Android’s “Sweet” History

Today we decided to write a bit about Android, the world’s most popular mobile platform. The almighty Google stands behind the Android OS and this means that every mobile phone with Android must adhere to Google’s rules.

A short history of the Android OS.

You’ve probably noticed that all Android versions are named after desserts and sweets. But have you noticed that these versions have been released in alphabetical order? Here is a list of all Android versions and their release dates:

September 2008 – Version 1.0 / 2009 – Version 1.1

The first two versions were released without a codename. The first manufacturer to launch an Android mobile phone was HTC.

 April 2009 – 1.5 Cupcake

 Cupcake was initially planned to be version 1.2, but Google decided to make a slightly larger update,  which is how we got Android Cupcake and how “the dessert series” for Android began.

September 2009 – 1.6 Donut

Android V1.6, known as Donut was launched in 2009 and came with many improvements, including better photo and video features, as well as a larger screen size support.

October 2009 – 2.0/2.1 Éclair

Android V2.0 Éclair was launched in October 2009 and the next version came in December 2009 and included correction of some major errors. The 2.1 version arrived in January 2010. One of the biggest updates included support for Bluetooth 2.1 and the muliti-touch feature.

May 2010 – 2.2 FroYo

Android 2.2, known as FroYo (Frozen Yoghurt) was launched on May 20, 2010 and it came with a number of upgrades, such as automatic updating of apps and a significantly faster features, such as JavaScript, GIF support, etc.

December 2010 – 2.3 Gingerbread

Android Gingerbread was launched on December 7, 2010, and the first mobile phone that ran this OS was the Nexus S. This version brought support for the SIP Internet calling, NFC and audio and video formats. Gingerbread was created not only for smartphones, but tablets, too.

February 2011 – 3.0 Honeycomb

Honeycomb was launched in February 2011, and this version was quickly followed by versions 3.1 and 3.2. One of the most important updates that came with Android Honeycomb was that it was supported by devices with larger screens, i.e. tablets.

October 2011 – 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

The first phone that came with ICS was the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which was released simultaneously with the Android 4.0. ICS came with a lot of improvements, such as a special feature called the Android Beam, which let you share content between two phones by simply touching them.

July 2012 – 4.1 Jelly Bean

Android Jelly Bean was launched on July 9, 2012 and it mainly focused on safety. This version arrived with a number of upgrades, e.g. support for OpenGL ES 3.0, which enabled advanced graphics and support for Bluetooth Smart (Bluetooth Low Energy Mode).

October 2013 – 4.4 KitKat

This version was expected to be codenamed “Key Lime Pie”, but in the end it became KitKat. This version debuted at the launch of the Nexus 5. KitKat is optimized to run on devices that have at least 340MB of RAM, but 512 MB or RAM is still the recommended minimum. KitKat came with a lot of new features, including Voice Search (Google Now), improved multitasking, Caller ID, seeking out unknown numbers, etc.