What are android devices

What Is Android?

The ins and outs of the Android operating system

What is Android? We’re not talking about robots. In this case, we’re talking about smartphones. Android is a popular, Linux-based mobile phone operating system developed by Google. The Android operating system (OS) powers phones, watches, and car stereos. Let’s take a closer look and learn what Android really is.

Android Open-Source Project

Android is a widely-adopted open-source project. Google actively develops the Android platform but gives a portion of it for free to hardware manufacturers and phone carriers who want to use Android on their devices. Google only charges manufacturers if they also install the Google apps portion of the OS.

Many (but not all) major devices that use Android also opt for the Google apps portion of the service. One notable exception is Amazon. Although Kindle Fire tablets use Android, they do not use the Google portions, and Amazon maintains a separate Android app store.

Beyond the Phone

Android powers phones and tablets, but Samsung has experimented with Android interfaces on non-phone electronics like cameras and refrigerators. The Android TV is a gaming and streaming platform that uses Android.

Parrot makes a digital photo frame and a car stereo system with Android. Some devices customize the open-source Android without the Google apps, so you may or may not recognize Android when you see it. The list of customizations and applications goes on and on.

Open Handset Alliance

Google formed a group of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies called the Open Handset Alliance with the goal of contributing to Android development. Most members also have the goal of making money from Android, either by selling phones, phone service, or mobile applications.

Google Play (Android Market)

Anyone can download the SDK (software development kit) and write applications for Android phones and start developing for the Google Play store. Developers who sell apps on the Google Play market are charged about 30 percent of their sales price in fees that go to maintain the Google Play market. (A fee model is typical for app distribution markets.)

Some devices do not include support for Google Play and may use an alternative market. Kindles use Amazon’s app market, which means Amazon makes the money off of any app sales.

Service Providers

The iPhone has been very popular, but when it was first introduced, it was exclusive to AT&T. Android is an open platform. Many carriers can potentially offer Android-powered phones, although device manufacturers might have an exclusive agreement with a carrier. This flexibility allowed Android to grow quickly as a platform.

Google Services

Because Google developed Android, it comes with many Google app services installed right out of the box. Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Maps, and Google Now are pre-installed on most Android phones.

However, because Android can be modified, carriers can choose to change this. Verizon Wireless, for instance, has modified some Android phones to use Bing as the default search engine. You can also remove a Gmail account from most Android phones.

Touchscreen

Android supports a touchscreen and is difficult to use without one. You can use a trackball for some navigation, but nearly everything is done through touch. Android also supports multi-touch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom. Still, Android is flexible enough that it could potentially support other input methods, such as joysticks (for the Android TV) or physical keyboards.

The soft keyboard (onscreen keyboard) in most versions of Android supports either tapping keys individually or dragging between letters to spell out words. Android then guesses what you mean and auto-completes the word. This drag-style interaction may seem slower at first, but experienced users find it faster than tap-tap-tapping messages.

Security

Most Android phones offer some level of security, from fingerprint identification to facial recognition features. Most also support two-factor authentication processes and offer lock screen security options such as tracing a pattern over dots or inputting a PIN code or password to keep strangers from accessing a phone. You can also lock apps in different ways.

Fragmentation

One frequent criticism of Android is that it’s a fragmented platform. Phone carriers like Motorola, HTC, LG, Sony, and Samsung have added their own user interfaces to Android and have no intentions to stop. They feel it distinguishes their brand, although developers often express their frustration at having to support so many variations.

The Good and Bad of Fragmentation

Android is an exciting platform for consumers and developers. It is the philosophical opposite of the iPhone in many ways. Where the iPhone tries to create the best user experience by restricting hardware and software standards, Android tries to ensure it by opening up as much of the operating system as possible.

This is both good and bad. Fragmented versions of Android may provide a unique user experience, but they also mean fewer users per variation. That means it’s harder to support for app developers, accessory makers, and technology writers. Because each Android upgrade must be modified for the specific hardware and user interface upgrades of each device, that also means it takes longer for modified Android phones to receive updates.

Fragmentation issues aside, Android is a robust platform that boasts some of the fastest and most amazing phones and tablets on the market.

Android Auto is the Android version of Apple’s CarPlay. Essentially, it’s a form of Android that runs on your car and can connect to your phone. Once you connect the vehicle to Android Auto, you can navigate using Google Maps, play music, and enjoy traditional smart car features.

To connect your AirPods to Android, open Settings on your Android device, tap Bluetooth and put your AirPods into pairing mode. Then, tap your AirPods once they appear in the Bluetooth menu.

To factory reset your Android and wipe all data on your phone, tap Settings > System > Advanced > Reset options. Next, tap Erase all data (factory reset) > Erase all data.

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What is Android and what is an Android phone?

10th February 2014

Android is now a decade old and the most popular mobile operating system in the world. You’ll find it on mobile phones, tablets and even on TVs and in cars. So what actually is Android? Here’s all you need to know about Google’s mobile OS.

Here we’ll help you to understand what Android is, what it can actually do, what are the best Android devices you can get, how do you use Android apps and plenty more besides.

What is Android?

Android is a mobile operating system which is found on a variety of modern devices, the most popular being smartphones. On top of that, you’ll also find Android on tablets, TV streaming boxes and other portable gadgets.

Android is basically a piece of software which allows your hardware to function. The Android OS gives you access to apps, including many of Google’s own creation. These allow you to look for information on the web, play music and videos, check your location on a map, take photos using your device’s camera and plenty more besides.

Without Android, none of this would be possible.

Android phones are highly customisable, so they can be altered to suit your personal tastes and needs. For instance, you can set your own wallpaper, themes and launchers, which completely change the look of your device’s interface. You can download new applications to do all sorts of things like check your Facebook and Twitter feeds, manage your bank account, order pizza and play games.

How to get started with Android

Check out our guide on how to set up an Android phone, for an idea of what you’ll need to do to get started. One of your first tasks will be to create a Google Account (or sign in with an existing one). This gives you email functionality and also provides a great way to backup your contacts, save your files online and so on.

The benefit of this is that if you lose your phone, all of your numbers and important data will be saved. The next time you get an Android phone (or other device) and sign in with your Google Account, all of your contacts and numbers will be displayed in your new phone’s address book immediately. No need to transfer them over or back them up anywhere else.

In fact, you can sync your personal info across all kinds of Android devices. This includes favourite websites, calendar entries and purchased apps. This is all backed up seamlessly, in the background.

What apps can I get on an Android phone?

There are millions of apps and games available to download from the Google Play store (formerly Android Market). There are camera apps that allow you to take pictures with artistic effects and music players which allow you to stream songs from the web or create playlists. You can customise the appearance of your Android handset with a number of wallpapers based on pictures you’ve taken yourself or downloaded from the internet too.

An example of a widget on the home screen of an Android phone. This one lets you access music playback from Spotify without having to open the application.

There are also various on-screen widgets to download which allow access to, and the alteration of, settings on your phone, without the need to dive through menus as you would on non-Android devices. You can pretty much create your own system of shortcuts and menus to better suit how you uniquely use your phone.

You can also download a huge range of games for your Android phone to keep you entertained on the go. Here are our favourite Android games of all time.

Asphalt Overdrive is a simple to play, tricky to master racing game.

How can I download apps onto an Android phone?

The majority of apps can be downloaded from the Google Play store (the equivalent of Apple’s App Store), which includes a mix of free as well as ‘premium’ apps that you have to pay for. Some apps have ‘lite’ versions which are free, in the hopes you’ll enjoy them enough to upgrade to the full premium version. Others – like Pokémon GO – are free but include adverts or the ability to make in-app purchases.

The same account that lets you backup your contacts can also have financial details added to it, giving you the ability to purchase content from the Google Play store directly. You can pay either by debit or credit card and initial setup takes less than five minutes from a computer.

Although there are well over a million apps available to Android users in the Google Play Store, some developers choose to make their apps available to download from their own sites or alternative app stores. In order to download them, you have to change some settings on your phone before visiting these sites on your Android device’s web browser. By downloading apps outside of the Google Play Store, you do run the risk of attack in the form of data theft or by leaving yourself more susceptible to viruses, so be careful if you choose this route.

Should you upgrade or change your Android phone; log into your Google account and you’ll be able to download your previously owned apps again, without being charged. In recent years, Google has expanded Google Play to offer more than just apps, with books, magazines, music and movies available for purchase and download in much the same way too.

Who actually makes Android phones?

Any handset maker is free to make an Android phone if they want to. The likes of Motorola, HTC, Samsung and Sony, Acer, Alcatel, Asus, Huawei, LG and ZTE have all made Android phones (and tablets). Blackberry has put out several Android phones since 2015, including the Priv and the KEYOne. And Nokia is enjoying a resurgence in 2017, thanks in large part to its new Nokia 3, 5 and 6 phones which run Android OS.

Does Google make any Android phones?

Although Google owns the OS (Android), the company has not made any of the smartphones on which it runs in-house (it did make the Android-powered Pixel C tablet in 2015). However, it has partnered with various handset manufacturers over the years to make its own-brand smartphones under the ‘Nexus’ name.

[From left to right] Google Nexus One (HTC), Google Nexus S (Samsung), Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Google Nexus 4 (LG), Google Nexus 5 (LG), Google Nexus 6 (Motorola), Google Nexus 5X (LG), Google Nexus 6P (Huawei), Google Pixel (HTC), Google Pixel XL (HTC)

Google’s Nexus phones were typically the first to receive new updates and were considered to be the flagship Android phones, even though some other Android devices sported larger screens, better cameras and more powerful hardware.

In 2016, Google shelved the Nexus brand name and replaced by launching two new phones called the Pixel and Pixel XL. For all intents and purposes, these new phones enjoy all the same benefits as the Nexus devices did and are essentially the spiritual successors to the Nexus line.

You can expect to see some new Pixel 2 phones in 2017.

Android updates

Google is constantly working on new versions of the Android software. These releases are infrequent; at the moment Google is releasing a big Android update once a year. Check out our handy, comprehensive guide to every Android version out there.

Versions usually come with a numerical code and a name that’s so far been themed after sweets and desserts, running in alphabetical order.

• Android 1.5 Cupcake
• Android 1.6 Donut
• Android 2.1 Eclair
• Android 2.2 Froyo
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• Android 3.2 Honeycomb – The first OS design specifically for tablets, launching on the Motorola Xoom
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich: The first OS to run on smartphones and tablets, ending the 2.X naming convention.
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean: Launched on the Google Nexus 7 tablet by Asus
• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean: Arrived on the LG Nexus 4
• Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
• Android 4.4 KitKat: Launched on the LG Nexus 5
• Android 5.0 Lollipop: Launched on the Motorola Nexus 6 and HTC Nexus 9
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow: Launched on the LG Nexus 5X and Huawei Nexus 6P
• Android 7.0 Nougat
• Android 7.1 Nougat: Launched on the HTC-made Google Pixel and Pixel XL
• Android 8.0 Oreo: Rumoured to be launching on the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2

The latest public version, Android Nougat, makes the OS even faster than ever with a feature called ‘instant apps’. It also offers improved battery life with Doze on-the-go and adds native VR support. Here’s what’s changed between the different Android versions.

When does Google announce new versions of Android?

As previously mentioned, Google tends to put out a fresh new version of Android once a year (although minor updates roll out constantly).

When it comes to Android, Google often releases a beta version in the first half of the year. This often coincides with Google I/O, a big developer event held annually around May. At Google I/O we usually find out more about the new Android update, including the best features and any UI improvements.

Like Android phones, Android tablets come in all shapes and sizes. These can range from the 7-inch screen of the Asus-made Google Nexus 7 to far larger displays, such as the 10-inch display found on the Nexus 10.

Somewhat confusingly, some older Android tablets; like the original Samsung Galaxy Tab, launched running Android 2.2 Froyo – a version of Android designed for phones, whilst Android 3.0 Honeycomb was the first release of the OS specifically for tablets.

Older Android tablets which didn’t run on 3.0 Honeycomb couldn’t benefit from things like the redesigned YouTube app, improved widgets and certain tablet-specific apps like SwiftKey for Tablets.

This fragmentation between Android phones and tablets was eliminated with the launch of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which was designed to operate on either type of device and scale accordingly. Android Jelly Bean introduced a number of improvements for both the smartphone and tablet experience over the likes of ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) and that trend continues with the latest release, Android 7.0 Nougat, which brings features like split screen support to the table.

Do Android updates cost anything?

Android updates are free to download and install. Updates bring a number of new features and changes to Android each time. Generally, with each update, the speed and overall performance of Android is improved upon.

Most of the high-end Android phones are scheduled to receive updates first. Most Android phones will have at least one update during their life cycle, with some having two. A life cycle is usually around 18 months, but depending on the phone this can be longer. These updates differ from app updates, which are smaller, incremental releases for individual applications installed on your Android device.

How do I update my Android device to add new features?

Android updates are normally received OTA (Over The Air), that is, sent directly to your Android phone without the need for a computer. Normally, once your Android phone or tablet is due to get an update, you’ll see a notification in the bar at the top of the screen. You’ll then be prompted to connect to WiFi to avoid incurring extra data charges – updates can be quite big and downloading them over a mobile data connection isn’t advised as it may result in expensive data charges.

Updates are generally one-stage processes and relatively straightforward, but in some cases, you may need to backup/save any media (photos, movies, music) or apps you’ve downloaded before updating.

When beta versions of Android are announced, you can download them early to any recent Google-branded phone (e.g. Nexus or Pixel handsets). Right now Android O is available to download in beta. Here’s how to update your Android phone, for everything you need to know.

How can I change the look and feel of my Android phone desktops?

Android phones from the likes of Huawei, LG and Samsung all sport a very different look and feel to the stock Android found on Google’s own Pixel phones. That’s because each manufacturer tends to add their own software overlay to Android, known as a ‘launcher’, which changes the design of the home screen, additional desktops, app logos and so on.

Luckily, if you feel like refreshing your Android phone’s software design, it’s incredibly easy to pull off. Just check out our guide to changing your Android launcher to learn how.

What is Android TV?

As the name kind of suggests, Android TV is based on the same Android software found on mobile phones but tweaked to work on TV streaming devices. For example, the Nvidia Shield TV runs off Android TV. This smart box connects to your telly and offers you full access to apps, games and the web. You can even perform searches for all kinds of content.

Check out our complete guide to Android TV for all that you need to know.

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