What is Android and what is an Android phone? 2018

Android is now a decade vintage and the most famous cell running machine within the international. You’ll discover it on cell phones, drugs and even on TVs and in motors. So what virtually is Android? here’s all you need to recognise about Google’s cellular OS.
here we’ll assist you to apprehend what Android is, what it is able to simply do, what are the satisfactory Android devices you can get, how do you operate Android apps and lots greater except.
what's Android?
Android is a cell running device that is determined on an expansion of contemporary devices, the most famous being smartphones. On top of that, you’ll also locate Android on tablets, tv streaming containers and different portable devices.
Android is largely a bit of software which permits your hardware to characteristic. The Android OS gives you get admission to to apps, consisting of lots of Google’s very own introduction. these let you look for records at the internet, play track and films, take a look at your region on a map, take pictures the use of your device’s digicam and lots more besides.
with out Android, none of this will be feasible.
Android telephones are relatively customisable, in order that they may be altered to fit your private tastes and desires. as an instance, you may set your very own wallpaper, subject matters and launchers, which completely exchange the appearance of your tool’s interface. you can download new programs to do all styles of things like take a look at your facebook and Twitter feeds, control your financial institution account, order pizza and play video games.
a way to get started with Android
check out our manual on the way to set up an Android cellphone, for an concept of what you’ll want to do to get began. one of your first duties can be to create a Google Account (or sign up with an existing one). This offers you e-mail capability and also provides a amazing manner to backup your contacts, keep your documents online and so on.
The gain of that is that in case you lose your phone, all of your numbers and essential records could be saved. the subsequent time you get an Android cellphone (or different device) and check in with your Google Account, all of your contacts and numbers can be displayed for your new phone’s deal with e book without delay. No need to switch them over or returned them up anywhere else.
In fact, you could sync your non-public information across all forms of Android devices. This includes favourite web sites, calendar entries and bought apps. that is all sponsored up seamlessly, in the background.
What apps can i get on an Android smartphone?
There are hundreds of thousands of apps and games to be had to down load from the Google Play shop (previously Android marketplace). There are digicam apps that let you take photos with inventive consequences and song gamers which will let you move songs from the internet or create playlists. you may customise the appearance of your Android handset with a number of wallpapers based on photos you’ve taken yourself or downloaded from the internet too.
How can i download apps onto an Android smartphone?
the majority of apps may be downloaded from the Google Play store (the equivalent of Apple’s App save), which includes a mix of free as well as ‘top rate’ apps that you need to pay for. some apps have ‘lite’ versions which are free, in the hopes you’ll enjoy them sufficient to upgrade to the total top class version. Others – like Pokémon pass – are unfastened however encompass ads or the capacity to make in-app purchases.
The equal account that lets you backup your contacts also can have financial information added to it, supplying you with the ability to buy content material from the Google Play keep without delay. you may pay both with the aid of debit or credit score card and initial setup takes much less than five mins from a laptop.
although there are nicely over one million apps available to Android users within the Google Play keep, a few builders select to make their apps to be had to down load from their own websites or alternative app shops. so that it will down load them, you need to exchange some settings on your cellphone earlier than touring these websites in your Android device’s web browser. via downloading apps outside of the Google Play keep, you do run the chance of attack in the shape of data robbery or by leaving your self more prone to viruses, so be careful if you choose this route.
ought to you upgrade or exchange your Android smartphone; log into your Google account and you’ll be able to down load your formerly owned apps once more, without being charged. In latest years, Google has elevated Google Play to provide more than simply apps, with books, magazines, tune and movies to be had for purchase and download in a whole lot the same way too.
Who absolutely makes Android phones?
Any handset maker is loose to make an Android cellphone if they want to. The likes of Motorola, HTC, Samsung and Sony, Acer, Alcatel, Asus, Huawei, LG and ZTE have all made Android phones (and capsules). Blackberry has positioned out several Android telephones considering the fact that 2015, which includes the Priv and the KEYOne. And Nokia is taking part in a resurgence in 2017, thanks in massive part to its new Nokia 3, 5 and 6 phones which run Android OS.
test out our guide to the excellent Android phones proper now.
Does Google make any Android telephones?
despite the fact that Google owns the OS (Android), the business enterprise has now not made any of the smartphones on which it runs in-house (it did make the Android-poweredPixel C tablet in 2015). however, it has partnered with various handset producers through the years to make its own-brand smartphones under the ‘Nexus’ name.
Google’s Nexus telephones had been usually the first to acquire new updates and had been considered to be the flagship Android telephones, even though a few other Android devices sported larger displays, better cameras and more powerful hardware.
In 2016, Google shelved the Nexus logo call and replaced by launching  new telephones referred to as the Pixel and Pixel XL. For all intents and purposes, these new telephones experience all the same blessings as the Nexus devices did and are essentially the religious successors to the Nexus line.
you can assume to peer a few new Pixel 2 phones in 2017.
Android updates
Google is constantly operating on new versions of the Android software program. those releases are rare; in the interim Google is freeing a big Android replace as soon as a yr. check out our handy, complete manual to each Android version available.
examine next: How to test for updates on your Android telephone
variations normally come with a numerical code and a name that’s up to now been themed after candies and cakes, jogging in alphabetical order.
• Android 1.5 Cupcake
• Android 1.6 Donut
• Android 2.1 Eclair
• Android 2.2 Froyo
• Android 2.three Gingerbread
• Android 3.2 Honeycomb – the first OS design in particular for drugs, launching on the Motorola Xoom
• Android 4.zero Ice Cream Sandwich: the primary OS to run on smartphones and pills, finishing the 2.X naming convention.
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean: released on the Google Nexus 7 pill by means of Asus
• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean: Arrived at the LG Nexus 4
• Android four.3 Jelly Bean
• Android 4.four KitKat: released on the LG Nexus five
• Android five.0 Lollipop: launched on the Motorola Nexus 6 and HTC Nexus 9
• Android 6.zero Marshmallow: released at the LG Nexus 5X and Huawei Nexus 6P
• Android 7.0 Nougat
• Android 7.1 Nougat: launched on the HTC-made Google Pixel and Pixel XL
• Android eight.0 Oreo: Rumoured to be launching on the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2
The brand new public version, Android Nougat, makes the OS even quicker than ever with a function known as ‘instantaneous apps’. It additionally gives improved battery lifestyles with Doze on-the-pass and provides native VR guide. here’s what’s changed between the one-of-a-kind Android versions.
while does Google announce new variations of Android?
As previously mentioned, Google tends to position out a sparkling new edition of Android as soon as a 12 months (despite the fact that minor updates roll out constantly).
in relation to Android, Google frequently releases a beta version within the first half of of the 12 months. This often coincides with Google I/O, a huge developer occasion held yearly around may. At Google I/O we commonly discover extra about the brand new Android update, together with the satisfactory features and any UI improvements.
test out our manual to the next Google/Android launch event for greater info.
Android pills
Like Android phones, Android tablets are available all shapes and sizes. those can variety from the 7-inch screen of the Asus-made Google Nexus 7 to some distance larger displays, consisting of the ten-inch show found at the Nexus 10.
somewhat confusingly, a few older Android drugs; just like the unique Samsung Galaxy Tab, launched going for walks Android 2.2 Froyo – a model of Android designed for phones, at the same time as Android 3.zero Honeycomb was the primary release of the OS mainly for pills.
Older Android capsules which didn’t run on 3.zero Honeycomb couldn’t gain from things like the redesigned YouTube app, improved widgets and certain pill-particular apps like SwiftKey for pills.
This fragmentation among Android telephones and tablets turned into removed with the release of Android four.zero Ice Cream Sandwich, which changed into designed to perform on either sort of tool and scale hence. Android Jelly Bean introduced some of improvements for each the cellphone and pill enjoy over the likes of ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) and that fashion keeps with the ultra-modern release, Android 7.0 Nougat, which brings features like cut up screen assist to the table.
Do Android updates value some thing?
Android updates are loose to down load and deploy. Updates bring quite a number of recent features and adjustments to Android whenever. typically, with each replace, the speed and common performance of Android is advanced upon.
most of the excessive-give up Android phones are scheduled to get hold of updates first. most Android telephones could have as a minimum one update in the course of their lifestyles cycle, with a few having . A existence cycle is generally round 18 months, however depending at the smartphone this may be longer. those updates range from app updates, which might be smaller, incremental releases for character applications installed on your Android tool.
How do I update my Android tool to add new functions?
Android updates are normally received OTA (Over The Air), this is, despatched at once on your Android phone without the want for a laptop. generally, as soon as your Android smartphone or pill is due to get an update, you’ll see a notification inside the bar at the pinnacle of the screen. You’ll then be brought about to hook up with WiFi to keep away from incurring extra statistics expenses – updates can be pretty large and downloading them over a cellular facts connection isn’t advised as it can bring about costly data fees.
Updates are commonly one-stage strategies and relatively truthful, but in a few cases, you could want to backup/shop any media (photographs, films, music) or apps you’ve downloaded before updating.
when beta versions of Android are announced, you may download them early to any current Google-branded cellphone (e.g. Nexus or Pixel handsets). proper now Android O is to be had to download in beta. right here’s a way to update your Android smartphone, for the whole lot you want to understand.
How can i change the look and sense of my Android telephone computers?
Android phones from the likes of Huawei, LG and Samsung all recreation a completely specific appearance and sense to the inventory Android discovered on Google’s personal Pixel telephones. That’s due to the fact each manufacturer has a tendency to add their personal software program overlay to Android, called a ‘launcher’, which changes the layout of the house screen, additional computers, app emblems and so forth.
thankfully, in case you sense like fresh your Android cellphone’s software program layout, it’s fantastically easy to pull off. just check out our manual to changing your Android launcher to learn the way.
what is Android television?
because the name sort of suggests, Android tv is based totally on the identical Android software program located on mobile phones but tweaked to work on tv streaming gadgets. for example, the Nvidia guard tv runs off Android television. This clever field connects to your small screen television and gives you complete get right of entry to to apps, video games and the web. you could even perform searches for all forms of content.