Android gets its first big update, 15 years ago
When it comes to most mobile devices, tablets, or even smart TVs, the operating system or OS market has been largely monopolized by two tech giants—Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS.
These began as a mobile OS but, like most technological advancements of late, quickly expanded to provide service to numerous other platforms.
Only 15 years have passed since the first major Android OS update, Cupcake, was released on April 27, 2009. From its most basic iteration of Android 1.0 in the previous year, which could only support text messaging, calls, and emails, Cupcake came with added features, including an onscreen virtual keyboard and the framework for third-party app widgets.
Now, Android holds the title of the most popular OS worldwide with over 70% market share.
Several dessert options later (remember Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat, Lollipop, Marshmallow, Nougat, Oreo, and Pie before Android 10), we are currently at iteration 14.
But did you know that before its use and popularity skyrocketed, the Android OS was initially meant to service standalone digital cameras? This was a few years after the first camera phone was created in 1999—and we all know how advanced phone cameras have become—and before Google bought Android, changing both the company’s and the industry’s trajectory.
What makes it so popular among smartphone companies is that Google committed to keeping Android an open-source OS. This allows third-party companies to tweak it as they so desire, creating their respective user interfaces to match their flagship phones, hence the plethora of options out there.
Whatever purpose you may have for a smartphone, it seems Android can already fulfill it now. And given the increasing demand from both the industry and the public, who knows what Android will have in store for us for the next 25 years?
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