Android version history names

List of Android version names

Android versions up to Android 10! 10 got, additionally to their nummeric version number, a code-name, which was assigned by Google. Like the naming of Ubuntu versions (names of animals with an adjective [1] ), Android version names were names of, mostly american, sweets, where the first letter was in alphabetical order.

The assignment of numeric and textual version names are not always consistent. Android 4.0 and Android 4.1, for example, have different version names, but Android 5.0, 5.1 and 5.1.1 share the same version name.

Starting with Android 10! 10, Android versions do not get a codename anymore. Since then, the Android versions will be released with their version number only. [2] [3] [4] [5]

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Cupcake

The Android version 1500! 1.5 Cupcake is the first version, which got a name assigned, which is Cupcake. Cupcakes are muffin-like cakes, which mostly has a creamy hood.

Donut

Version 1600! 1.6 Donut was given the name Donut.

Eclair

Android-Version 2000! 2 Eclair and 2100! 2.1 Eclair share the same name, Eclair. Eclairs are longly biscuits overdrawn with chocolate.

Froyo

Frozen Yogurt is a ice-like dessert made with milk and yogurt and is also the name of the Android version 2200! 2.2 Froyo.

Gingerbread

The name of Android version 2300! 2.3 «Gingerbread» is Gingerbread, which are cake-like biscuits mostly eaten around christmas time.

Honeycomb

The android version mostly made for tablets, Android 3000! 3.0 Honeycomb, is called Honeycomb. The bootanimation of this android version is also made like a honeycomb.

Ice Cream Sandwich

Android 4.0 is called after a sweet, which is made of delicious ice cream bewtween two biscuits: an Ice Cream Sandwhich.

Jelly Bean

Jelly beans are colorful, mostly made out of sugar, sweets, which have a hard shell and are filled with jelly. The following android versions share this name:

KitKat

KitKat is a brand from Nestle, and is a chocolate bar filled with waffles. Android 4.4 is named after this sweet: 4.4! 4.4 «KitKat».

Lollipop

Lollipops are sweets in different flavors on a stalk and is also the name of the following android versions:

Marshmallow

The android version 6.0, announced at 17th of august in 2015 is called after the sweet Marshmallow.

Nougat

Android 7, also called Android N, officialy got the name Nougat.

Android 8, also called Android O, carries the name Oreo, which are two crispy chocolate cookies with a vanilla cream center.

Android 9, also called Android Pie, carries the name Pie, which is the name of different sweet dishes.

The version 9! 9 was the last Android version which got a codename assigned.

Android 10

Google announced that a new Android Version will be officially known as Android 10.

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Android versions: A living history from 1.0 to 12

Explore Android’s ongoing evolution with this visual timeline of versions, starting B.C. (Before Cupcake) and going all the way to 2021’s Android 12 release.

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Contributing Editor, Computerworld |

Android Versions

What a long, strange trip it’s been.

From its inaugural release to today, Android has transformed visually, conceptually and functionally — time and time again. Google’s mobile operating system may have started out scrappy, but holy moly, has it ever evolved.

Here’s a fast-paced tour of Android version highlights from the platform’s birth to present. (Feel free to skip ahead if you just want to see what’s new in Android 11 or Android 12.)

Android versions 1.0 to 1.1: The early days

Android made its official public debut in 2008 with Android 1.0 — a release so ancient it didn’t even have a cute codename.

Things were pretty basic back then, but the software did include a suite of early Google apps like Gmail, Maps, Calendar, and YouTube, all of which were integrated into the operating system — a stark contrast to the more easily updatable standalone-app model employed today.

The Android 1.0 home screen and its rudimentary web browser (not yet called Chrome).

Android version 1.5: Cupcake

With early 2009’s Android 1.5 Cupcake release, the tradition of Android version names was born. Cupcake introduced numerous refinements to the Android interface, including the first on-screen keyboard — something that’d be necessary as phones moved away from the once-ubiquitous physical keyboard model.

Cupcake also brought about the framework for third-party app widgets, which would quickly turn into one of Android’s most distinguishing elements, and it provided the platform’s first-ever option for video recording.

Cupcake was all about the widgets.

Android version 1.6: Donut

Android 1.6, Donut, rolled into the world in the fall of 2009. Donut filled in some important holes in Android’s center, including the ability for the OS to operate on a variety of different screen sizes and resolutions — a factor that’d be critical in the years to come. It also added support for CDMA networks like Verizon, which would play a key role in Android’s imminent explosion.

Android’s universal search box made its first appearance in Android 1.6.

Android versions 2.0 to 2.1: Eclair

Keeping up the breakneck release pace of Android’s early years, Android 2.0, Eclair, emerged just six weeks after Donut; its «point-one» update, also called Eclair, came out a couple months later. Eclair was the first Android release to enter mainstream consciousness thanks to the original Motorola Droid phone and the massive Verizon-led marketing campaign surrounding it.

Verizon’s «iDon’t» ad for the Droid.

The release’s most transformative element was the addition of voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation and real-time traffic info — something previously unheard of (and still essentially unmatched) in the smartphone world. Navigation aside, Eclair brought live wallpapers to Android as well as the platform’s first speech-to-text function. And it made waves for injecting the once-iOS-exclusive pinch-to-zoom capability into Android — a move often seen as the spark that ignited Apple’s long-lasting «thermonuclear war» against Google.

The first versions of turn-by-turn navigation and speech-to-text, in Eclair.

Android version 2.2: Froyo

Just four months after Android 2.1 arrived, Google served up Android 2.2, Froyo, which revolved largely around under-the-hood performance improvements.

Froyo did deliver some important front-facing features, though, including the addition of the now-standard dock at the bottom of the home screen as well as the first incarnation of Voice Actions, which allowed you to perform basic functions like getting directions and making notes by tapping an icon and then speaking a command.

Google’s first real attempt at voice control, in Froyo.

Notably, Froyo also brought support for Flash to Android’s web browser — an option that was significant both because of the widespread use of Flash at the time and because of Apple’s adamant stance against supporting it on its own mobile devices. Apple would eventually win, of course, and Flash would become far less common. But back when it was still everywhere, being able to access the full web without any black holes was a genuine advantage only Android could offer.

Android version 2.3: Gingerbread

Android’s first true visual identity started coming into focus with 2010’s Gingerbread release. Bright green had long been the color of Android’s robot mascot, and with Gingerbread, it became an integral part of the operating system’s appearance. Black and green seeped all over the UI as Android started its slow march toward distinctive design.

JR Raphael / IDG

It was easy being green back in the Gingerbread days.

Android 3.0 to 3.2: Honeycomb

2011’s Honeycomb period was a weird time for Android. Android 3.0 came into the world as a tablet-only release to accompany the launch of the Motorola Xoom, and through the subsequent 3.1 and 3.2 updates, it remained a tablet-exclusive (and closed-source) entity.

Under the guidance of newly arrived design chief Matias Duarte, Honeycomb introduced a dramatically reimagined UI for Android. It had a space-like «holographic» design that traded the platform’s trademark green for blue and placed an emphasis on making the most of a tablet’s screen space.

Honeycomb: When Android got a case of the holographic blues.

While the concept of a tablet-specific interface didn’t last long, many of Honeycomb’s ideas laid the groundwork for the Android we know today. The software was the first to use on-screen buttons for Android’s main navigational commands; it marked the beginning of the end for the permanent overflow-menu button; and it introduced the concept of a card-like UI with its take on the Recent Apps list.

Android version 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich

With Honeycomb acting as the bridge from old to new, Ice Cream Sandwich — also released in 2011 — served as the platform’s official entry into the era of modern design. The release refined the visual concepts introduced with Honeycomb and reunited tablets and phones with a single, unified UI vision.

ICS dropped much of Honeycomb’s «holographic» appearance but kept its use of blue as a system-wide highlight. And it carried over core system elements like on-screen buttons and a card-like appearance for app-switching.

JR Raphael / IDG

The ICS home screen and app-switching interface.

Android 4.0 also made swiping a more integral method of getting around the operating system, with the then-revolutionary-feeling ability to swipe away things like notifications and recent apps. And it started the slow process of bringing a standardized design framework — known as «Holo» — all throughout the OS and into Android’s app ecosystem.

Android versions 4.1 to 4.3: Jelly Bean

Spread across three impactful Android versions, 2012 and 2013’s Jelly Bean releases took ICS’s fresh foundation and made meaningful strides in fine-tuning and building upon it. The releases added plenty of poise and polish into the operating system and went a long way in making Android more inviting for the average user.

Visuals aside, Jelly Bean brought about our first taste of Google Now — the spectacular predictive-intelligence utility that’s sadly since devolved into a glorified news feed. It gave us expandable and interactive notifications, an expanded voice search system, and a more advanced system for displaying search results in general, with a focus on card-based results that attempted to answer questions directly.

Multiuser support also came into play, albeit on tablets only at this point, and an early version of Android’s Quick Settings panel made its first appearance. Jelly Bean ushered in a heavily hyped system for placing widgets on your lock screen, too — one that, like so many Android features over the years, quietly disappeared a couple years later.

JR Raphael / IDG

Jelly Bean’s Quick Settings panel and short-lived lock screen widget feature.

Android version 4.4: KitKat

Late-2013’s KitKat release marked the end of Android’s dark era, as the blacks of Gingerbread and the blues of Honeycomb finally made their way out of the operating system. Lighter backgrounds and more neutral highlights took their places, with a transparent status bar and white icons giving the OS a more contemporary appearance.

Android 4.4 also saw the first version of «OK, Google» support — but in KitKat, the hands-free activation prompt worked only when your screen was already on and you were either at your home screen or inside the Google app.

The release was Google’s first foray into claiming a full panel of the home screen for its services, too — at least, for users of its own Nexus phones and those who chose to download its first-ever standalone launcher.

JR Raphael / IDG

The lightened KitKat home screen and its dedicated Google Now panel.

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Android History

Android is an operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and tablet computers. It is developed by the Open Handset Alliance, which is led by Google.

Google purchased the initial developer of the software, Android Inc., on August 17, 2005. The unveiling of Android on November 5, 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 84 hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Google released most of the Android code under the Apache License, a free software license. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android.

Contents

Creation [ ]

Android, Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California, United States in October, 2003 by Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger), Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc.), Nick Sears (once VP at T-Mobile), and Chris White (headed design and interface development at WebTV) to develop, in Rubin’s words «. smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner’s location and preferences». Despite the obvious past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretly, revealing only that it was working on software for mobile phones. That same year, Rubin ran out of money. Steve Perlman brought him $10,000 in cash in an envelope and refused a stake in the company.

Acquisition by Google [ ]

Google acquired Android Inc. in August 2005, making Android Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Google Inc. Key employees of Android Inc., including Andy Rubin, Rich Miner and Chris White, stayed at the company after the acquisition. Not much was known about Android Inc. at the time of the acquisition, but many assumed that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market with this move.

Post-acquisition development [ ]

At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel. Google marketed the platform to handset makers and carriers on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradable system. Google had lined up a series of hardware component and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation on their part.

Speculation about Google’s intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006. Reports from the BBC and The Wall Street Journal noted that Google wanted its search and applications on mobile phones and it was working hard to deliver that. Print and online media outlets soon reported rumors that Google was developing a Google-branded handset. Some speculated that as Google was defining technical specifications, it was showing prototypes to cell phone manufacturers and network operators. In September 2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony.

Announcement [ ]

On November 5, 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of several companies which include Broadcom Corporation, Google, HTC, Intel, LG, Marvell Technology Group, Motorola Mobility, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Sprint, T-Mobile and Texas Instruments was unveiled. The goal of the Open Handset Alliance is to develop open standards for mobile devices. On the same day, the Open Handset Alliance also unveiled their first product, Android, a mobile device platform built on the Linux kernel version 2.6.

On December 9, 2008, 14 new members joined, including ARM Holdings, Atheros Communications, Asustek Computer Inc, Garmin Ltd, Huawei Technologies, PacketVideo, Softbank, Sony, Toshiba Corp, and Vodafone Group Plc.

Version history [ ]

Android has seen a number of updates since its original release, each fixing bugs and adding new features. Each version is named, in alphabetical order, after a dessert. The most recent version of Android is 9.0 Pie.

Recent releases [ ]

2.3 Gingerbread refined the user interface, improved the soft keyboard and copy/paste features, improved gaming performance, added SIP support (VoIP calls), and added support for Near Field Communication.

3.0 Honeycomb was a tablet-oriented release which supports larger screen devices and introduces many new user interface features, and supports multi-core processors and hardware acceleration for graphics. The first device featuring this version, the Motorola Xoom tablet, went on sale in February 2011. 3.1 Honeycomb, released in May 2011, added support for extra input devices, USB host mode for transferring information directly from cameras and other devices, and the Google Movies and Books apps.

3.2 Honeycomb, released in July 2011, added optimization for a broader range of screen sizes, new «zoom-to-fill» screen compatibility mode, loading media files directly from SD card, and an extended screen support API. Huawei MediaPad is the first 7 inch tablet to use this version.

4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, announced on October 19, 2011, brought Honeycomb features to smartphones and added new features including facial recognition unlock, network data usage monitoring and control, unified social networking contacts, photography enhancements, offline email searching, app folders, and information sharing using NFC. Android 4.01 Ice Cream Sandwich is the latest Android version that is available to phones. The source code of Android 4.01 was released on November 14, 2011.

Marketing [ ]

The Original Android Logo.

The Android logo was designed along with the Droid font family made by Ascender Corporation. Droid Green is the color of the Android Robot that represents the Android operating system. The print color is PMS 376C and the RGB color value in hexadecimal is #A4C639, as specified by the Android Brand Guidelines. The custom typeface of Android is called Norad (cf. NORAD). It is only used in the text logo.

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