Android reigns supreme in the mobile operating system market today. It is estimated that in various variants this software works on almost 20,000 different devices - this is the number of models, not copies. When it comes to copies, only in 2014 (according to data published by Strategy Analytics) over a billion smartphones operating under the control of the Android system hit the market. Google's mobile system is today an unquestionable power that is increasingly bold not only in mobile devices. It also hits, for example, TV sets (as Android TV). However, this was not always the case. We invite you on a fascinating tour of the world of Android, from the origins to the current state.
The history of Android begins in October 2003 in Palo Alto, California. Then four gentlemen - Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears and Chris White - decide to found a company with significant consequences: Android Inc.
Founders of Android Inc. they were not only enthusiasts of mobile solutions, but also had solid preparation and substantive foundations. Andy Rubin previously worked at Apple, WebTV and Philips, he was also a co-founder of Danger, later acquired by Microsoft (from a business point of view, one of the least successful acquisitions made by the Windows manufacturer), specializing in solutions for mobile platforms - mainly software, but not only. Danger's best-known product is the T-Mobile Sidekick, co-developed with Motorola, known in some markets as the Danger Hiptop, but this product was developed long after Andy Rubin left Danger in 2003.
Rich Miner, in turn, is the co-founder of Wildfire Communications, a company which - note - already in 1994 developed a solution that is in fact the progenitor of today's famous so-called. voice assistants (i.e. Siri from Apple, Cortana from Microsoft, or Google Now - you know where :)) - back then it was something like an answering machine, but a pioneering step towards talking digital assistants was made. As a curiosity: Polish Wikipedia incorrectly states that Miner was also a co-founder of HTC. None of these things, the Taiwanese HTC had completely different founders, and this mistake is unfortunately repeated by many other websites that indiscriminately use Wikipedia resources. But let's leave it at that, the credibility of information sets collectively created by an open community is a topic for a completely different article.
Nick Sears gained knowledge and experience about the possibilities and needs of the mobile market by holding the position of one of the vice presidents of the telecommunications giant: T-Mobile (the American branch of this company). In turn, Chris White, before founding Android Inc, worked as a software engineer at Sun Microsystems, later held the same position at Apple, and then designed user interfaces at WebTV Networks.
If you believe the words of Andy Rubin, called by many the father of Android, the company was founded to develop smarter devices that would be able to read and respond to, among others, the user's location or personal preferences. Sounds familiar, right? It's just that initially the goal of Android Inc. there was no mobile operating system at all, or at least not a system for mobile phones (tablets were practically not talked about at that time). First, the employees of the Californian company worked on software for digital cameras. However, quite quickly the owners of Android Inc. realized that "digital" is a dead end market with an ever-decreasing importance. So they switched to developing software that could compete with the then triumphant Symbian or Windows Phone's predecessor developed by Microsoft - Windows Mobile. Officially, the company was working on "mobile software" and the fact that this software was not individual applications, but the entire operating system and the digital ecosystem associated with it, was kept strictly secret. However, the work required expenditure - Rubin's funds quickly ran out and the world would probably never have known today's mogul on the market of mobile operating systems, if not for one man - Stephen G. "Steve" Perlman. This American entrepreneur - president of Artemis Networks, former Microsoft and Apple employee by the way - and privately Andy Rubin's friend, appeared in his life in the right place and time. In difficult times, he supported Rubin with one envelope containing $10,000 in cash. He didn't want anything in return, and he rejected the offer to take up some shares in Rubin's company.
Significant Acquisition
July 2005 is an important date in the development of a then unknown product that is shaking the world of mobile devices today. Meanwhile, Google is buying a small Californian company Android Inc for at least $50 million. - three co-founders (except Sears) become employees of the search giant. No one had heard of the operating system at that time, it was only noted that Google simply bought another company dealing with the development of software for mobile devices. A little later, in 2006, for the first time, it was widely rumored that Google intended to appear on the mobile market, although at that time hardly anyone suspected that it was about a product of such caliber as an operating system. A team created at Google, led by Andy Rubin, worked all the time on a mobile operating system based on the Linux kernel.
Regardless of the software - which Rubin's team has worked intensively on - Google is also looking for appropriate hardware solutions. One of the first smartphones that can be associated with Android in any way was a prototype codenamed Sooner.
Google Sooner, the first smartphone prototype with a mobile operating system developed by Google (source: androidcentral.com).
A glance at Sooner is enough to know the source of inspiration for Google's engineers - Blackberry. A touch-free screen and a physical keyboard are the hallmarks of the then successful Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) - the manufacturer of Blackberry smartphones.
Sooner, although an advanced prototype, and in fact an almost finished product, was never launched on the market. The reason for such a decision, as well as a significant redefinition of the goals and work of teams working at Google on mobile solutions, was the device that was shown by Steve Jobs, the head of Apple at the Macworld 2007 conference in January 2007, and finally debuted on the market on June 29, 2007 year. That device was the first generation Apple iPhone.
Android from the beginning to today
Very often, the name "Android" is mentioned only in connection with Google. The search engine giant had and has a lot in common with the most popular mobile operating system in the world, but it is not the only institution supervising the development of this system. Calling Android a system developed exclusively by Google is inappropriate because neither Google came up with this solution (as we already know, it bought a small company Android Inc., which developed the foundations of a mobile system based on the Linux kernel), nor is it the only company affecting the development of this system. Currently, Android is actually a product of a great business alliance called the Open Handset Alliance, which, apart from Google of course, includes such giants of the new technologies industry as, among others. ASUS, HTC, Dell, Intel, LG, Motorola, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung and Texas Instruments. What's more, this alliance was not created yesterday, but has been accompanying the Android system since the beginning of its market path, i.e. since the release of the first, still test (see below) version of the open operating system, which took place on November 5, 2007 (SDK, i.e. a toolkit for developers for this version of the system was released on November 12, 2007). It should be remembered that this alliance is responsible not only for the development of the Android system, but also for many other products and technologies that have changed the face of modern civilization. Let's follow how Android has changed in recent years.
Android 0.5 Milestone 3 and 5 - First Prototype Shown to the Public
The first public release of Android was Android 0.5 Milestone 3, released in November 2007. It is no coincidence that there are similarities to the software managing the aforementioned Google Sooner prototype, but the Android 0.5 Milestone 3 described here has never been presented as a system operating on a specific - even prototype - hardware platform. This version could only be used on the emulators accompanying the development SDKs. Like most codes published exclusively for Android 0.5 emulators, Milestone 3 was deprived of most features of a real operating system (including many applications built into the system as standard). This first, publicly available (basically only to programmers - only they were able to make use of the version of the system working only on emulators) did not yet have the sweet code name characteristic of later versions of Android. The system in this version was devoid of any desktop icons, the only active element was a small toolbar (also called the dock) located at the bottom of the screen containing a set of several icons. This interface had no future, did not support touch and was still based on solutions adapted from the Blackberry platform, which - especially after the premiere of the iPhone - became obsolete for many users, as well as Google engineers and programmers.
Android 0.5 Milestone 5 is the next publicly presented version of the system. It was shown in February 2008. This version was significantly different from the previous one, which clearly revealed the scale of reshuffling and conceptual modifications caused by the premiere of the iPhone and the already well-established market success of the first Apple smartphone at that time. The Blackberry UI has been completely removed and experimented with instead. The effect of these experiments can be seen in the picture above. The interactive element of the new interface was something like function blocks, in fact, it was a bit like icons, although some - rightly so - may be associated with tiles. The element that certainly could not be considered ready was the home screen of the then version of Android, it was not configurable in any way, and the maximum number of applications that could be used was limited to 21, there was no room for more in the system interface. Ultimately, however, this solution was abandoned, most of the ideas from Milestone 5 were never appreciated in subsequent Android editions.
Android 0.9 Beta
The beta version of Android, numbered 0.9, was released six months after Milestone 5 was announced in August 2008. There are only 2 months left until the premiere of the first final version of the mobile system developed by Rubin and his team and - as we can judge from the perspective of the past time - it was obvious. The beta 0.9 release was the first Android to resemble... Android. Characteristic home screen icons, sliding application panel, many home screen desktops and - an Android feature present in it to this day - home screen widgets (in the picture above it is a characteristic watch, apart from it there were two more available: a picture frame and a search engine panel). In this version, in addition to the sliding screen (panel) of the application, there is also a sliding notification panel. A lot of completely new, previously non-existent applications have also been added, e.g. watch with alarm, calculator, music, photos, messages or camera. Version 0.9 beta was also the first Android with a customizable home screen (a characteristic gesture of moving elements - icons and widgets - after touching them for a long time). This version of the system was also ahead of Apple's then triumphant iOS system - it provided the system clipboard and related "copy/paste" operations.
Android 1.0
In October 2008, the first version of Android was ready. However, it was obvious that it was impossible to present a new mobile system in isolation from the hardware on which it would work. Although it may seem unbelievable today, at that time Google had a lot of problems finding partners willing to cooperate precisely in the field of offering equipment operating under the control of the Android system. Already a year earlier - in 2007 - there were plans to offer devices operating under the control of Android on the market, but on the home, American market, Google was unable to convince mobile operators, and they were the force capable of promoting any mobile solution on the market. Such tycoons as Verizon, Sprint and AT&T withdrew from the cooperation successively (the latter was definitely more interested in cooperation with Apple, which was fruitful for both parties). Even T-Mobile, the company that eventually became the pioneer in the Android smartphone market, initially refused to cooperate with the creators of Android. Eventually, however, the problems were overcome and HTC announces its latest smartphone HTC Dream on September 23, 2008, and the device itself goes to the (American) market on October 22, 2008 as the T-Mobile G1. The world received the first android phone. In Poland, this smartphone was known under yet another name, as Era G1 - it was sold from February 23, 2009 by Era, one of the main mobile operators in Poland, later taken over by T-Mobile.
The main code of Android 1.0 was not much different from the 0.9 beta released 2 months earlier, but the finished product was equipped with a large set of applications: a full set of Google Apps, Gmail, Android Market (predecessor of Google Play), Voice Dialer, YouTube . The distinguishing feature of Android was the proprietary Android Market. Google's store differed from the analogous creation of Apple's almost full openness. On the one hand, it allowed the application developers to fully personalize the mobile system, but on the other hand, it also turned out to be the biggest problem of the Android Market: an application, no matter what functionality, could be published in it by anyone, which meant a lot of garbage in the store. The first Android is also a web browser offering the ability to scale content and support for multiple tabs. The Camera app was also there and that's basically all that can be written about it, it didn't even allow you to change the resolution of the photo, not to mention such details as quality mode, exposure, white balance, etc. Gmail in Android 1.0 was pretty nasty, but it allowed you to manage correspondence provided by POP3, IMAP4 and sent by SMTP, but Exchange was no longer supported.
Android 1.1 Petit Four
On February 9, 2009, the Android 1.1 update is released. Initially, the updated code is only for HTC Dream smartphones. At that time, the creators of Android did not use "sweet" code names for subsequent versions, but the release of 1.1. already had an internal name: "Petit Four". However, it was not used in official information about this system.
The update was created primarily to eliminate errors detected in the code of the first generation system. The Android API (programming interface) has also been modified, and several new functions have been added, e.g. significantly extended the time of displaying the incoming call screen when using the speakerphone function, added a function that allows you to display or hide the phone's numeric keypad. Only from this version Android was able to save attachments in messages. In addition, the functionality of the Maps application was enhanced - in the search results for various locations, apart from addresses, opinions and additional information appeared (provided, of course, that they were available for a given type of objects). In addition, Android 1.1 introduced support for paid applications in the Android Market (so far, all programs have been made available for free - it's just that the creators have not been provided with the functions to collect payments before). Version 1.1 also offered the first step in the voice search engine, which is still being developed today. Even then, voice search was possible (single phrases, of course in English).
Android 1.5 Cupcake
At first glance, Cupcake, the first "sweet" version of Android released on April 27, 2009, was no different from the previous release. There was no difference until we activated some function that required text input. It was then that you could see the on-screen keyboard on the screen for the first time. It may seem strange now, but the first generation of Android (as well as the 1.1 update) was deprived of something so obvious today as the on-screen keyboard. This was partly explained by the fact that the HTC Dream/T-Mobile/Era G1 was equipped with its own keyboard. However, this was a significant limitation for many manufacturers who did not want to construct more difficult and expensive to produce models equipped with an actual keyboard. Cupcake lifted this limitation, essentially starting Android's march towards many OEMs. The introduction of the on-screen virtual keyboard also meant the emergence of accompanying capabilities, such as automatic text completion, user dictionary, and the ability to replace the system virtual keyboard with a different version.
It wasn't just the keyboard that was new. Cupcake is the first Android capable of recording and decoding video in the widely used MPEG-4 standard and 3GP format today. Only from this version it was possible to automatically pair Bluetooth devices with a smartphone, including those with support for stereo sound transmission via a wireless interface (A2DP/AVRCP). Cupcake also added a few other flavors, such as the ability to assign user photos to contacts, clipboard functions in the web browser, animated screen scrolling, or automatic screen rotation. In addition, the YouTube application, which has been present since the first Android, offers the possibility of uploading videos directly from a smartphone for the first time.
Android 1.6 Donut
Donut - a characteristic cookie with a hole, often mistakenly called a donut in Polish, sometimes - more accurately - a donut. This code name was given to the next version of Android, released on September 15, 2009. Donut had many novelties hidden "under the hood", this concerned e.g. enabling application developers to insert their content in search results, extending the text and voice search function to contacts or browser history, or adding more CDMA/EVDO support (which meant that Android can be used as a system in smartphones used by virtually all mobile operators ), connections via VPN channels or a significant development of the text-to-speech engine. Donut was also the first Android fully prepared for screens with WVGA resolution (768 x 480 pixels).
In addition to internal changes, there were also improvements visible to ordinary users. The Camera application gained much greater integration with the gallery, from one application you could take a photo, record a video and view the results. Also, someone finally noticed that users love taking pictures. However, not all of them are successful, which is why some have to be removed - only Donut provided such an obvious function today as the possibility of wholesale selection of photos to be removed.
Android 2.0 - 2.1 Éclair
It didn't take long for the next generation to arrive. Just over a month after the publication of the donut, the world receives an eclair, i.e. Android 2.0 - it was published on October 26, 2009. Despite the generation change, this version of Android was still based on the same version of the Linux kernel as the previous release (Linux kernel 2.6.29). However, despite staying with the same system kernel, the number of modifications introduced was so large that the change of the main version number of the system was justified.
Éclair is the first edition of Android with significant visual changes to the interface. Google's graphic designers probably took the task of redesigning almost every icon and control in the system as a point of honor. However, these changes were necessary, mainly due to the much higher resolution of smartphone screens. The screen resolution of HTC Dream - the equipment with the first Android was only 320 x 480 pixels. Meanwhile, the flagship machine already working with Android of the second generation was the loudly promoted Motorola Droid smartphone in the United States, it was equipped with a screen with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels, which even today, after more than five years, would be considered a pretty decent value. However, the change in display capabilities forced a graphical redesign of the system.
Android 2.0 was the first release to allow data to be stored (and synchronized) with multiple Google accounts. Another feature important for many users was the addition of support for Microsoft Exchange mail servers, which allowed Android devices to enter the corporate world, where corporate mail was handled by Microsoft servers. The Camera application has finally gained sensible functionality - there are: flash support, white balance adjustment, various focus modes (including, for example, macro mode), digital zoom and several other novelties. The system search engine has also learned to search archived SMS and MMS messages. Text hints when entering content have been enriched with the possibility of suggesting contact names and the mode of learning the most frequently entered phrases by the user. Eclair is also a modernized browser, with bookmark thumbnails, double tap support and HTML5 compatibility. The codename Éclair has been retained for two subsequent Android updates: 2.0.1 and 2.1. In both cases, the main motivation for the changes was the modernization of the Android API and the removal of detected errors. Subsequent versions of the éclairs did not contain functional changes visible to the user.
Android 2.2 Froyo
Another dessert was prepared by programmers from the Android team on May 20, 2010. Froyo, or frozen yoghurt, is one of the most successful and longest-running Android versions on the market. As a curiosity, it can be said that Froyo was a generation released (including updates) longer than its successor (Gingerbread). The system offered more flexibility to personalize and customize the home screen.
The popularity of Froyo was also due to the fact that the developers of Android in this version worked on optimizing the code in terms of memory efficiency and performance. There were more changes "inside". Froyo is the first Android in which the system web browser is equipped with the JavaScript Chrome V8 engine and support for Adobe Flash. It is also the first Android to feature the Android Cloud to Device Messaging (C2DM) service, or to put it simply, support for push notifications. Today, we take the fact that new emails "come by themselves" to the smartphone as a matter of course. This "obviousness" came into existence in Android Froyo.
Frozen yoghurt, as befits a delicious milk mix, contained much more curiosities. It supported high-resolution screens (up to 320 ppi), allowed to control data connections via mobile networks. Along with Froyo, Android smartphones also received the WiFi Hotspot function, which allows the phone to be used as a wireless access point. Android 2.2 was also an important update for companies whose employees used smartphones with this system. Thanks to the extended support for Exchange servers, it was possible not only to synchronize mail, but also the calendar. In addition, the smartphone could be the object of security policies, and administrators had the ability to remotely emergency wipe sensitive corporate data. From the usability side, an important function of this generation of Android was the ability to install applications on the memory card, and not only in the internal memory of the device.
This system was so successful that the first update with bug fixes and security patches appeared on January 18, 2011 (Froyo 2.2.1). The fix was less successful than the system it was fixing - another version was released four days later: 2.2.2, which fixed a bug with SMS messages on Nexus One smartphones. The last update of Froyo was published on November 21, 2011 and contained only patches for vulnerabilities in the mobile system.
Android 2.3 Gingerbread
The next Android release shouldn't really be called "next". Gingerbread was released a little later than Froyo, on December 6, 2010, but both versions of Android coexisted in the public space, contributing to the fragmentation of the Android platform in the market. Gingerbread is another significant modification of the appearance of the system, the system screens have been significantly modified. Again, the change was partly forced by the increasingly higher screen resolutions of mobile devices. Gingerbread was a version adapted to work with screens with a resolution even higher than WXGA (1366 x 786 pixels).
Let's leave the graphical nuances aside, what about the functionality? Android 2.3 is the first generation that supports the NFC (Near Field Communication) proximity interface, there is also a completely new system download manager, giving the user convenient access to the downloaded data, regardless of whether the file saved in the smartphone's memory came from a website, from an e-mail attachment or any other internet-connected application. Gingerbread also introduced an improved system clipboard (in order to copy a word, it was enough to touch the word on the screen and hold it for a while). This version of Android also offered more multimedia capabilities than Froyo - for example, the system was capable of decoding AAC audio streams or WebM/VP8 video streams. As a curiosity, it is worth adding that only from Gingerbread can we talk about selfies, i.e. photographic self-portraits, which are very popular among some users of social networks. It was the first Android to support more than one camera/digital camera in a mobile device. The Gingerbread code name was also given to Android system releases marked with the numbers 2.3.1 (released in December 2010) and 2.3.2 (released in January 2011), but both updates were intended only for the Google Nexus S smartphone (i.e. a slightly changed Samsung Galaxy S - GT-i9020/i9023 built for Google) - the first smartphone with Gingerbread on board. Later updates (from 2.3.3 to 2.3.7) were more universal in nature, introducing e.g. better energy management (greater battery efficiency). From the visual side, we can mention the modified version of the Gmail client (from version 2.3.5).
Android 3.0 Honeycomb
On February 24, 2011, the Motorola Xoom tablet is launched, the tablet and the first device to run the Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system (or "honeycomb"). The most distinguishing feature of this generation from its predecessors (as well as subsequent versions) was that Honeycomb was a tablet-only version of Android.
The purpose of the system exclusively for tablets necessarily forced a redesign of the interface, which gained a characteristic "tablet" style. The keyboard was also redesigned, on which - taking into account the larger screen of tablets - with a little training it was possible to type efficiently with both hands. Honeycomb's code was able to use the computing power provided by multi-core processors and supported hardware acceleration of some operations.
The next version of Honeycomb, marked with the number 3.1, fixed a rather annoying bug of its predecessor - no support for USB accessories in OTG (On-the-go) mode, which prevented the use of many useful accessories such as external keyboards and mice. This edition also introduces a few minor details, such as the ability to resize widgets on the home screen of the system, or support for the FLAC format for audio data.
The next versions of Honeycomb (numbers from 3.2 to 3.2.6) are mainly security fixes and bug fixes. As a curiosity, it is worth adding that from version 3.2 Honeycomb was the management system for the smart TV platform called Google TV - now withdrawn. Its successor is Android TV. Honeycomb is also the last of the Androids where the main source of applications and games is the Android Market.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
Another dessert prepared by programmers of the Android team was the "ice cream sandwich" - Ice Cream Sandwich. This generation of the system published on October 18, 2011 is the return of smartphone editions. This release introduces further improvements in the use of the interface, e.g. improved correction of errors when entering text using the on-screen keyboard, easier creation of folders and file management using the "drag and drop" technique, improved system clipboard and an integrated screenshot tool (power button + volume down button as standard).
Ice Cream Sandwich is the first Android in which an application for editing and not just viewing photos is available as standard. From this version of the system, it is also possible to record video in Full HD resolution (of course, if the equipment has components capable of recording video in such a resolution). Along with Ice Cream Sandwich, a new mode of wireless direct connections - WiFi Direct - also debuts. This means, among others, that a smartphone user with this system can, for example, send photos from a smartphone directly, for example, to a TV set that supports WiFi Direct connections, without the use of a WiFi router and home network.
A feature of this version of the system, particularly useful for users who used data transmission connections via mobile networks, is the ability to conveniently track the consumption of data transmission limit, set notifications, alarms and warnings about the approaching limit exhaustion, etc. This function turned out to be enough useful that to this day it is available in all subsequent versions of Android.
Earlier, we mentioned that Honeycomb is the last Android with the Android Market. Google introduced on March 6, 2012, the Google Play service giving access to applications, games and multimedia content, Android Market became the Google Play Store. As of Ice Cream Sandwich, all subsequent versions of Android will have the standard Google Play Store. Android Market is still available as an app on Google Play.
Further updates to Ice Cream Sandwich are mostly bug fixes and optimizations. Version 4.0.3 released on December 16, 2011 introduced support for the video stabilization feature. The last update numbered 4.0.4 was released on March 29, 2012 - it increased the stability of the system, improved the operation of some functions (including smoother screen rotation, better performance of the digital camera).
Android 4.1 - 4.3 Jelly Bean
The next generation of Android, i.e. "Jelly Bean", debuts on the market on July 9, 2012, but information about this release was published by Google several days earlier during Google I/O conference on June 27, 2012. The first device working under the control of the "gel bean" was the first-generation Google Nexus 7 tablet - the device hit the market on July 13, 2012.
Android Jelly Bean is a system that - although theoretically applies to mobile devices - offers capabilities comparable to operating systems designed for much larger computers and laptops. Mainly in the field of multimedia. Reason? Why, for example, support for multi-channel audio in Android, or the USB Audio function (useful for external DAC devices)?
With Jelly Bean in Android debuts a completely new mechanism to enhance the possibilities of Google search - it's about Google Now. From now on, Google knows where you are, what you like, what you search for, what to suggest and much more :)
The next version of Jelly Bean, marked with the number 4.2, debuts on November 13, 2012. It included, among others, support for widgets directly on the lock screen, access to the system and device quick settings panel from the notification screen. From this version, you can also talk about Android smartphones that fully support the Miracast technique. In version 4.2.1, also introduced in November 2012, support for game manipulators connecting to a mobile device via Bluetooth was added and detected errors were corrected. The last update of this branch of Jelly Bean was the release of version 4.2.2, which added some small but useful improvements, e.g. download percentage indicators with the display of download completion time, or the addition of the function of turning on / off WiFi and Bluetooth connections by pressing and holding icons of these interfaces in the quick settings panel.
In July 2013, the next major Android Jelly Bean update is released, marked with the number 4.3. This is the first Android release to add support for the AVRCP 1.3 profile for Bluetooth devices (an earlier version of this profile has been available in Android since codenamed Cupcake, which is Android 1.5), which allows you to use your smartphone with this version of the system as a universal remote control for Bluetooth-enabled HiFi devices. From more systemic things, this release introduces the ability to add new user accounts to the system with limited access to individual system functions (e.g. accounts for children). An interesting fact is that Android 4.3 is officially the first version in which support for 4K resolution has been added.
Android 4.4 KitKat
We are slowly reaching the present day - there are still plenty of devices on the market working under the control of Android 4.4.x KitKat. The world first saw this version of Android on October 31, 2013. And the first device working under the control of this version of the system was the Google Nexus 5 smartphone built by LG equipped with a 5-inch screen with Full HD resolution. As for functional trivia, Android KitKat has wireless printing support built right into the system (which of course works, provided you use a wireless capable printer). In addition, the user is no longer limited only to the system application for receiving and sending text messages, if he wants, he can set this role to, for example, Google Hangouts.
The new Android also includes improvements to the applications and mechanisms known from previous releases, such as the systematically developed, integrated Google Now system search engine. From this release, support for voice commands directly on the home screen has been introduced, no need to activate the listening function manually, just say "ok Google".
KitKat is a system not only for smartphones and tablets, its functions can be adapted to more unusual devices, such as various types of mobile gadgets for sports enthusiasts, smart watches, etc. Since the KitKat version, the system default web browser has also changed - it became the Google Chrome mobile client.
Android 5.0 - 5.1 Lollipop
And thus we have come to the end of our journey - Android 5.x Lollipop is the latest version of Android, presented on November 12, 2014 and the first to directly harness the power computational power of 64-bit processors. The new system includes a modified interface using a unified design system called Material Design, a significantly improved notification mechanism, increased system security, more energy-efficient use of wireless interfaces, and - bugs - at least at the beginning. The first updates (5.0.1 and 5.0.2) were released in December last year. On March 9, Lollipop 5.1 was published - the first Android that officially supports devices with multiple SIM cards - this can be treated as a kind of curiosity, as many smartphone models working with more than one SIM card and operating without major problems could be found on the market before with older than Lollipop generations of the mobile system. The last version so far is the 5.1.1 release, which was introduced on April 21 this year. Functionally, it does not contain any innovations, but only corrections of previously noticed errors. What about more Androids? When will version 5.2 be available? Or maybe 6.0 right away? You will certainly find answers to these questions on our website immediately after we receive reliable information from reliable and proven sources.
