Android version history. Which version of Android is better. Android: official start

Smartphones and tablets are becoming more sophisticated and powerful, and operating system developers are trying to keep up. An example of this is that the latest version of Android is significantly different from its predecessors. What is this difference and are the latest developments any good?

Description

This is a version of Android that is more informative than the previous ones. Notifications have been improved and are accessible from the lock screen and from any running app by swiping down from the top of the screen.

Messages can be viewed from the lock screen, and replies to them can also be accessed from there. Incoming calls do not close open programs, just a kind of widget will appear at the top of the screen, which you can ignore or answer the call. By setting up notifications, you can hide information about various events from others. You can also customize the ring tone type from different applications and simply from different users.

The changes also affected the battery:

all devices based on Android 5.0 have increased battery life (an average of 1.5 hours);
during charging, the screen displays the time until the end of the process;
information about the cost of applications became available.

Regarding security, the owner of a smartphone can encrypt his data to avoid problems if the device is lost or stolen. This also includes the ability to use one device with multiple accounts - logging in under different accounts makes it possible for friends or loved ones not to share their information with each other. In addition, you can use guest mode or touch screen, in which the other user will only have access to the main set of applications, without personal files.

Media changes:

Possibility of voice search in YouTube and Google Play.
The device can be installed as a gamepad when connected to a TV.
Videos and photos from the gadget can be broadcast to the TV.

Pros and cons

In addition to the already mentioned advantages of this version, you can also specify an improved mode for people with poor vision with increased contrast and display adjustment, as well as faster switching on of the device with the ability to fully work with it.

The disadvantages are the following:

more powerful applications and increased demands on the gadget drain it faster;
some users find the interface quite confusing;
this version is still incompatible with quite a lot of software.

Android 6.0 "Marshmallow"

Screenshots

Description

There are no special differences from the previous version, but it is worth mentioning the existing features:

the function of unlocking the screen using a fingerprint has appeared;
direct support for 2 SIM cards;
dosage of battery energy for background processes;
access to applications and personal files is even better controlled;
the ability to work with a “smart” home;
multi-window mode;
an additional payment application has appeared;
You can charge another mobile device using a USB cable;
Several new animations have appeared.

Pros and cons

The advantages are:

the ability to customize the gadget for yourself;
You can download any file to your smartphone, regardless of whether it can be opened;
battery consumption reduction function;
search by application;
talking with the gadget has become much easier; now you don’t have to open Google to call the voice assistant.

There is one downside - the version cannot be installed on budget devices, and in general the list of smartphones and tablets based on Android 6.0 is quite limited.

Android 7.0/7.1 "Nougat"

Screenshots

Description

This is the latest version of Android 2016, which is an even more improved Marshmallow. Here are its features:

incoming calls can be filtered by phone number;
The system for working with previous running applications has been improved;
night mode has also been improved;
notifications from one program can be combined into one;
Battery saving occurs not only in standby mode;
a “picture-in-picture” mode appeared;
72 new animations with emotions have been added; virtual reality is now supported by hardware.

Pros and cons

In addition to those mentioned above, you can add:

improving the quality of 3D images;
adding special shortcuts to the desktop that contain information about a preset action, i.e. with one click you can send a message to a specific subscriber from your contact list;
The icons of standard applications have been visually redesigned.

The downside is that this version cannot yet be installed on any device except the Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 edge.

Results

The choice of the latest versions of Android is small, because... Marshmallow and Nougat are designed for specific brands and models of phones. Lollipop, despite all the complaints, is a very good development and the inability to support some applications does not at all prevent you from fully enjoying working with it.

Most Android releases have candy or cake names. The first version of the OS (1.0), publicly released in September 2008, did not have any name, either inside or outside the system. Developer Jean-Baptiste Queru officially released Android Police in 2012 with no name. Likewise, another, earlier version of Android 1.1, released in February 2009, did not have a name. During development, throughout Android's history, this version was used only with the internal name Petit four, which refers to the French dessert. All subsequent versions of Android also had names composed using the name of the desserts in alphabetical order. Many people like to think that this is because of the “goodies” that the program offers to users, but most likely the authors have a very good sense of humor and they seem to love delicious desserts.

Development of the Android brand

It's been almost 10 years since the first official Android phone debuted in the market. Google's decision to make Android an open source OS has allowed it to become very popular among all the leading phone manufacturers. Just a few years after the launch of Android 1.1 petit four, smartphones running the OS were everywhere. It has now become the most popular mobile OS in the world, beating many competitors such as Symbian, BlackBerry, Palm OS, webOS and Windows Phone. Apple's iOS is the only platform that is still a serious competitor to Android.

In October 2003, Android Inc was founded in Palo Alto. The OS was originally intended to improve digital camera systems. The company made a breakthrough in 2004 by showing how Android installed on a camera could connect wirelessly to a PC. This computer would then connect to the Android Datacenter, where camera owners could store their photos online on a cloud server. According to the Android story, its team didn't initially think about creating an OS for a mobile computing system.

But even at that time, the market for standalone digital cameras was not very large and was trending downward. Therefore, after a few months, Android Inc decided to switch to using the OS inside mobile phones. In 2005, the original company was acquired by Google.

Rubin and other program creators continued to develop the OS, but under new owners. The decision was made to use Linux as the basis for the Android OS, which meant that the program could be offered free to third-party mobile phone manufacturers. Google and the Android team realized that the company could make money by offering other services that used the OS, including apps.

The next stage in the history of Android. In September 2008, the very first Android smartphone was announced. It went on sale in the US in October of that year. A phone with a pop-up 3.2-inch touchscreen coupled with a physical QWERTY keyboard wasn't ideal from a design perspective. However, Android 1.0 already included the trademarks of Google's business plan for the OS.

It brought together a number of the company's other products and services, including Google Maps, YouTube and the HTML browser (pre-Chrome) and Google search service. The program featured the first version of the Android Market, an app store that Google had a special role to play in, proudly declaring that it would "provide dozens of unique, first-of-its-kind Android apps." All these features sound pretty primitive now, but this was just the beginning of growth in the mobile device market.

The history of Android began with the creation of a brand logo. Initially, the famous logo for the Android OS, which looks like a green robot, was created by Irina Blok, a Google employee. The only directive from the Google design team was to make the logo look like a robot. After this, Block and Google decided to make the Android robot an open source project. Today the robot is modified and used by many people because Google allows some design changes under 3.0 Attribution.

Cupcake was the first version of Android to be publicly sourced and called "tasty treat." Google annually reveals the name of the new version and places a statue of it on the lawn of the company's Visitor Center in Mountain View, California. The statues themselves are made from polystyrene foam and hard core, painted, and shipped 3,000 miles to California for the official unveiling. This happens almost every year in the history of the company, which is why there are as many versions of Android as there are years since the official opening of the system. Today this number is 9.

After the launch of Android 1.5, just a few months later, in April 2009, the OS version received its first public name: Cupcake. It adds several new features and improvements over the first two public versions, including things many now take for granted, like the ability to upload YouTube videos and automatically display phone screen rotation, as well as support for third-party keyboards. New features were added that included support for underlying network operators.

This allowed Android phones to be sold by operators all over the world, and how many versions of Android exist today and what capabilities each has can be found on the manufacturer’s official website. Some of the phones released with Cupcake installed out of the box included the first Samsung Galaxy phone along with the HTC Hero. This was a new approach for Google, and the company began working closer with hardware maker HTC to showcase pure Android.

Google quickly launched 1.6 Donut in September 2009. It had the features of introducing a quick search window and quickly switching between camera, video camera and gallery to simplify the media capture process. Donut also introduced a Power Control widget to control Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, etc. One of the phones that was sold with the version installed was the ill-fated Dell Streak, which had a huge 5-inch screen for the time. Google released the latest version of Android in 2009 with the official name Eclair. This version was the first to feature text-to-speech support, live wallpapers, multiple account support, and Google Maps navigation.

The Motorola Droid was the first phone to include Android 2.0 out of the box. The phone was also the first Android-based phone to be sold by Verizon Wireless. Although it was safer for Google to use Android as the name for its OS, the term Droid was trademarked by Lucasfilm when referring to the robots in the Star Wars franchise. Motorola continues to use the Droid brand for many of its phones to this day.

Version 2.2 of Froyo was officially launched in May 2010. Smartphones with Froyo installed were able to take advantage of several new features, including mobile Wi-Fi hotspot functionality, push notifications via Android Cloud to Device Messaging (C2DM), flash memory support, etc. The first smartphone to be branded by Nexus One, released with Android 2.1 in early 2010, it soon received a new Froyo update.

Android 2.3 Gingerbread, launched in September 2010, is currently the oldest OS in use. Google still lists it on their versions. Google says that in 2017, 0.6% of all devices still use Gingerbread and today users can get an update to the version of Android on their phone. Gingerbread has added near field communication functionality for smartphones with the required hardware. The first phone to use Gingerbread with NFC hardware was the Nexus S, which was jointly developed by Google and Samsung.

Android 2.3 Gingerbread, launched in September 2010, is currently the oldest OS in use. Google still lists it on their version update page. Google claims that in 2017, 0.6% of all devices still use Gingerbread and today users can get an update to the version of Android on their phone. Gingerbread has added near field communication functionality for smartphones with the required hardware. The first phone to use Gingerbread with NFC hardware was the Nexus S, which was jointly developed by Google and Samsung.

Gingerbread has also added support for cameras and video chat in Google Talk. The tablet version of Honeycomb is released by Google for installation only on tablets and mobile devices with large displays. It was first demonstrated in February 2011 with the first Motorola Xoom tablet and included updates in the form of a redesigned user interface for larger screens and a notification bar placed at the bottom of the tablet's display.

The idea was that Honeycomb offered specific features that could not be handled by the smaller displays that existed in smartphones at the time. It was also Google and its partners' response to the release of Apple's iPad in 2010. Even though Honeycomb was available, some tablets were still released with smartphone-based versions of Android 2.x. In the end, Honeycomb turned out to be a version that wasn't really needed, as Google decided to integrate most of its features into the next version, 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

KitKat version for smartphones

Android 4.4 is the first version of the OS to actually use the previously registered brand name for candy. KitKat didn't have a lot of new features, but it did have one thing that really helped expand the overall Android market and was optimized for smartphones with 512MB RAM. Google's 5 was the first to come with Android 4.4 pre-installed. Even though KitKat launched almost four years ago, there are still many devices that use it. Google's current platform version update page states that 15.1% of all Android devices are running versions of Android 4.4 KitKat.

Android 5.0 Lollipop, released in the fall of 2014, was a major shakeup in the overall look of the OS. It was the first version of the OS to use Google's new material design language, which, among other things, made it easier to implement lighting and shadow effects to emulate the papery look of Android's user interface. The user interface also received some changes for Lollipop, including an updated navigation bar, rich lockscreen notifications, and more.

The subsequent Android 5.1 update made a few more changes. These included official dual SIM support, HD voice calling, and device security to keep attackers locked out of the phone even after a factory reset. Google's Nexus 6 smartphone as well as the Nexus 9 tablet were the first devices to come pre-installed with Lollipop. Currently, Android 5.0 Lollipop is installed and used by approximately 29 percent of all active Android devices, according to Google platform version statistics.

Released in the fall of 2015, Android 6.0 Marshmallow included new Google Now on Tap vertical scrolling apps, native support for biometric smartphone unlocking, USB Type-C support, the introduction of Android Pay, and more. The first devices with Marshmallow pre-installed were the Google Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X smartphones, as well as the Pixel C tablet.

Current statistics on the Android platform show that Marshmallow has narrowly overtaken Lollipop as the most installed OS version, accounting for 32.2 percent of all Androids.

Version Android 7.0 nougat of the Google system was launched in the fall of 2016. Many of Nougat's new features included better multitasking features for a growing number of users such as split-screen mode as well as quick switching between apps.

In addition, Google has made several important changes:

Switch to a new JIT compiler to speed up applications.
Support for the DayDream Virtual Reality platform.

At the beginning of July, the Android statistics page reported that Android 7 1 nougat is now installed on 15.8% of all Android devices. This number will likely continue to rise in the coming months, even as Google prepares to release its next major Android OS update. This allows phone manufacturers to get the latest version and install it on much cheaper phones.

Visual features of Oreo. In March 2017, Google officially announced and released the first preview of Android O, also known as Android 8 1 Oreo. In August, Google confirmed that Oreo will indeed be the public name for Android 8.0. This is the second time Google has chosen a brand name for Android (Oreo is owned by Nabisco). In a break from its tradition, Google showed off the Android Oreo mascot statue for the first time at a press conference in New York, instead of showing the statue first at the Googleplex headquarters.

In terms of its features, Android 8 0 Oreo brings a host of visual changes to the Settings menu, as well as native support for Picture-in-Picture mode, notification channels, new autofill APIs for better password management and data filling, and more. Android Oreo is available for download through Google's Google Open Source Project, and is also available as an update for Google's older (and supported) Nexus and Pixel devices. Android Oreo also comes with Google's own Pixel 2 pixels.

Latest version of Android 2018. Google launched the first developer preview of the next major update, Android 9.0, on March 7, 2018. On August 6, the company officially launched the final version of Android 9.0 and gave it the official name - Pie. It includes a number of major new features and changes. One of them overloads the traditional navigation buttons in favor of one elongated button in the center, which is the new home button. Scrolling up from this buttom brings up an overview, with recently used apps, a search bar, and five suggestions at the bottom. You can swipe left to see all your recently opened apps, or drag the Home button to the right to quickly scroll through them.

Android 9.0 has some new features designed to improve smartphone battery life, including using in-device learning to predict which apps will be used. Pie also has Shush, a feature that automatically puts the phone into Do Not Disturb mode when it turns the phone's screen down on a flat surface. There's also Slices, which provides a smaller version of the installed app in Google Search, offering certain features without opening the full app. As usual, Android Pie will be available first for Google's Pixel phones, but it's also available for the Essential Phone. It will be released on other Android smartphones and devices in the coming weeks and months.

The future of the green robot

Android has come a long way from its humble beginnings to the point where it has become the leading mobile operating system around the world. Today, Google is in the very early stages of developing an entirely new OS called Fuchsia, which can support everything from smartphones to tablets, laptops and even desktops. The history of Android shows that Google remains extremely committed to growing the brand and has even tried to expand the mobile and tablet OS to other devices, including Android TV, Android Auto and WearOS.

Android's smartphone market share currently stands at 85 to 86 percent, while iOS stands at 14 to 15 percent. All other mobile operating systems (Windows Phone/Windows 10 Mobile, BlackBerry, Tizen and the rest) now have less than 0.1% of the phone market. Google says there are currently more than two billion active devices using its version of the OS. One of the concerns for Android device owners that has been a challenge for the OS since its launch is keeping it updated with the latest security patches, let alone rolling out major feature updates to the OS.

Unless Apple starts selling new iPhones that are much cheaper than current models, it's safe to assume that Android will continue to dominate the mobile OS market, even with its problems that are generally quickly fixed through updates.

As of today, the latest version of Android has the serial number 5 and the code name Lollipop. The system has received significant updates in design, functionality, in general, it is practically a newly created product. Google Nexus 5 smartphones have now begun to be updated to this version of the OS, and soon all modern smartphones will receive the latest update. However, we will tell you about the new 5.0 separately, but I still want to start from those times when the Android project did not even belong to Google...

Android: Beginning

Many people believe that the history of Android began in 2008 when the first version of Android 1.0 was released. But in fact, everything started 5 years earlier, in 2003, when Andy Rubin and his friends (Nick Sears, Chris White and Rich Miner) decided to create a mobile operating system and registered the company Android Inc. The developers first focused on devices that could be constantly with users, determine location using GPS and automatically adapt to a person’s needs.

Andy Rubin, creator of Android Source: technobuffalo.com

For investors of that time, it was unlikely that anything was clear at all. Well, who wants to invest money in an incomprehensible startup that doesn’t bring in any money yet... And so it happened that by 2005 Andy and friends spent all their funds, but by a lucky coincidence Google took a closer look at them and on August 17, 2005 the corporation became a full-fledged corporation owner of small Android Inc. It is worth noting that Google at that time did not have any special plans for gadgets, but was more focused on improving its own software and search algorithms. It’s scary to say, but at that time Google did not have any Adsense or even YouTube (it was acquired only in 2007).

Google logo in 2005

In the same year, against the backdrop of legal proceedings between Oracle and Google, it was decided that Android would be a free operating system and, of course, primarily focus on the implementation of Google services. Since Andy Rubin was initially involved in a project related to GPS, and the corporation already had Maps, it was planned to introduce maps into phones. Moreover, there were no smartphones at that time, so the cards could appear on a regular folding phone with buttons. The first images also indicate that Google was looking to RIM's experience with their Blackberry, so if not for a coincidence, touch phones might not have appeared. But, unfortunately or fortunately, the iPhone came out in 2007 and Google sharply revised its strategy. However, the first build of Android 1.0 is being prepared for release in 2008. However, at the beginning of 2007, Google does not have a partner that would release a phone on the new OS. Nokia is too large a company with which there will be a conflict of interest; Motorola has not yet recovered from the rise in sales of Razr models. Google is choosing between LG and HTC. Korean LG is interested in the US market, but it is afraid of cooperation with an unknown partner and uses agreements with Google only to conclude contracts with Microsoft to create smartphones with Windows Mobile. But HTC was ready to work together, and besides, the Taiwanese company could quickly create working samples. The first known prototype was Google Sooner. Here, however, we had to abandon the touch screen; this model was created according to the original specifications, when Google relied on the experience of Blackberry.

Possibly the first Android phone prototype - Google Sooner

Sources report that the first working version dates back to May 15, 2007 and was then called M3. The operating system is very reminiscent of the Blackberry interface, with the Google search bar occupying the main position. In general, if it weren’t for the advent of the iPhone and the trend towards touch screens, perhaps we would now see Android like this.

Screenshot of Android M3, possibly the first working version of the OS Source: 9to5google.com

Android: official start

Google clearly understood that with the release of the Apple iPhone, a touch screen was simply a necessity, and therefore early development had to be postponed. This was facilitated by communication with operators; in the summer of 2007, their opinion about the future of Android was pessimistic. In August 2007, an article appears in the WSJ talking about Google's efforts with its phone and platform. This material mentions that the company has two prototypes - one is similar to the Palm Treo with a QWERTY keyboard under the screen, and the second is somewhat reminiscent of the Nokia version. Within the Android team there is a race against time, since all previous plans are no good and they decided to abandon them. The team changes the timing, and the M3 is released in the second half of 2007. In version M5, it appears at the beginning of 2008, a status bar appears in it, although experiments with the UI are noticeable to the naked eye. Watch the video to understand the differences between these versions.

It wasn't until August 2008 that Google developed version 0.9 to introduce OS version 1.0 in September 2008. On October 22, 2008, the US operator T-Mobile begins selling the HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1), the first Android smartphone to feature a touch screen and an OS fully integrated for its use. But Google was able to rework the OS only to version 1.6, getting rid of the old ideas that were originally laid down when it was created. Perhaps it is from this moment that the rise of Android begins. Interest in the HTC Dream in the United States was enormous; the operator had sold 1 million devices by April 23, 2009. Such a demand for such an ordinary and simple device once again proved that ideas win, in this aspect it was the idea of touch phones that captured the minds of consumers.

Naturally, the very first tests on real users revealed many flaws in the platform, and already in the first year of Android’s existence, Google released the following updates: 1.1. Banana Bread, 1.5 Cupcake (video and photo uploading to YouTube and Picasa, automatic display orientation, predictive input, etc.), and 1.6 Donut (speech-to-text conversion with multilingual pronunciation, WVGA support, optimized work with gestures, etc.) .d.)

Android: second try

Android 2.0

After improving the 1st version, Android received expanded functionality and a good appearance in version 2.0, and then in 2.1 with the same code name Eclair. It became possible to use multiple Google accounts, and the standard web browser received HTML5 support. At the same time, new models of Android smartphones went on sale: NTS Magic and Hero, Motorola Droid and Samsung Galaxy.

At the same time, in 2010, the production of mobile processors with a clock frequency of 1 GHz began. And the first branded smartphone Google Nexus One with a 1 GHz processor appears. Of course, HTC becomes Google's partner. And HTC Desire, Motorola Droid 2 and Samsung Galaxy S received processors with a similar frequency. By the way, HTC will no longer make Google devices until 2014, when the Nexus 9 comes out. In the same 2010, Google released another version of Android, the new 2.2 Froyo , in which the performance of applications using JIT compilation has increased, and support for Adobe Flash has appeared. Well, all the above-mentioned smartphones with a 1 GHz processor received an update to Froyo. In addition, the assembly received updates such as the Chrome V8 JS engine for the web browser, contact transfer and support for BlueTooth docking stations, cloud synchronization, etc.

Google Nexus One and Android 2.2 Froyo

By the way, in Russia many saw Android for the first time in this edition, since this year in our country the demand for touchscreen smartphones begins, Android is gradually becoming fashionable. Until 2010, the “green robot” was seen only by geeks, and even then, more likely on the Internet or magazines than in their own hands.

Android Gingerbread and Honeycomb

It was the third year of Android's existence on the market. It was already a popular OS, but there were still many problems. And now, update 2.3 Gingerbread appears, which until 2013 was installed on a huge number of devices. Indeed, this version of the OS implemented many functions that outlined the prospects for the development of the platform as such - support for SIP telephony, Near Field Communication and Google Talk, work with higher resolution screens, a new download manager and much more.

Together with Gingerbread, Google releases its second branded smartphone - Nexus S. This time the manufacturer is Samsung, and Nexus S was, in fact, a slightly modified Galaxy S. However, Google Nexus S was released clearly too late: on the day its sales began, the company LG announced the first dual-core smartphone Optimus 2X. Now manufacturers are measured not by gigahertz, but by multi-core. As a result, not only LG Optimus 2X, but also Samsung Galaxy S II, HTC Sensation and Motorola Droid X2 received dual-core chips.

Meanwhile, Samsung is releasing another device after the Galaxy S smartphone - the Galaxy Tab tablet. The compact and lightweight seven-inch “tablet” became a good alternative for those who did not like the bulky Apple iPad. But the problem is that Android currently only exists for smartphones. Not a problem, Google thought, and at the beginning of 2011, the first version of Android designed specifically for tablet PCs appeared - 3.0 Honeycomb. It really looked better on Honeycomb tablets than the stretched out Gingerbread smartphone interface. Thus, both smartphones and tablets are already operational based on the Android OS. The business began to expand, and rapidly. Almost all Android tablets are becoming Honeycomb carriers - Motorola Xoom, Acer Iconia Tab, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet, etc.

In the same 2011, at the IFA 2011 technology exhibition in Berlin, Samsung presented its first 5-inch Glaxy Note phablet, which became a very popular device, despite the opinions of skeptics. Then it was, in fact, the first device of this class, and even on Android. It took Apple another 3 years before this; in 2014, the company released the iPhone 6 Plus phablet.

Android 4: from Ice Cream Sandwich to KitKat

Google understands that having two separate systems for smartphones and tablets is not very profitable. More time is spent on development and support. And in the fall of 2011, Google releases Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which becomes the first cross-platform version for smartphones and tablets. The build also includes access to applications directly from the lockscreen, and AndroidMarket is renamed Google Play. According to many experts, it was with version 4.0 that Android began to acquire its usual shape and normal functionality. Now the devices on the “green robot” could also be simply used; they ceased to be gadgets for geeks.

Following the new operating system, Google presented a new smartphone - the Galaxy Nexus, which, obviously, was also developed in collaboration with Samsung. And again, after the release of a smartphone, component manufacturers begin to fight for hardware. Qualcomm introduces powerful Krait processors, and Nvidia announces 4-core Tegra 3 chips. Well, the undisputed leader of Android smartphones in 2012 is the Samsung Galaxy S III, which joins the budget bestseller ASUS Nexus 7 based on the new Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS.

In 2012-2013, nothing special happened with Android after global changes with the unification of the tablet and smartphone versions. However, in 2012, Google makes 2 more branded devices - the LG Nexus 4 smartphone and the Samsung Nexus 10 tablet. In parallel with the new products, an updated build of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean was presented, which complemented the previous version. Now users can fully experience the benefits of using GoogleNow, Cloud Messaging, Android Beam, triple buffering, multi-channel USB audio, etc. Then the Google Moto X smartphone and the 2nd generation Google Nexus 7 tablet are presented, which were not particularly popular in our country due to the fact that Motorola left the Russian market back in 2010.

In 2013, Nexus 5 appeared on the market, again as a result of cooperation with LG. And a new version of Android 4.4 KitKat is coming out for it and other devices. Yes, this is the first time that the version indicator is the name of a commercial product, but let’s not talk about that. The changes affected not only the interface of individual system applications and elements. The promised transparency of the top notification bar has appeared in KitKat, along with a new sophisticated font and support for a full-screen interface from individual applications. With the release of KitKat, access to the Google Now service has become easier. Now its call is unified - you just need to swipe your finger across the screen from left to right. Previously, methods to access Google Now varied depending on the smartphone model (pressing the Home button, shaking, etc.). Additionally, the service is activated by the phrase “OK Google” when the start screen is open. The developers also paid attention to the Hangouts program. Now it allows you to send not only chat messages, but also SMS/MMS. Finally, we note KitKat's built-in pedometer, which works even in the background, as well as enhanced printer compatibility via Google Print cloud technology. The latter allows you to send documents for printing without any wires, first changing the paper size and specifying the required number of pages.

There are a lot of gadgets on store shelves on different versions of the Android OS: 4.4 KitKat, 5.0 Lolipop, 6.0 Marshmallow, etc. Therefore, when choosing a new device, the question arises: which version of Android is better. To determine the choice of the optimal and reliable system, consider the versions of Android used. We will also find out the main advantages and disadvantages of each assembly.

Classification and features of Android versions

Google releases a new version of the Android OS every year. And since some smartphone manufacturers are slow to update, and some devices are not updated at all, users use more than 10 versions of the Android platform. For convenience, assemblies are divided into three categories:

Legacy: 4.4 KitKat and below.
Current: 5.0 and 5.1 Lolipop, 6.0 Marshmallow.
New: 7.0 and 7.1 Nougat.

A reasonable question arises: which Android is better?

Outdated versions

The firmware is installed on discontinued devices. Not officially supported: do not receive system updates and security patches. Some applications from Google Play do not work, or are not optimized, or are loaded on Android 4.4 or higher. Which can be explained by the reluctance of developers to support old builds of the Android system.

Advantages:

The system is debugged and works stably on the most popular devices with weak hardware.
Stable operation in popular Google Play programs.

Flaws:

System updates are not supported.
There are open vulnerabilities and security holes.
Some applications are not available for download from Google Play, or do not work correctly.
There may be conflicts with the operation of some wearable devices.

Current versions of Android

Used in current and discontinued devices. Includes some improvements, innovations and improvements. Security system signatures have also been updated and found vulnerabilities have been closed. Devices running Android 5.0, 5.1 and 6.0 work correctly with wearable gadgets. Applications on Google Play are optimized, with a minimum of unsupported programs for downloading.

Advantages:

Security signatures have been updated to protect your device.
New functions and capabilities have been introduced.
Correct operation of wearable devices starting from android 5.0. Further support has also been announced.
Most applications are optimized to run smoothly on Lolipop and Marshmallow.
In version 6.0 Marshmallow, it is possible to combine a MicroSD card with the internal memory of the device.
The OS puts less load on the RAM.

Flaws:

More hardware resources are required, which is why older devices do not work stably.

New versions

They will appear on future devices, as well as as an update on current and some discontinued ones. The version offers new features, capabilities and security updates. Recently discovered vulnerabilities have also been fixed. Ensures correct operation with wearable devices. At the same time, at first, applications may not work correctly due to insufficient optimization.

Advantages:

Recently discovered security holes have been closed.
New features have been added and old features have been improved.
Correct work with wearable devices.
Memory cards are used to store application caches.

Flaws:

Due to lack of optimization, applications may malfunction at first.
Unstable operation of devices with weak or outdated hardware.

Conclusion

So which Android is better? Considering all of the above, we believe that devices based on Android 7.0 and 7.1 Nougat are better, since this version of the OS has a number of advantages. At the same time, at first you will have to put up with insufficient optimization of applications, which will pay off in the future. It is also optimal to choose a device with 6.0 Marshmallow, since a transition to the next version is likely. In addition, do not forget that the newer the system, the higher the requirements for hardware resources. Therefore, a smartphone or tablet with outdated or weak hardware does not work as efficiently on the new version of Android.

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