Happy Birthday Android!
Back on September 23, 2008, Android 1.0 made its debut with T-Mobile G1, also known as the HTC Dream, making it commercially available for the first time. As we who love the platform know, it has grown exponentially in features, performance and functionality over the past 9 years and it is exciting to think of what the next 9 years hold in store for it.
When Android 1.0 was released, it did not have a confectionary codename. In fact, it wasn’t until version 1.5, released on April 27, 2009, that we start seeing these names. That release, of course, was cupcake. It has come to light however that version 1.1 did have an internal codename, Petit Four.
For those that are curious, here are all of the Android versions and their release dates:
- Version 1.0 (No Codename) – September 23, 2008
- Version 1.1 (Internal Codename Petit Four) – February 9, 2009
- Version 1.5 (Cupcake) – April 27, 2009
- Version 1.6 (Donut) – September 15, 2009
- Version 2.0-2.1 (Eclair) – October 26, 2009
- Version 2.2-2.2.3 (Froyo) – May 20, 2010
- Version 2.3-2.3.7 (Gingerbread) – December 6, 2010
- Version 3.0-3.2.6 (Honeycomb) – February 22, 2011
- Version 4.0-4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) – October 18, 2011
- Version 4.1-4.3.1 (Jelly Bean) – July 9, 2012
- Version 4.4-4.4.4 (KitKat) – October 31, 2013
- Version 5.0-5.1.1 (Lollipop) – November 12, 2014
- Version 6.0-6.0.1 (Marshmallow) – October 5, 2015
- Version 7.0-7.1.2 (Nougat) – August 22, 2016
- Version 8.0 (Oreo) – August 21, 2017
Over the course of the last 9 years, Android has taken a position of dominance in the mobile space globally. That is largely do to is open nature and flexibility, allowing manufactures to create a wide range of devices at various price points. Google continues to push hard for OEMs to update their devices quickly for security reasons and Android Oreo, version 8.0, goes a long way in improving device security. While there is always room for improvements, the platform as it is today is light years ahead of where it was 2 years ago and it is hardly recognizable from 9 years ago.
When did you jump on the Android train? For me, I was a late bloomer. As most readers know, I was hip-deep in the Microsoft Windows Phone world before jumping to iOS for a little while. It wasn’t until 2013, in the KitKat days, that Android became my daily driver. Leave a comment and let me know when you started using Android.
Happy Birthday Android!
