Android (operating system)

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Android
Android 4.4.2 home screen
Company
/developer
oogle
!pen "andset Alliance
Written in C (core), C##, $ava (%&) '()
!* family %ni+,like
Working state C-rrent
*o-rce model !pen so-rce '2) and in most
devices .ith
proprietarycomponents'/)
&nitial release *eptem0er 2/, 2112'4)
3atest release 4.4.4 4it4at / $-ne (5, 21(46 22
days ago'7)
3atest previe. Android 3 developer previe. /
$-ne 28, 21(46 2( days ago'8) '9)
:arketing target *martphones
;a0let comp-ters
Availa0le in :-lti,ling-al (48 lang-ages)
<ackage manager oogle <lay, A<4
*-pported
platforms
/2,0it A=:, :&<*,'2) +28 '5)
4erneltype :onolithic (modified 3in-+
kernel)
%serland >ionic li0c,'(1) mksh shell,
'(()native core -tilities .ith a
fe. from?et>*@ '(2)
@efa-lt-ser
interface
raphical (:-lti,to-ch)
3icense Apache 3icense 2.1
:odified 3in-+ kernel -nder
?% <3 v2'(/)
!fficial .e0site ....android.com
Android is a mo0ile operating system (!*) 0ased on the 3in-+ kernel
that is c-rrently developed 0y oogle. With a-ser interface 0ased on
direct manip-lation, Android is designed primarily for to-chscreen
mo0ile devices s-ch assmartphones and ta0let comp-ters, .ith
specialiAed -ser interfaces for televisions (Android ;B), cars (Android
A-to), and .rist .atches (Android Wear). ;he !* -ses to-ch inp-ts
that loosely correspond to real,.orld actions, like s.iping, tapping,
pinching, and reverse pinching to manip-late on,screen o0Cects, and a
virt-al key0oard. @espite 0eing primarily designed for to-chscreen
inp-t, it also has 0een -sed in game consoles, digital cameras, and
other electronics.
As of 21((, Android has the largest installed 0ase of any mo0ile !*
and as of 21(/, its devices also sell more thanWindo.s, i!*, and :ac
!* devices com0ined.'(4) '(7) '(8) '(9) As of $-ly 21(/ the oogle
<lay store has had over ( million Android apps p-0lished, and over 71
0illion apps do.nloaded.'(2) A developer s-rvey cond-cted in AprilD
:ay 21(/ fo-nd that 9(E of mo0ile developers develop for Android.
'(5) At oogle &/! 21(4, the company revealed that there .ere over (
0illion active monthly Android -sers (that have 0een active for /1
days), -p from 7/2 million in $-ne 21(/.'21)
AndroidFs so-rce code is released 0y oogle -nder open so-rce
licenses, altho-gh most Android devices -ltimately ship .ith a
com0ination of open so-rce and proprietary soft.are.'/) &nitially
developed 0y Android, &nc., .hich oogle 0acked financially and later
0o-ght in 2117,'2() Android .as -nveiled in 2119 along .ith the
fo-nding of the !pen "andset AllianceGa consorti-m of hard.are,
soft.are, and telecomm-nication companies devoted to advancing
open standards for mo0ile devices.'22)
Android is pop-lar .ith technology companies .hich reH-ire a ready,
made, lo.,cost and c-stomiAa0le operating system for high,tech
devices.'2/) AndroidFs open nat-re has enco-raged a large comm-nity
of developers and enth-siasts to -se the open,so-rce code as a
fo-ndation for comm-nity,driven proCects, .hich add ne. feat-res for
advanced -sers'24) or 0ring Android to devices .hich .ere officially
released r-nning other operating systems. ;he operating systemFs
s-ccess has made it a target for patent litigation as part of the so,called
Ismartphone .arsI 0et.een technology companies.'27) '28)
Contents
( "istory
2 Feat-res
2.( &nterface
2.2 Applications
2./ :emory management
/ "ard.are
4 @evelopment
4.( %pdate sched-le
4.2 3in-+ kernel
4./ *oft.are stack
4.4 !pen,so-rce comm-nity
7 *ec-rity and privacy
8 3icensing
8.( 3everage over man-fact-rers
9 =eception
9.( ;a0lets
9.2 :arket share
9./ <latform -sage
9.4 Application piracy
2 3egal iss-es
5 %se o-tside of smartphones and ta0lets
(1 *ee also
(( =eferences
(2 J+ternal links
"istory
*ee alsoK Android version history
Android, &nc. .as fo-nded in <alo Alto, California in !cto0er 211/ 0y
Andy =-0in (co,fo-nder of @anger),'29) =ich :iner(co,fo-nder of
Wildfire Comm-nications, &nc.),'22) ?ick *ears'25) (once B< at ;,
:o0ile), and Chris White (headed design and interface development at
We0;B)'2() to develop, in =-0inFs .ords Ismarter mo0ile devices that
are more a.are of its o.nerFs location and preferencesI.'2() ;he early
intentions of the company .ere to develop an advanced operating
system for digital cameras, .hen it .as realiAed that the market for the
devices .as not large eno-gh, and diverted their efforts to prod-cing a
smartphone operating system to rival those of *ym0ian and Windo.s
:o0ile.'/1) @espite the past accomplishments of the fo-nders and
early employees, Android &nc. operated secretly, revealing only that it
.as .orking on soft.are for mo0ile phones.'2() ;hat same year,
=-0in ran o-t of money. *teve <erlman, a close friend of =-0in,
0ro-ght him L(1,111 in cash in an envelope and ref-sed a stake in the
company.'/()
oogle acH-ired Android &nc. on A-g-st (9, 21176 key employees of
Android &nc., incl-ding =-0in, :iner, and White, stayed at the
company after the acH-isition.'2()?ot m-ch .as kno.n a0o-t Android
&nc. at the time, 0-t many ass-med that oogle .as planning to enter
the mo0ile phone market .ith this move.'2() At oogle, the team led
0y =-0in developed a mo0ile device platform po.ered 0y the 3in-+
kernel. oogle marketed the platform to handset makers and carriers
on the promise of providing a fle+i0le, -pgrada0le system. oogle had
lined -p a series of hard.are component and soft.are partners and
signaled to carriers that it .as open to vario-s degrees of cooperation
on their part.'/2) '//) '/4)
*pec-lation a0o-t oogleFs intention to enter the mo0ile
comm-nications market contin-ed to 0-ild thro-gh @ecem0er 2118.
'/7) An earlier prototype codenamed I*oonerI had a closer
resem0lance to a >lack>erry phone, .ith no to-chscreen, and a
physical, MWJ=;N key0oard, 0-t .as later re,engineered to s-pport a
to-chscreen, to compete .ith other anno-nced devices s-ch as the
2118 3 <rada and 2119 Apple i<hone.'/8) '/9) &n *eptem0er 2119,
&nformationWeek covered anJval-eserve st-dy reporting that oogle
had filed several patent applications in the area of mo0ile telephony.
'/2) '/5)
Jric *chmidt, Andy =-0in and "-go >arraat a press conference for
the oogleFs ?e+-s 9 ta0let.
!n ?ovem0er 7, 2119, the !pen "andset Alliance, a consorti-m of
technology companies incl-ding oogle, device man-fact-rers s-ch as
";C, *ony and *ams-ng, .ireless carriers s-ch as *print ?e+tel and
;,:o0ile, and chipset makers s-ch as M-alcomm and ;e+as
&nstr-ments, -nveiled itself, .ith a goal to develop open standards for
mo0ile devices.'22) ;hat day, Android .as -nveiled as its first
prod-ct, a mo0ile device platform 0-ilt on the 3in-+ kernel version
2.8.27.'22) '41) ;he first commercially availa0le smartphone r-nning
Android .as the ";C @ream, released on !cto0er 22, 2112.'4()
&n 21(1, oogle la-nched its ?e+-s series of devices D a line of
smartphones and ta0lets r-nning the Android operating system, and
0-ilt 0y man-fact-ring partners. ";C colla0orated .ith oogle to
release the first ?e+-s smartphone,'42)the ?e+-s !ne. oogle has
since -pdated the series .ith ne.er devices, s-ch as the ?e+-s 7
phone (made 0y 3) and the ?e+-s 9 ta0let (made 0y As-s). oogle
releases the ?e+-s phones and ta0lets to act as their flagship Android
devices, demonstrating AndroidFs latest soft.are and hard.are
feat-res. !n :arch (/, 21(/ 3arry <age anno-nced in a 0log post that
Andy =-0in had moved from the Android division to take on ne.
proCects at oogle.'4/) "e .as replaced 0y *-ndar <ichai, .ho also
contin-es his role as the head of oogleFs Chrome division,'44) .hich
develops Chrome !*.
*ince 2112, Android has seen n-mero-s -pdates .hich have
incrementally improved the operating system, adding ne. feat-res and
fi+ing 0-gs in previo-s releases. Jach maCor release is named in
alpha0etical order after a dessert or s-gary treat6 for e+ample, version
(.7 C-pcake .as follo.ed 0y (.8 @on-t. ;he latest released version,
4.4.4 4it4at, appeared as a sec-rity,only -pdate6 it .as released on
$-ne (5, 21(4, shortly after the release of 4.4./.'7) '47) '48)
From 21(1 to 21(/, "-go >arra served as prod-ct spokesperson for
the Android team, representing Android at 0oth press conferences and
oogle &/!, oogleOs ann-al developer,foc-sed conference. >arraOs
prod-ct involvement incl-ded the entire Android ecosystem of
soft.are and hard.are, incl-ding "oneycom0, &ce Cream *and.ich,
$elly >ean and 4it4at operating system la-nches, the ?e+-s 4 and
?e+-s 7 smartphones, the ?e+-s 9 '49) and ?e+-s (1 ta0lets,'42) and
other related prod-cts s-ch as oogle ?o. '45) and oogle Boice
*earch, oogleOs speech recognition prod-ct compara0le to AppleOs
*iri.'45) &n 21(/ >arra left the Android team for Chinese smartphone
maker Piaomi.'71)
Feat-res
*ee alsoK 3ist of feat-res in Android
&nterface
?otifications are accessed 0y sliding from the top of the display6
individ-al notifications can 0e dismissed 0y sliding them a.ay, and
may contain additional f-nctions (s-ch as on the Imissed callI
notification seen here).
AndroidFs defa-lt -ser interface is 0ased on direct manip-lation,'7()
-sing to-ch inp-ts, that loosely correspond to real,.orld actions, like
s.iping, tapping, pinching, and reverse pinching to manip-late on,
screen o0Cects, and a virt-al key0oard.'7();he response to -ser inp-t is
designed to 0e immediate and provides a fl-id to-ch interface, often
-sing the vi0ration capa0ilities of the device to provide haptic
feed0ack to the -ser. &nternal hard.are s-ch as accelerometers,
gyroscopes andpro+imity sensors '72) are -sed 0y some applications to
respond to additional -ser actions, for e+ample adC-sting the screen
from portrait to landscape depending on ho. the device is oriented, or
allo.ing the -ser to steer a vehicle in a racing game 0y rotating the
device, sim-lating control of a steering .heel.'7/)
Android devices 0oot to the homescreen, the primary navigation and
information point on the device, .hich is similar to thedesktop fo-nd
on <Cs. Android homescreens are typically made -p of app icons and
.idgets6 app icons la-nch the associated app, .hereas .idgets display
live, a-to,-pdating content s-ch as the .eather forecast, the -serFs
email in0o+, or a ne.s ticker directly on the homescreen.'74) A
homescreen may 0e made -p of several pages that the -ser can s.ipe
0ack and forth 0et.een, tho-gh AndroidFs homescreen interface is
heavily c-stomisa0le, allo.ing the -ser to adC-st the look and feel of
the device to their tastes.'77) ;hird,party apps availa0le on oogle
<lay and other app stores can e+tensively re,theme the homescreen,
and even mimic the look of other operating systems, s-ch as Windo.s
<hone.'78) :ost man-fact-rers, and some .ireless carriers, c-stomise
the look and feel of their Android devices to differentiate themselves
from their competitors.'79)
<resent along the top of the screen is a stat-s 0ar, sho.ing information
a0o-t the device and its connectivity. ;his stat-s 0ar can 0e Ip-lledI
do.n to reveal a notification screen .here apps display important
information or -pdates, s-ch as a ne.ly received email or *:* te+t, in
a .ay that does not immediately interr-pt or inconvenience the -ser.
'72) ?otifications are persistent -ntil read (0y tapping, .hich opens
the relevant app) or dismissed 0y sliding it off the screen. >eginning
on Android 4.(, Ie+panded notificationsI can display e+panded details
or additional f-nctionality6 for instance, a m-sic player can display
play0ack controls, and a Imissed callI notification provides 0-ttons for
calling 0ack or sending the caller an *:* message.'75)
Android provides the a0ility to r-n applications .hich change the
defa-lt la-ncher and hence the appearance and e+ternally visi0le
0ehavio-r of Android. ;hese appearance changes incl-de a m-lti,page
dock or no dock, and many more changes to f-ndamental feat-res of
the -ser interface.'81)
Applications
*ee alsoK Android soft.are development and oogle <lay
Android has a gro.ing selection of third party applications, .hich can
0e acH-ired 0y -sers either thro-gh an app store s-ch as oogle <lay
or the AmaAon Appstore, or 0y do.nloading and installing the
applicationFs A<4 file from a third,party site.'8() oogle <lay *tore
allo.s -sers to 0ro.se, do.nload and -pdate applications p-0lished
0y oogle and third,party developers, and the <lay *tore client
application is pre,installed on devices that comply .ith oogleFs
compati0ility reH-irements and license the oogle :o0ile *ervices
soft.are.'82) '8/) ;he client application filters the list of availa0le
applications do.n to those compati0le .ith the -serFs device, and
developers may restrict their applications to partic-lar carriers or
co-ntries for 0-siness reasons.'84) <-rchases of -n.anted applications
can 0e ref-nded .ithin (7 min-tes of the time of do.nload,'87) and
some carriers offer direct carrier 0illing for oogle <lay application
p-rchases, .here the cost of the application is added to the -serFs
monthly 0ill.'88)
As of $-ly 21(/, there are more than one million applications availa0le
for Android in <lay *tore.'89) As of :ay 21(/, 42 0illion apps have
0een installed from oogle <lay store'82) and in $-ly 21(/, 71 0illion
apps .ere installed.'85)
Applications (IappsI), that e+tend the f-nctionality of devices, are
developed primarily in the $ava programming lang-age'91) -sing the
Android soft.are developmentkit (*@4). ;he *@4 incl-des a
comprehensive set of development tools,'9() incl-ding a de0-gger,
soft.are li0raries, a handset em-lator 0ased on MJ:%,
doc-mentation, sample code, and t-torials. ;he officially s-pported
integrated development environment (&@J) is Jclipse -sing the
Android @evelopment ;ools (A@;) pl-gin. !ther development tools
are availa0le, incl-ding a ?ative @evelopment 4it for applications or
e+tensions in C or C##, oogle App &nventor, a vis-al environment
for novice programmers, and vario-s cross platform mo0ile .e0
applications frame.orks.
&t .as anno-nced in $an-ary 21(4 that Chrome ";:37 .e0
applications sho-ld 0ecome availa0le, -sing a compati0ility layer from
the open so-rce Apache Cordovaframe.ork to allo. s-ch applications
to 0e .rapped in a native application shell, ena0ling their distri0-tion
over oogle <lay.'92)
:emory management
*ince Android devices are -s-ally 0attery,po.ered, Android is
designed to manage memory (=A:) to keep po.er cons-mption at a
minim-m, in contrast to desktop operating systems .hich generally
ass-me they are connected to -nlimited mains electricity. When an
Android app is no longer in -se, the system .ill a-tomatically s-spend
it in memory D .hile the app is still technically IopenI, s-spended
apps cons-me no reso-rces (for e+ample, 0attery po.er or processing
po.er) and sit idly in the 0ackgro-nd -ntil needed again. ;his has the
d-al 0enefit of increasing the general responsiveness of Android
devices, since applications do not need to 0e closed and reopened from
scratch each time, and also ens-ring that 0ackgro-nd applications do
not cons-me po.er needlessly.'9/) '94)
Android manages the apps stored in memory a-tomaticallyK .hen
memory is lo., the system .ill 0egin killing apps and processes that
have 0een inactive for a .hile, in reverse order since they .ere last
-sed (oldest first). ;his process is designed to 0e invisi0le to the -ser,
s-ch that -sers do not need to manage memory or the killing of apps
themselves.'97) '98) "o.ever, conf-sion over Android memory
management has res-lted in third,party task killers 0ecoming pop-lar
on oogle <laystore6 these third,party task killers are generally
regarded as doing more harm than good.'99)
"ard.are
*ee alsoK Android hard.are reH-irements
;he main hard.are platform for Android is the /2,0it A=:v9
architect-re. ;he Android,+28 proCect provides s-pport for the +28
architect-re,'5) and oogle ;B -ses a special +28 version of Android.
&n 21(2, &ntel processors 0egan to appear on more mainstream Android
platforms, s-ch as phones.'92) &n 21(/, Freescaleanno-nced s-pport
for Android on its i.:P processor, specifically the i.:P7P and
i.:P8P series.'95)
As of ?ovem0er 21(/, c-rrent versions of Android recommend at least
7(2 :> of =A:'21) (.ith /41 :> as a reH-irement'2()), and reH-ire
a /2,0it A=:v9, :&<* or+28 architect-re processor (latter t.o
thro-gh -nofficial ports),'5) '22) together .ith an !pen3 J* 2.1
compati0le graphics processing -nit (<%).'2/) Android s-pports
!pen3 J* (.(, 2.1 and /.1. *ome applications e+plicitly reH-ire a
certain version of the !pen3 J*, th-s s-ita0le <% hard.are is
reH-ired to r-n s-ch applications.'2/)
&n addition to r-nning directly on +28,0ased hard.are, Android can
also 0e r-n on +28 architect-re 0y -sing an Android em-lator .hich is
part of the Android *@4, or 0y -sing >l-e*tacks '24) '27) or Andy.'28)
Android devices incorporate many optional hard.are components,
incl-ding still or video cameras, <*, orientation sensors, dedicated
gaming controls,accelerometers, gyroscopes, 0arometers,
magnetometers, pro+imity sensors, press-re sensors, thermometers,
and to-chscreens. *ome hard.are components are not reH-ired, 0-t
0ecame standard in certain classes of devices, s-ch as smartphones,
and additional reH-irements apply if they are present. *ome other
hard.are .as initially reH-ired, 0-t those reH-irements have 0een
rela+ed or eliminated altogether. For e+ample, as Android .as
developed initially as a phone !*, hard.are s-ch as microphones .ere
reH-ired, .hile over time the phone f-nction 0ecame optional.'84)
Android -sed to reH-ire an a-tofoc-s camera, .hich .as rela+ed to
afi+ed,foc-s camera'84) if it is even present at all, since the camera
.as dropped as a reH-irement entirely .hen Android started to 0e -sed
on set,top 0o+es.
@evelopment
Android green fig-re, ne+t to its original packaging.
Android is developed in private 0y oogle -ntil the latest changes and
-pdates are ready to 0e released, at .hich point the so-rce code is
made availa0le p-0licly.'29) ;his so-rce code .ill only r-n .itho-t
modification on select devices, -s-ally the?e+-s series of devices. ;he
so-rce code is, in t-rn, adapted 0y !J:s to r-n on their hard.are.'22)
AndroidFs so-rce code does not contain the often proprietary device
drivers that are needed for certain hard.are components.'25)
;he green Android logo .as designed for oogle in 2119 0y graphic
designer &rina >lok. ;he design team .as tasked .ith a proCect to
create a -niversally identifia0le icon .ith the specific incl-sion of a
ro0ot in the final design. After n-mero-s design developments 0ased
on science,fiction and space movies, the team event-ally so-ght
inspiration from the h-man sym0ol on restroom doors and modified
the fig-re into a ro0ot shape. As Android is open,so-rced, it .as
agreed that the logo sho-ld 0e like.ise, and since its la-nch the green
logo has 0een reinterpreted into co-ntless variations on the original
design.'51)
%pdate sched-le
*ee alsoK Android version history
oogle provides maCor -pgrades, incremental in nat-re, to Android
every si+ to nine months, .hich most devices are capa0le of receiving
over the air.'5() ;he latest maCor release is Android 4.4 I4it4atI.'7)
Compared to its chief rival mo0ile operating system, namely i!*,
Android -pdates are typically slo. to reach act-al devices. For devices
not -nder the ?e+-s 0rand, -pdates often arrive months from the time
the given version is officially released.'52) ;his is partly d-e to the
e+tensive variation in hard.are of Android devices, to .hich each
-pgrade m-st 0e specifically tailored, as the official oogle so-rce
code only r-ns on their flagship ?e+-s devices. <orting Android to
specific hard.are is a time, and reso-rce,cons-ming process for
device man-fact-rers, .ho prioritiAe their ne.est devices and often
leave older ones 0ehind.'52) "ence, older smartphones are freH-ently
not -pdated if the man-fact-rer decides it is not .orth their time,
regardless of .hether the phone is capa0le of r-nning the -pdate. ;his
pro0lem is compo-nded .hen man-fact-rers c-stomiAe Android .ith
their o.n interface and apps, .hich m-st 0e reapplied to each ne.
release. Additional delays can 0e introd-ced 0y .ireless carriers .ho,
after receiving -pdates from man-fact-rers, f-rther c-stomiAe and
0rand Android to their needs and cond-ct e+tensive testing on their
net.orks 0efore sending the -pgrade o-t to -sers.'52)
;he lack of after,sale s-pport from man-fact-rers and carriers has
0een .idely criticiAed 0y cons-mer gro-ps and the technology media.
'5/) '54) *ome commentators have noted that the ind-stry has a
financial incentive not to -pgrade their devices, as the lack of -pdates
for e+isting devices f-els the p-rchase of ne.er ones,'57)an attit-de
descri0ed as Iins-ltingI.'54) ;he -ardian has complained that the
method of distri0-tion for -pdates is complicated only 0eca-se
man-fact-rers and carriers have designed it that .ay.'54) &n 21((,
oogle partnered .ith a n-m0er of ind-stry players to anno-nce an
IAndroid %pdate AllianceI, pledging to deliver timely -pdates for
every device for (2 months after its release6'58) ho.ever, there has not
0een another official .ord a0o-t that alliance.'52) '59)
&n 21(2, oogle 0egan deco-pling certain aspects of the operating
system (partic-larly core applications) so they co-ld 0e -pdated
thro-gh oogle <lay *tore, independently of Android itself. !ne of
these components, oogle <lay *ervices, is a closed,so-rce system,
level process providing A<&s for oogle services, installed
a-tomatically on nearly all devices r-nning Android version 2.2 and
higher. With these changes, oogle can add ne. operating system
f-nctionality thro-gh <lay *ervices and application -pdates .itho-t
having to distri0-te an -pgrade to the operating system itself. As a
res-lt, Android 4.2 and 4./ contained relatively fe.er -ser,facing
changes, foc-sing more on minor changes and platform improvements.
'/) '52)
3in-+ kernel
Android consists of a kernel 0ased on the 3in-+ kernel long,term
s-pport (3;*) 0ranch. As of $an-ary 21(4, c-rrent Android versions
are 0-ilt -pon 3in-+ kernel /.4 or ne.er,'55) '(11) 0-t the specific
kernel version n-m0er depends on the act-al Android device and
chipset.'(1() '(12) '(1/) Android has -sed vario-s kernels since its first
2.8.27.'41)
AndroidFs 3in-+ kernel has f-rther architect-ral changes that are
implemented 0y oogle o-tside the typical 3in-+ kernel development
cycle, s-ch as the incl-sion of components like >inder, ashmem,
pmem, logger, .akelocks, and different o-t,of,memory (!!:)
handling.'(14) '(17) '(18) Certain feat-res that oogle contri0-ted
0ack to the 3in-+ kernel, nota0ly a po.er management feat-re called
I.akelocksI, .ere reCected 0y mainline kernel developers partly
0eca-se they felt that oogle did not sho. any intent to maintain its
o.n code.'(19) '(12) '(15) oogle anno-nced in April 21(1 that they
.o-ld hire t.o employees to .ork .ith the 3in-+ kernel comm-nity,
'((1) 0-t reg 4roah,"artman, the c-rrent 3in-+ kernel maintainer
for the sta0le 0ranch, said in @ecem0er 21(1 that he .as concerned
that oogle .as no longer trying to get their code changes incl-ded in
mainstream 3in-+.'(12) *ome oogle Android developers hinted that
Ithe Android team .as getting fed -p .ith the process,I 0eca-se they
.ere a small team and had more -rgent .ork to do on Android.'((()
&n A-g-st 21((, 3in-s ;orvalds said that Ievent-ally Android and
3in-+ .o-ld come 0ack to a common kernel, 0-t it .ill pro0a0ly not
0e for fo-r to five yearsI.'((2) &n @ecem0er 21((, reg 4roah,
"artman anno-nced the start of Android :ainlining <roCect, .hich
aims to p-t some Android drivers, patches and feat-res 0ack into the
3in-+ kernel, starting in 3in-+ /./.'((/) 3in-+ incl-ded the a-tosleep
and .akelocks capa0ilities in the /.7 kernel, after many previo-s
attempts at merger. ;he interfaces are the same 0-t the -pstream 3in-+
implementation allo.s for t.o different s-spend modesK to memory
(the traditional s-spend that Android -ses), and to disk (hi0ernate, as it
is kno.n on the desktop).'((4) oogle maintains a p-0lic code
repository that contains their e+perimental .ork to re,0ase Android off
the latest sta0le 3in-+ versions.'((7) '((8)
;he flash storage on Android devices is split into several partitions,
s-ch as /system for the operating system itself, and /data for -ser data
and application installations.'((9) &n contrast to desktop 3in-+
distri0-tions, Android device o.ners are not given root access to the
operating system and sensitive partitions s-ch as /system are read,only.
"o.ever, root access can 0e o0tained 0y e+ploiting sec-rity fla.s in
Android, .hich is -sed freH-ently 0y the open,so-rce comm-nity to
enhance the capa0ilities of their devices,'((2) 0-t also 0y malicio-s
parties to install vir-ses and mal.are.'((5)
Android is a 3in-+ distri0-tion according to the 3in-+ Fo-ndation,
'(21) oogleFs open,so-rce chief Chris @i>ona,'(2() and several
Co-rnalists.'(22) '(2/) !thers, s-ch as oogle engineer <atrick >rady,
say that Android is not 3in-+ in the traditional %ni+,like 3in-+
distri0-tion sense6 Android does not incl-de the ?% C 3i0rary and
some of other components typically fo-nd in 3in-+ distri0-tions.'(24)
*oft.are stack
AndroidFs architect-re diagram
;his section reH-ires
e+pansion .(@ecem0er 21(/)
!n top of the 3in-+ kernel, there are the middle.are, li0raries and
A<&s .ritten in C, and application soft.are r-nning on an application
frame.ork .hich incl-des $ava,compati0le li0raries 0ased on Apache
"armony. Android -ses the @alvik virt-al machine .ith C-st,in,time
compilation to r-n @alvik Ide+,codeI (@alvik J+ec-ta0le), .hich is
-s-ally translated from the $ava 0ytecode.'(27) '(28) Android 4.4 also
s-pports ne. e+perimental r-ntime virt-al machine, A=;, .hich is not
ena0led 0y defa-lt.'(29)
AndroidFs standard C li0rary, >ionic, .as developed 0y oogle
specifically for Android, as a derivation of the >*@Fs standard C
li0rary code. >ionic has several maCor feat-res specific to the 3in-+
kernel, and its development contin-es independently of other AndroidFs
so-rce code 0ases. ;he main 0enefits of -sing >ionic instead of the
?% C 3i0rary (gli0c) or -Cli0c are its different licensing model,
smaller r-ntime footprint, and optimiAation for lo.,freH-ency C<%s.
'(28)
Aiming for a more s-ita0le licensing model, to.ard the end of 21(2
oogle s.itched the >l-etooth stack in Android from the <3,
licensed >l-eQ to the Apache,licensed >l-e@roid.'(22)
Android does not have a native P Windo. *ystem 0y defa-lt, nor does
it s-pport the f-ll set of standard?% li0raries. ;his made it diffic-lt
to port e+isting 3in-+ applications or li0raries to Android,'(24) -ntil
version r7 of the Android ?ative @evelopment 4it 0ro-ght s-pport for
applications .ritten completely in C or C##.'(25) 3i0raries .ritten in
C may also 0e -sed in $ava application 0y inCection of a small $ava
shim and -sage of the $?&.'(/1)
!pen,so-rce comm-nity
Android has an active comm-nity of developers and enth-siasts .ho
-se the Android !pen *o-rce <roCect (A!*<) so-rce code to develop
and distri0-te their o.n modified versions of the operating system.
'(/() ;hese comm-nity,developed releases often 0ring ne. feat-res
and -pdates to devices faster than thro-gh the official
man-fact-rer/carrier channels, al0eit .itho-t as e+tensive testing or
H-ality ass-rance6'24) provide contin-ed s-pport for older devices that
no longer receive official -pdates6 or 0ring Android to devices that
.ere officially released r-nning other operating systems, s-ch as the
"< ;o-ch<ad. Comm-nity releases often come pre,rooted and contain
modifications -ns-ita0le for non,technical -sers, s-ch as the a0ility to
overclock or over/-ndervolt the deviceFs processor.'(/2)
Cyanogen:od is the most .idely -sed comm-nity firm.are,'(//) and
acts as a fo-ndation for n-mero-s others.
"istorically, device man-fact-rers and mo0ile carriers have typically
0een -ns-pportive of third,party firm.are development.
:an-fact-rers e+press concern a0o-t improper f-nctioning of devices
r-nning -nofficial soft.are and the s-pport costs res-lting from this.
'(/4) :oreover, modified firm.ares s-ch as Cyanogen:od
sometimes offer feat-res, s-ch as tethering, for .hich carriers .o-ld
other.ise charge a premi-m. As a res-lt, technical o0stacles incl-ding
locked 0ootloaders and restricted access to root permissions are
common in many devices. "o.ever, as comm-nity,developed
soft.are has gro.n more pop-lar, and follo.ing a statement 0y the
3i0rarian of Congress in the %nited *tates that permits the
ICail0reakingI of mo0ile devices,'(/7) man-fact-rers and carriers have
softened their position regarding third party development, .ith some,
incl-ding ";C,'(/4) :otorola,'(/8) *ams-ng '(/9) '(/2) and *ony,
'(/5) providing s-pport and enco-raging development. As a res-lt of
this, over time the need to circ-mvent hard.are restrictions to install
-nofficial firm.are has lessened as an increasing n-m0er of devices
are shipped .ith -nlocked or -nlocka0le 0ootloaders, similar to ?e+-s
series of phones, altho-gh -s-ally reH-iring that -sers .aive their
devicesF .arranties to do so.'(/4)"o.ever, despite man-fact-rer
acceptance, some carriers in the %* still reH-ire that phones are locked
do.n, fr-strating developers and c-stomers.'(41) '(41)
*ec-rity and privacy
*ee alsoK :o0ile sec-rity
<ermissions are -sed to control a partic-lar applicationFs access to
system f-nctions.
Android applications r-n in a sand0o+, an isolated area of the system
that does not have access to the rest of the systemFs reso-rces, -nless
access permissions are e+plicitly granted 0y the -ser .hen the
application is installed. >efore installing an application, <lay
*toredisplays all reH-ired permissionsK a game may need to ena0le
vi0ration or save data to an *@ card, for e+ample, 0-t sho-ld not need
to read *:* messages or access the phone0ook. After revie.ing these
permissions, the -ser can choose to accept or ref-se them, installing
the application only if they accept.'(4() ;he sand0o+ing and
permissions system lessens the impact of v-lnera0ilities and 0-gs in
applications, 0-t developer conf-sion and limited doc-mentation has
res-lted in applications ro-tinely reH-esting -nnecessary permissions,
red-cing its effectiveness.'(42) oogle has no. p-shed an -pdate to
Android Berify Apps feat-re, .hich .ill no. r-n in 0ackgro-nd to
detect malicio-s processes and crack them do.n.'(4/)
;he IApp !psI privacy and application permissions control system,
-sed for internal development and testing 0y oogle, .as introd-ced
in oogleFs Android 4./ release for the ?e+-s devices. &nitially hidden,
the feat-re .as discovered p-0licly6 it allo.ed -sers to install a
management application and approve or deny permission reH-ests
individ-ally for each of the applications installed on a device.'(44)
Access to the App !ps .as later restricted 0y oogle starting .ith
Android 4.4.2 .ith an e+planation that the feat-re .as accidentally
ena0led and not intended for end,-sers6 for s-ch a decision oogle
received criticism from the Jlectronic Frontier Fo-ndation.'(47) '(48)
'(49) &ndivid-al application permissions management, thro-gh the
App !ps or third,party tools, is c-rrently only posssi0le .ith root
access to the device.'(42) '(45)
=esearch from sec-rity company ;rend :icro lists premi-m service
a0-se as the most common type of Android mal.are, .here te+t
messages are sent from infected phones to premi-m,rate telephone
n-m0ers .itho-t the consent or even kno.ledge of the -ser.'(71)
!ther mal.are displays -n.anted and intr-sive adverts on the device,
or sends personal information to -na-thorised third parties.'(71)
*ec-rity threats on Android are reportedly gro.ing e+ponentially6
ho.ever, oogle engineers have arg-ed that the mal.are and vir-s
threat on Android is 0eing e+aggerated 0y sec-rity companies for
commercial reasons,'(7() '(72) and have acc-sed the sec-rity ind-stry
of playing on fears to sell vir-s protection soft.are to -sers. '(7()
oogle maintains that dangero-s mal.are is act-ally e+tremely rare,
'(72) and a s-rvey cond-cted 0y F,*ec-re sho.ed that only 1.7E of
Android mal.are reported had come from the oogle <lay store.'(7/)
oogle c-rrently -ses oogle >o-ncer mal.are scanner to .atch over
and scan the oogle <lay store apps.'(74) &t is intended to flag -p
s-spicio-s apps and .arn -sers of any potential threat .ith an
application 0efore they do.nload it.'(77) Android version 4.2 $elly
>ean .as released in 21(2 .ith enhanced sec-rity feat-res, incl-ding a
mal.are scanner 0-ilt into the system, .hich .orks in com0ination
.ith oogle <lay 0-t can scan apps installed from third party so-rces
as .ell, and an alert system .hich notifies the -ser .hen an app tries
to send a premi-m,rate te+t message, 0locking the message -nless the
-ser e+plicitly a-thorises it.'(78)*everal sec-rity firms, s-ch as
3ooko-t :o0ile *ec-rity,'(79) AB ;echnologies,'(72) and :cAfee,
'(75) have released antivir-s soft.are for Android devices. ;his
soft.are is ineffective as sand0o+ing also applies to s-ch applications,
limiting their a0ility to scan the deeper system for threats.'(81)
Android smartphones have the a0ility to report the location of Wi,Fi
access points, enco-ntered as phone -sers move aro-nd, to 0-ild
data0ases containing the physical locations of h-ndreds of millions of
s-ch access points. ;hese data0ases form electronic maps to locate
smartphones, allo.ing them to r-n apps likeFo-rsH-are, oogle
3atit-de, Face0ook <laces, and to deliver location,0ased ads.'(8()
;hird party monitoring soft.are s-ch as ;aint@roid,'(82) an academic
research,f-nded proCect, can, in some cases, detect .hen personal
information is 0eing sent from applications to remote servers.'(8/) &n
A-g-st 21(/, oogle released Android @evice :anager (A@:), a
component that allo.s -sers to remotely track, locate, and .ipe their
Android device thro-gh a .e0 interface.'52) '(84) &n @ecem0er 21(/,
oogle released A@: as an Android application on the oogle <lay
store, .here it is availa0le to devices r-nning Android version 2.2 and
higher.'(87) '(88)
;he open,so-rce nat-re of Android allo.s sec-rity contractors to take
e+isting devices and adapt them for highly sec-re -ses. For e+ample
*ams-ng has .orked .ith eneral @ynamics thro-gh their !pen
4ernel 3a0s acH-isition to re0-ild $elly >ean on top of their hardened
microvisor for the I4no+I proCect.'(89) '(82)
As part of the 0roader 21(/ mass s-rveillance disclos-res it .as
revealed in *eptem0er 21(/ that the American and >ritish intelligence
agencies, the ?ational *ec-rity Agency (?*A) and overnment
Comm-nications "eadH-arters (C"M) respectively, have access to
the -ser data on i<hone, >lack>erry, and Android devices. ;hey are
reportedly a0le to read almost all smartphone information, incl-ding
*:*, location, emails, and notes.'(85) F-rther reports in $an-ary 21(4
revealed the intelligence agencies capa0ilities to intercept the personal
information transmitted across the internet 0y social net.orks and
other pop-lar apps s-ch as Angry >irds, .hich collect personal
information of their -sers for advertising and other commercial
reasons. C"M has, according to ;he -ardian a .iki,style g-ide of
different apps and advertising net.orks, and the different data that can
0e siphoned from each.'(91) 3ater that .eek, the Finnish Angry >irds
developer=ovio anno-nced that it .as reconsidering its relationships
.ith its advertising platforms in the light of these revelations, and
called -pon the .ider ind-stry to do the same.'(9()
;he doc-ments revealed a f-rther effort 0y the intelligence agencies to
intercept oogle :aps searches and H-eries s-0mitted from Android
and other smartphones to collect location information in 0-lk.'(91)
;he ?*A and C"M insist their activities are in compliance .ith all
relevant domestic and international la.s, altho-gh the -ardian stated
Ithe latest disclos-res co-ld also add to mo-nting p-0lic concern a0o-t
ho. the technology sector collects and -ses information, especially for
those o-tside the %*, .ho enCoy fe.er privacy protections than
Americans.I'(91)
3icensing
From left to rightK ";C @ream ((), ?e+-s !ne, ?e+-s *, ala+y
?e+-s
;he so-rce code for Android is open so-rce6 it is developed in private
0y oogle, .ith the so-rce code released p-0licly .hen a ne. version
of Android is released. oogle p-0lishes most of the code (incl-ding
net.ork and telephony stacks) -nder the non,copyleft Apache 3icense
version 2.1. .hich allo.s modification and redistri0-tion.'(92) '(9/)
;he license does not grant rights to the IAndroidI trademark, so device
man-fact-rers and .ireless carriers have to license it from oogle
-nder individ-al contracts. Associated 3in-+ kernel changes are
released -nder the copyleft ?% eneral <-0lic 3icense version 2,
developed 0y the !pen "andset Alliance, .ith the so-rce code
p-0licly availa0le at all times. ;ypically, oogle colla0orates .ith a
hard.are man-fact-rer to prod-ce a flagship device (part of the ?e+-s
series) feat-ring the ne. version of Android, then makes the so-rce
code availa0le after that device has 0een released.'(94) ;he only
Android release .hich .as not immediately made availa0le as so-rce
code .as the ta0let,only /.1 "oneycom0 release. ;he reason,
according to Andy =-0in in an official Android 0log post, .as 0eca-se
"oneycom0 .as r-shed for prod-ction of the :otorola Poom,'(97)
and they did not .ant third parties creating a Ireally 0ad -ser
e+perienceI 0y attempting to p-t onto smartphones a version of
Android intended for ta0lets.'(98)
While all of Android itself is open so-rce soft.are, most Android
devices ship .ith a large amo-nt of proprietary soft.are, s-ch as
oogle :o0ile *ervices, .hich incl-des apps s-ch as oogle <lay
*tore, oogle *earch, and oogle <lay *ervicesGa soft.are layer
.hich provides A<&s that integrate .ith oogle,provided services,
among others. ;hese apps m-st 0e licensed from oogle 0y device
makers, and can only 0e shipped on devices .hich meet its
compati0ility g-idelines and other reH-irements.'82) '52) C-stom,
certified distri0-tions of Android prod-ced 0y man-fact-rers (s-ch as
;o-chWiA and ";C *ense) may also replace certain stock Android
apps .ith their o.n proprietary variants and add additional soft.are
not incl-ded in the stock Android operating system.'/) ;here may also
0e I0inary 0lo0I drivers reH-ired for certain hard.are components in
the device.'/) '25)
*everal stock apps in AndroidFs open so-rce code -sed 0y previo-s
versions (s-ch as *earch, :-sic, and Calendar) have also 0een
effectively deprecated 0y oogle, .ith development having shifted to
ne.er 0-t proprietary versions distri0-ted and -pdated thro-gh <lay
*tore, s-ch as oogle *earch and oogle <lay :-sic. While these
older apps remain in AndroidFs so-rce code, they have no longer
received any maCor -pdates. Additionally, proprietary variants of the
stock Camera and allery apps also incl-de certain f-nctions (s-ch as
<hotosphere panoramas and oogle# al0-m integration) that are
e+cl-ded from open so-rce versions (ho.ever, they have yet to 0e
completely a0andoned). *imilarly, the ?e+-s 7 -ses a non,free
variation of Android 4.4Fs home screen that is em0edded directly
.ithin the oogle *earch app, adding voice,activated search and the
a0ility to access oogle ?o. as a page on the home screen itself.
Altho-gh an -pdate for oogle *earch app containing the relevant
components .as released thro-gh oogle <lay for all Android devices,
the ne. home screen reH-ired an additional st-0 application to
f-nction, and .as not provided in Android 4.4 -pdates for any other
devices (.hich still -sed the e+isting home screen from Android
version 4./). ;he st-0 application .as officially released on <lay *tore
as oogle ?o. 3a-ncher in Fe0r-ary 21(4, initially for ?e+-s and
oogle <lay Jdition devices .ith Android version 4.4.'/) '(99) '(92)
'(95)
=ichard *tallman and the Free *oft.are Fo-ndation have 0een critical
of Android and have recommended the -sage of alternatives s-ch as
=eplicant, 0eca-se drivers and firm.are vital for the proper
f-nctioning of Android devices are -s-ally proprietary, and 0eca-se
oogle <lay can forci0ly install or deinstall apps and invites non,free
soft.are.'(21) '(2()
3everage over man-fact-rers
oogle :o0ile *ervices soft.are, along .ith Android trademarks, can
only 0e licensed 0y hard.are man-fact-rers for devices that meet
oogleFs compati0ility standards contained .ithin Android
Compati0ility @efinition @oc-ment. ;h-s, forks of Android that make
maCor changes to the !* itself, s-ch as AmaAonFs Fire !*(-sed on the
4indle Fire line of ta0lets, and oriented to.ards AmaAon services),
:icrosoftFs ?okia P *oft.are <latform (a fork -sed 0y the ?okia P
family, .hich is oriented to.ards :icrosoft services), or other forks
.hich e+cl-de oogle apps d-e to censorship iss-es (s-ch as in
China),'(22) '(2/) do not incl-de any of oogleFs non,free
components, are incompati0le .ith apps that reH-ire them, and m-st
ship .ith their o.n proprietary soft.are marketplace instead of
oogle <lay *tore.'/) &n 21(4, oogle also 0egan to reH-ire that all
Android devices .hich license the oogle :o0ile *ervices soft.are
display a prominent I<o.ered 0y AndroidI logo on their 0oot screens.
'82)
:em0ers of the !pen "andset Alliance, .hich incl-de the maCority of
Android !J:s, are also contract-ally for0idden from prod-cing
Android devices 0ased on forks of the !*6'/) '(24) in 21(2, Acer &nc.
.as forced 0y oogle to halt prod-ction on a device po.ered 0y
Ali0a0a ro-pFs Aliy-n !* .ith threats of removal from the !"A, as
oogle deemed the platform to 0e an incompati0le version of Android.
Ali0a0a ro-p defended the allegations, arg-ing that the !* .as a
distinct platform from Android (primarily -sing ";:37 apps), 0-t
incorporated portions of AndroidFs platform to allo. 0ack.ards
compati0ility .ith third,party Android soft.are. &ndeed, the devices
did ship .ith an application store .hich offered Android apps6
ho.ever, the maCority of them .ere pirated.'(27) '(28) '(29)
=eception
Android,+28 r-nning on an A*%*Jee<C net0ook6 Android has
0een -nofficially ported to generic comp-ters for -se as a desktop
operating system.
Android received a l-ke.arm reaction .hen it .as -nveiled in 2119.
Altho-gh analysts .ere impressed .ith the respected technology
companies that had partnered .ith oogle to form the !pen "andset
Alliance, it .as -nclear .hether mo0ile phone man-fact-rers .o-ld 0e
.illing to replace their e+isting operating systems .ith Android.'(22)
;he idea of an open,so-rce, 3in-+,0ased development platform
sparked interest,'(25) 0-t there .ere additional .orries a0o-t Android
facing strong competition from esta0lished players in the smartphone
market, s-ch as ?okia and :icrosoft, and rival 3in-+ mo0ile operating
systems that .ere in development.'(51) ;hese esta0lished players
.ere skepticalK ?okia .as H-oted as saying I.e donFt see this as a
threat,I'(5() and a mem0er of :icrosoftFs Windo.s :o0ile team
stated I& donFt -nderstand the impact that they are going to have.I'(5()
*ince then Android has gro.n to 0ecome the most .idely -sed
smartphone operating system'2/) and Ione of the fastest mo0ile
e+periences availa0le.I'(52) =evie.ers have highlighted the open,
so-rce nat-re of the operating system as one of its defining strengths,
allo.ing companies s-ch as :icrosoft (?okia P family),'(5/) '(54)
AmaAon (4indle Fire), >arnes R ?o0le(?ook), !-ya, >aid- and
others to fork the soft.are and release hard.are r-nning their o.n
c-stomised version of Android. As a res-lt, it has 0een descri0ed 0y
technology .e0site Ars ;echnica as Ipractically the defa-lt operating
system for la-nching ne. hard.areI for companies .itho-t their o.n
mo0ile platforms.'2/) ;his openness and fle+i0ility is also present at
the level of the end -serK Android allo.s e+tensive c-stomisation of
devices 0y their o.ners and apps are freely availa0le from non,oogle
app stores and third party .e0sites. ;hese have 0een cited as among
the main advantages of Android phones over others.'2/) '(57)
@espite AndroidFs pop-larity, incl-ding an activation rate three times
that of i!*, there have 0een reports that oogle has not 0een a0le to
leverage their other prod-cts and .e0 services s-ccessf-lly to t-rn
Android into the money maker that analysts had e+pected.'(58) ;he
Berge s-ggested that oogle is losing control of Android d-e to the
e+tensive c-stomiAation and proliferation of non,oogle apps and
servicesGAmaAonFs 4indle Fire line -ses Fire !*, a heavily modified
fork of Android .hich does not incl-de or s-pport any of oogleFs
proprietary components, and reH-ires that -sers o0tain soft.are from
its competing AmaAon Appstoreinstead of <lay *tore.'/) oogle *B<
Andy =-0in, .ho .as replaced as head of the Android division in
:arch 21(/, has 0een 0lamed for failing to esta0lish a l-crative
partnership .ith cell phone makers. ;he chief 0eneficiary of Android
has 0een *ams-ng, .hose ala+y 0rand has s-rpassed that of Android
in terms of 0rand recognition since 21((.'(59) '(52) :ean.hile other
Android man-fact-rers have str-ggled since 21((, s-ch as 3, ";C,
and oogleFs o.n :otorola :o0ility(.hose partnership .ith BeriAon
Wireless to p-sh the I@=!&@I 0rand has faded since 21(1). &n 21(4,
in an effort to improve prominence of the Android 0rand, oogle
0egan to reH-ire that devices feat-ring its proprietary components
display an Android logo on the 0oot screen.'82)
Android has s-ffered from IfragmentationI,'(55) a sit-ation .here the
variety of Android devices, in terms of 0oth hard.are variations and
differences in the soft.are r-nning on them, makes the task of
developing applications that .ork consistently across the ecosystem
harder than rival platforms s-ch as i!* .here hard.are and soft.are
varies less. For e+ample, according to data from !pen*ignal in $-ly
21(/, there .ere ((,282 models of Android device, n-mero-s different
screen siAes and eight Android !* versions sim-ltaneo-sly in -se,
.hile the large maCority of i!* -sers have -pgraded to the latest
iteration of that !*.'211) Critics s-ch as Apple &nsider have asserted
that fragmentation via hard.are and soft.are p-shed AndroidFs gro.th
thro-gh large vol-mes of lo. end, 0-dget,priced devices r-nning older
versions of Android. ;hey maintain this forces Android developers to
.rite for the Ilo.est common denominatorI to reach as many -sers as
possi0le, .ho have too little incentive to make -se of the latest
hard.are or soft.are feat-res only availa0le on a smaller percentage
of devices.'21() "o.ever, !pen*ignal, .ho develops 0oth Android
and i!* apps, concl-ded that altho-gh fragmentation can make
development trickier, AndroidFs .ider glo0al reach also increases the
potential re.ard.'211)
;a0lets
;he first,generation ?e+-s 9 ta0let
@espite its s-ccess on smartphones, initially Android ta0let adoption
.as slo..'212) !ne of the main ca-ses .as the chicken or the egg
sit-ation .here cons-mers .ere hesitant to 0-y an Android ta0let d-e
to a lack of high H-ality ta0let apps, 0-t developers .ere hesitant to
spend time and reso-rces developing ta0let apps -ntil there .as a
significant market for them.'21/) '214) ;he content and app
IecosystemI proved more important than hard.are specs as the selling
point for ta0lets. @-e to the lack of Android ta0let,specific apps in
21((, early Android ta0lets had to make do .ith e+isting smartphone
apps that .ere ill,s-ited to larger screen siAes, .hereas the dominance
of AppleFs i<ad .as reinforced 0y the large n-m0er of ta0let,specific
i!* apps.'214) '217)
@espite app s-pport in its infancy, a considera0le n-m0er of Android
ta0lets (alongside those -sing other operating systems, s-ch as the "<
;o-ch<ad and >lack>erry <lay>ook) .ere r-shed o-t to market in an
attempt to capitaliAe on the s-ccess of the i<ad.'214) &nfoWorld has
s-ggested that some Android man-fact-rers initially treated their first
ta0lets as a IFrankenphone 0-sinessI, a short,term lo.,investment
opport-nity 0y placing a smartphone,optimiAed Android !* (0efore
Android /.1 "oneycom0 for ta0lets .as availa0le) on a device .hile
neglecting -ser interface. ;his approach, s-ch as .ith the @ell *treak,
failed to gain market traction .ith cons-mers as .ell as damaging the
early rep-tation of Android ta0lets.'218) '219) F-rthermore, several
Android ta0lets s-ch as the :otorola Poom .ere priced the same or
higher than thei<ad, .hich h-rt sales. An e+ception .as the AmaAon
4indle Fire, .hich relied -pon lo.er pricing as .ell as access to
AmaAonFs ecosystem of apps and content.'214) '212)
;his 0egan to change in 21(2 .ith the release of the afforda0le ?e+-s
9 and a p-sh 0y oogle for developers to .rite 0etter ta0let apps.'215)
According to &nternational @ata Corporation, shipments of Android,
po.ered ta0lets s-rpassed i<adFs in M/ 21(2.'2(1)
:arket share
:ain articleK :o0ile operating system S :arket share
Android market share on smartphones'citation needed)


=esearch company Canalys estimated in the second H-arter of 2115
that Android had a 2.2E share of .orld.ide smartphone shipments.
'2(() >y the fo-rth H-arter of 21(1 this had gro.n to //E of the
market, 0ecoming the top,selling smartphone platform,'2(2)
overtaking *ym0ian.'2(/) >y the third H-arter of 21((
artnerestimated that more than half (72.7E) of the smartphone sales
0elonged to Android.'2(4) >y the third H-arter of 21(2 Android had a
97E share of the glo0al smartphone market according to the research
firm &@C.'2(7)
&n $-ly 21((, oogle said that 771,111 ne. Android devices .ere
0eing activated every day,'2(8) -p from 411,111 per day in :ay,'2(9)
and more than (11 million devices had 0een activated'2(2) .ith 4.4E
gro.th per .eek.'2(8) &n *eptem0er 21(2, 711 million devices had
0een activated .ith (./ million activations per day.'2(5) '221) &n :ay
21(/, at oogle &/!, *-ndar <ichai anno-nced that 511 million
Android devices had 0een activated.'22()
Android market share varies 0y location. &n $-ly 21(2, Imo0ile
s-0scri0ers aged (/#I in the %nited *tates -sing Android .ere -p to
72E,'222) and rose to 51E in China.'22/) @-ring the third H-arter of
21(2, AndroidFs .orld.ide smartphone shipment market share .as
97E,'2(7) .ith 971 million devices activated in total. &n April 21(/
Android had (.7 million activations per day.'221) As of :ay 21(/, 42
0illion apps have 0een installed from the oogle <lay store,'82) and 0y
*eptem0er 21(/, ( 0illion Android devices have 0een activated.'224)
Android has the largest installed 0ase of any mo0ile !* and as of
21(/, its devices also sell more than Windo.s, i!* and :ac !*
devices com0ined.'(4) '(7) '(8) '(9) &n the third H-arter of 21(/,
AndroidFs share of the glo0al smartphone shipment market .as 2(./E,
the highest ever.'227) As of $-ly 21(/ the oogle <lay store has had
over ( million Android apps p-0lished, and over 71 0illion apps
do.nloaded.'(2) A developer s-rvey cond-cted in AprilD:ay 21(/
fo-nd that Android is -sed 0y 9(E of mo0ile developers.'(5) ;he
operating systemFs s-ccess has made it a target for patent litigation as
part of the so,called Ismartphone .arsI 0et.een technology
companies.'27) '28)
Android devices acco-nt for more than half of smartphone sales in
most markets, incl-ding the %*.'228) &n the third H-arter of 21(/,
AndroidFs share of the glo0al smartphone shipment marketGled 0y
*ams-ng prod-ctsG.as 2(./E6'227) '229) '222) @-ring this time
period over 28( million smartphones .ere sold glo0ally, .ith aro-nd
2(( million of those r-nning Android,'229) there0y o-tselling
Windo.s, i!* and :ac !* devices com0ined.'(8)
<latform -sage
;he ta0le 0elo. provides a 0reakdo.n of Android versions. ;his is
0ased on devices accessing <lay *tore as of $-ne (, 21(4,'225) and
therefore it e+cl-des Android derivatives that do not access oogle
<lay (for e+ample, AmaAonFs declining ta0let market share from (4.4E
of the Android,ta0lets in in 21(2 to 9.9E in 21(/ (5.2E for 0oth years
com0ined)'2/1) .hile it had none of the m-ch 0igger smartphone
market).
Bersion Code name =elease date A<&
level
@istri0-tion
4.4 4it4at !cto0er /(,
21(/
(5 (/.8E
4./ $elly >ean $-ly 24, 21(/ (2 (1./E
4.2.+ ?ovem0er (/,
21(2
(9 (5.(E
4.(.+ $-ly 5, 21(2 (8 25.1E
4.1./D4.1.4 &ce Cream
*and.ich
@ecem0er (8,
21((
(7 (2./E
2././D2./.9 inger0read Fe0r-ary 5,
21((
(1 (4.5E
2.2 Froyo :ay 21, 21(1 2 1.2E
?oteK ;he a0ove gives an inacc-rate distri0-tion of A<&s. J.g.
information from the AmaAon Appstore .o-ld only sho. a s-0set of
the A<&s/versions a0ove , those -sed 0y AmaAonFs ta0lets.
Application piracy
;here has 0een some concern a0o-t the ease .ith .hich paid Android
apps can 0e pirated.'2/() &n a :ay 21(2 intervie. .ith J-rogamer,
the developers of Foot0all :anager stated that the ratio of pirated
players vs legitimate players .as 5K( for their game Foot0all :anager
"andheld.'2/2) "o.ever, not every developer agreed that piracy rates
.ere an iss-e6 for e+ample, in $-ly 21(2 the developers of the game
Wind,-p 4night said that piracy levels of their game .ere only (2E,
and most of the piracy came from China, .here people cannot
p-rchase apps from oogle <lay.'2//)
&n 21(1, oogle released a tool for validating a-thoriAed p-rchases for
-se .ithin apps, 0-t developers complained that this .as ins-fficient
and trivial to crack. oogle responded that the tool, especially its
initial release, .as intended as a sample frame.ork for developers to
modify and 0-ild -pon depending on their needs, not as a finished
piracy sol-tion.'2/4) &n 21(2 oogle released a feat-re in Android 4.(
that encrypted paid applications so that they .o-ld only .ork on the
device on .hich they .ere originally installed from the oogle <lay
*tore, 0-t this feat-re has 0een temporarily deactivated d-e to
technical iss-es.'2/7)
3egal iss-es
F-rther informationK !racle v. oogle, *martphone .ars and <atent
troll
>oth Android and Android phone man-fact-rers have 0een involved in
n-mero-s patent la.s-its. !n A-g-st (2, 21(1, !racle s-ed oogle
over claimed infringement of copyrights and patents related to the $ava
programming lang-age.'2/8) !racle originally so-ght damages -p to
L8.( 0illion,'2/9) 0-t this val-ation .as reCected 0y a %nited *tates
federal C-dge .ho asked !racle to revise the estimate.'2/2) &n
response, oogle s-0mitted m-ltiple lines of defense, co-nterclaiming
that Android did not infringe on !racleFs patents or copyright, that
!racleFs patents .ere invalid, and several other defenses. ;hey said
that Android is 0ased on Apache "armony, a clean room
implementation of the $ava class li0raries, and an independently
developed virt-al machine called @alvik.'2/5) &n :ay 21(2, the C-ry
in this case fo-nd that oogle did not infringe on !racleFs patents, and
the trial C-dge r-led that the str-ct-re of the $ava A<&s -sed 0y oogle
.as not copyrighta0le.'241) '24()
&n addition to la.s-its against oogle directly, vario-s pro+y .ars
have 0een .aged against Android indirectly 0y targeting
man-fact-rers of Android devices, .ith the effect of disco-raging
man-fact-rers from adopting the platform 0y increasing the costs of
0ringing an Android device to market.'242) >oth Apple and :icrosoft
have s-ed several man-fact-rers for patent infringement, .ith AppleFs
ongoing legal action against *ams-ng 0eing a partic-larly high,profile
case. &n !cto0er 21((, :icrosoft said they had signed patent license
agreements .ith ten Android device man-fact-rers, .hose prod-cts
acco-nt for I91E in the %.*.I. and 77E of the .orld.ide reven-e for
Android devices.'24/) ;hese incl-de *ams-ng and ";C.'244)
*ams-ngFs patent settlement .ith :icrosoft incl-des an agreement that
*ams-ng .ill allocate more reso-rces to developing and marketing
phones r-nning :icrosoftFs Windo.s <hone operating system.'242)
oogle has p-0licly e+pressed its fr-stration for the c-rrent patent
landscape in the %nited *tates, acc-sing Apple, !racle and :icrosoft
of trying to take do.n Android thro-gh patent litigation, rather than
innovating and competing .ith 0etter prod-cts and services.'247) &n
21((D(2, oogle p-rchased :otorola :o0ility for %*L(2.7 0illion,
.hich .as vie.ed in part as a defensive meas-re to protect Android,
since :otorola :o0ility held more than (9,111 patents.'248) &n
@ecem0er 21((, oogle 0o-ght over a tho-sand patents from &>:.
'249)
&n 21(/, Fairsearch, a lo00ying organiAation s-pported 0y :icrosoft,
!racle and others, filed a complaint regarding Android .ith the
J-ropean Commission, alleging that its free,of,charge distri0-tion
model constit-ted anti,competitive predatory pricing. ;he Free
*oft.are Fo-ndation J-rope, .hose donors incl-de oogle, disp-ted
the Fairsearch allegations.'242)
%se o-tside of smartphones and ta0lets
!-ya, a video game console .hich r-ns Android, .as one of the
most s-ccessf-l cro.df-nding campaigns on the .e0site
4ickstarter.
;he open and c-stomiAa0le nat-re of Android allo.s it to 0e -sed on
other electronics aside from smartphones and ta0lets, incl-ding laptops
and net0ooks, smart0ooks,'245) smart ;Bs (Android ;B, oogle ;B)
and cameras (J.g. ala+y Camera).'271) &n addition, the Android
operating system has seen applications on smart glasses (oogle
lass),smart.atches,'27() headphones,'272) car C@ and @B@
players,'27/) mirrors,'274) porta0le media players,'277) landline '278)
andBoice over &< phones.'279) !-ya, a video game console r-nning
Android, 0ecame one of the most s-ccessf-l 4ickstartercampaigns,
cro.df-nding %*L2.7m for its development,'272) '275) and .as later
follo.ed 0y other Android,0ased consoles, s-ch as ?vidiaFs <roCect
*hield G an Android device in a video game controller form factor.
'281)
&n 21((, oogle demonstrated IAndroidT"omeI, a home a-tomation
technology .hich -ses Android to control a range of ho-sehold
devices incl-ding light s.itches, po.er sockets and thermostats.'28()
<rototype light 0-l0s .ere anno-nced that co-ld 0e controlled from an
Android phone or ta0let, 0-t Android head Andy =-0in .as ca-tio-s to
note that It-rning a light0-l0 on and off is nothing ne.I, pointing to
n-mero-s failed home a-tomation services. oogle, he said, .as
thinking more am0itio-sly and the intention .as to -se their position
as a clo-d services provider to 0ring oogle prod-cts into c-stomersF
homes.'282) '28/)
<arrot -nveiled an Android,0ased car stereo system kno.n as Asteroid
in 21((,'284) follo.ed 0y a s-ccessor, the to-chscreen,0ased Asteroid
*mart, in 21(2.'287) &n 21(/, Clarion released its o.n Android,0ased
car stereo, the AP(.'288) &n $an-ary 21(4 at Cons-mer Jlectronics
*ho., oogle anno-nced the formation of the !pen A-tomotive
Alliance, a gro-p incl-ding several maCor a-tomo0ile makers (A-di,
eneral :otors, "y-ndai, and "onda) and ?vidia, .hich aims to
prod-ce Android,0ased in car entertainment systems for a-tomo0iles,
I'0ringing) the 0est of Android into the a-tomo0ile in a safe and
seamless .ay.I'289)
!n :arch (2, 21(4, oogle anno-nced Android Wear, an Android,
0ased platform specifically intended for smart.atches and other
.eara0le devices6 only a developer previe. .as made p-0licly
availa0le.'282) ;his .as follo.ed 0y the -nveiling of t.o Android
WearD0ased devices, the 3 Watch and :oto /81.'285)
!n $-ne 27, 21(4, at oogle &/!, it .as anno-nced Android ;B, a
*mart ;B platform, is replacing the previo-sly released oogle ;B.
!n $-ne 28, 21(4, oogle anno-nced Android A-to for the car.
*ee also
oogle portal
Free soft.are portal
Android rooting
Android version history
Comparison of mo0ile operating systems
&nde+ of Android !* articles
3ist of <* soft.are for mo0ile phones
!penmoko
=eplicant (operating system) D 0ased on Android .ith noproprietary soft.are components
=eferences
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necessaryI. Ars ;echnica. =etrieved 21(/,(2,12.
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*eptem0er 2(, 21(2.
7 U a 0 c 4elle+ ((5 $-ne 21(4). IWhoaK Android 4.4.4 Factory &mages <osted as >-ild
4;%24<I. @roid 3ife. =etrieved (5 $-ne 21(4.
8 U I"o. to &nstall the Android 3 @eveloper <revie. on No-r ?e+-s 7 or 9I .3ifehacker.
=etrieved 28 $-ne 21(4.
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2 U I:&<* gets s.eet .ith "oneycom0I. Jetimes.com. =etrieved 21(2,12,21.
5 U a 0 c *hah, Agam (@ecem0er (, 21((). IoogleFs Android 4.1 ported to +28
processorsI. Comp-ter.orld. &nternational @ata ro-p. =etrieved 21(2,12,21.
(1 U android/platform/0ionic/
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(2 U android/platform/system/core/tool0o+/
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3icense, 2.1. ... Why Apache *oft.are 3icenseV ... For -serspace (that is, non,kernel)
soft.are, .e do in fact prefer A*32.1 (and similar licenses like >*@, :&;, etc.) over other
licenses s-ch as 3<3. Android is a0o-t freedom and choice. ;he p-rpose of Android is
promote openness in the mo0ile .orld, 0-t .e donFt 0elieve itFs possi0le to predict or dictate
all the -ses to .hich people .ill .ant to p-t o-r soft.are. *o, .hile .e enco-rage everyone
to make devices that are open and modifia0le, .e donFt 0elieve it is o-r place to force them to
do so. %sing 3<3 li0raries .o-ld often force them to do so.I
(4 U a 0 :ahapatra, 3isa (?ovem0er ((, 21(/). IAndroid Bs. i!*K WhatOs ;he :ost <op-lar
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its installed 0aseI. C??. =etrieved $an-ary /1, 21(4.
(8 U a 0 c Naro., $ay (:arch 22, 21(4). I;his Chart *ho.s oogleFs &ncredi0le @omination
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(9 U a 0 I*ams-ng sells more smartphones than all maCor man-fact-rers com0ined in M(I.
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(2 U a 0 IAndroidFs oogle <lay 0eats App *tore .ith over ( 0illion apps, no. officially
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(5 U a 0 @eveloper Jconomics M/ 21(/ analyst report D
httpK//....visionmo0ile.com/@evJcon/M(/ D =etrieved $-ly 21(/
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;echspot. =etrieved /1 $-ne 21(4
2( U a 0 c d e f Jlgin, >en (A-g-st (9, 2117). Ioogle >-ys Android for &ts :o0ile
ArsenalI. >loom0erg >-siness.eek. >loom0erg. Archived from the original on Fe0r-ary
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oogle (!!) has H-ietly acH-ired start-p Android, &nc., ...I
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2/ U a 0 c d >rodkin, $on (?ovem0er 7, 21(2). I!n its 7th 0irthday, 7 things .e love a0o-t
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;he ?e. Nork ;imes. =etrieved 21(2,12,(7.
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lo0e. Archived from the original on $an-ary 4, 21(1. =etrieved 21(2,12,(7.
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shortlyI. Jngadget. =etrieved 21(2,12,(9.
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it .onFt 0e long 0efore oogle C-mps headfirst into the phone 0iA. <hone, anyoneVI
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