  • February 13, 2008: m5-rc14 (milestone 5, release code 14)[30]
  • March 3, 2008: m5-rc15 (milestone 5, release code 15)[26]
  • August 18, 2008: 0.9 Beta[31][32]
  • September 23, 2008: 1.0-r1[33][34]

Version history by API level

The following tables show the release dates and key features of all Android operating system updates to date, listed chronologically by their official application programming interface (API) levels. Template:Android version table Template:Android version table Template:Android version table

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Template:Android version table Template:Android version table Template:Android version table Template:Android version table Template:Android version table

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Template:Android version table Template:Android version table Template:Android version table

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Hardware requirements

See also: Android (operating system) § Hardware

The main hardware platform for Android is the ARM architecture (ARMv7 and ARMv8-A architectures; formerly also ARMv5), with x86[a] and MIPS[b] architectures also officially supported in later versions of Android, but MIPS support has since been deprecated.[37]

Unofficial Android-x86 project used to provide support for the x86 and MIPS architectures ahead of the official support.[38][39] In 2012, Android devices with Intel processors began to appear, including phones[40] and tablets. While gaining support for 64-bit platforms, Android was first made to run on 64-bit x86 and then on ARM64.[41][42] Since Android 5.0 Lollipop, 64-bit variants of all platforms are supported in addition to the 32-bit variants.

Requirements for the minimum amount of RAM for devices running Android 7.1 depend on screen size and density and type of CPU, ranging from 816 MB–1.8 GB for 64-bit and 512 MB–1.3 GB for 32-bit meaning in practice 1 GB for the most common type of display (while minimum for Android watch is 416 MB).[43] The recommendation for Android 4.4 is to have at least 512 MB of RAM,[44] while for "low RAM" devices 340 MB is the required minimum amount that does not include memory dedicated to various hardware components such as the baseband processor.[45] Android 4.4 requires a 32-bit ARMv7, MIPS or x86 architecture processor (latter two through unofficial ports),[38][39] together with an OpenGL ES 2.0 compatible graphics processing unit (GPU).[46] Android supports OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.2 and since Android 7.0 Vulkan (and version 1.1 available for some devices[47]). Some applications may explicitly require a certain version of the OpenGL ES, and suitable GPU hardware is required to run such applications.[46]

Android used to require an autofocus camera, which was relaxed to a fixed-focus camera.[48]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Lowest supported x86 generation is the P6 microarchitecture, also called i686.[35]
  2. ^ Supported is revision 1 of MIPS32[36] and revision 6 for 64-bit MIPS64[35]

References

  1. ^ a b c "A History of Pre-Cupcake Android Codenames". Android Police. 2012-09-17. Archived from the original on 2013-08-25. Retrieved 2018-02-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Which Android runs which Linux kernel?". Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  3. ^ "Android - History". Android. Archived from the original on 2017-05-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Android - History". Android. Archived from the original on 2017-05-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Android - History". Android. Archived from the original on 2017-05-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Android - History". Android. Archived from the original on 2017-05-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Android - History". Android. Archived from the original on 2017-05-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Android - History". Android. Archived from the original on 2017-05-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Android - History". Android. Archived from the original on 2017-05-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Android - History". Android. Archived from the original on 2017-05-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Android - History". Android. Archived from the original on 2017-05-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Android Security Bulletin—April 2018 | Android Open Source Project". Android Open Source Project. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  13. ^ "Android - History". Android. Archived from the original on 2017-05-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "Android – Nougat". Android. Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Android – 8.0 Oreo". Android. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  16. ^ "Android Pie". Android.
  17. ^ "Modular Kernel Requiremensts". Android Open Source Project. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  18. ^ Elgin, Ben (August 17, 2005). "Google Buys Android for Its Mobile Arsenal". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg. Archived from the original on February 24, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Dianne Hackborn". Google+. September 1, 2012. Archived from the original on June 12, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Dan Morrill". Google+. January 2, 2013. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ Breeze, Mez. "The designer behind the logo". TheNextWeb.com. TNW. Archived from the original on July 30, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ "Google Launches Android, an Open Mobile Platform". Google Operating System. November 5, 2007. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "Live Google's gPhone Open handset alliance conference call". Gizmodo. November 5, 2007. Archived from the original (transcript) on February 7, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ "Google releases Android SDK". Macworld. November 12, 2007. Archived from the original on August 22, 2010. Retrieved February 8, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "Android's 5th Birthday Celebration: European Best-of-Best Hackathon Series". Devfest.info. October 2012. Archived from the original on December 26, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ a b "SDK Archives". developer.android.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2015. Retrieved March 7, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ "The history of Android: Android 0.5, Milestone 3—the first public build". Ars Technica. June 16, 2014. Archived from the original on March 8, 2015. Retrieved March 7, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ "Android: the first week". Android Developers Blog. November 16, 2007. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  29. ^ "Life can be tough; here are a few SDK improvements to make it a little easier". Android Developers Blog. December 14, 2007. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ "Android SDK m5-rc14 now available". Android Developers Blog. February 13, 2008. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ "Announcing a beta release of the Android SDK". Android Developers Blog. August 18, 2008. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  32. ^ "The history of Android: Android 0.9, Beta—hey, this looks familiar!". Ars Technica. June 16, 2014. Archived from the original on March 11, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  33. ^ "Announcing the Android 1.0 SDK, release 1". Android Developers Blog. September 23, 2008. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  34. ^ "The history of Android: Android 1.0—introducing Google Apps and actual hardware". Ars Technica. June 16, 2014. Archived from the original on March 10, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  35. ^ a b "The syntax of the Android.mk build file". developer.android.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  36. ^ Shah, Agam (March 23, 2015). "Imagination floats sub-$100 MIPS tablet running Firefox OS". PC World. IDG. Archived from the original on June 5, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/abis.html#mips64
  38. ^ a b Shah, Agam (December 1, 2011). "Google's Android 4.0 ported to x86 processors". Computerworld. International Data Group. Archived from the original on January 24, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  39. ^ a b "Android on Intel Architecture". 01.org. July 11, 2013. Archived from the original on February 9, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  40. ^ Warman, Matt (June 7, 2012). "Orange San Diego Intel Android mobile phone review". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  41. ^ "Android Lollipop". developer.android.com. Archived from the original on November 25, 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2014. It's supported on ARM, x86, and MIPS architectures and is fully 64-bit compatible. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  42. ^ "How to check which of the Processor, ARM, ARM64 or x86, powers your smartphone". 16 April 2016. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  43. ^ "Android 7.1 Compatibility Definition" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-08-23.
  44. ^ "Android KitKat". Android Developers Portal. android.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  45. ^ "7.6.1". Android Compatibility Definition Document (PDF) (4.4 ed.). Google. November 27, 2013. p. 33. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  46. ^ a b "Android Developers: Graphics". android.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  47. ^ "Vulkan on Android". NVIDIA Developer. 2016-02-10. Retrieved 2018-03-21. Vulkan 1.1 is available as a Developer Preview OTA for the NVIDIA SHIELD TV.
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