The release’s most transformative element was the addition of voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation and real-time traffic info - something previously unheard of (and still essentially unmatched) in the smartphone world. Eclair was the first Android release to enter mainstream consciousness thanks to the original Motorola Droid phone and the massive Verizon-led marketing campaign surrounding it. Keeping up the breakneck release pace of Android’s early years, Android 2.0 Eclair, emerged just six weeks after Donut its “point-one” update, also called Eclair, came out a couple months later. GoogleĪndroid’s universal search box made its first appearance in Android 1.6. It also added support for CDMA networks like Verizon, which would play a key role in Android’s imminent explosion. Donut filled in some important holes in Android’s center, including the ability for the OS to operate on a variety of different screen sizes and resolutions - a factor that’d be critical in the years to come. Android version 1.6: DonutĪndroid 1.6, Donut, rolled into the world in the fall of 2009. Android Police (CC BY-SA 4.0)Ĭupcake was all about the widgets. Cupcake introduced numerous refinements to the Android interface, including the first on-screen keyboard - something that’d be necessary as phones moved away from the once-ubiquitous physical keyboard model.Ĭupcake also brought about the framework for third-party app widgets, which would quickly turn into one of Android’s most distinguishing elements, and it provided the platform’s first-ever option for video recording. With early 2009’s Android 1.5 Cupcake release, the tradition of Android version names was born. The Android 1.0 home screen and its rudimentary web browser (not yet called Chrome). Things were pretty basic back then, but the software did include a suite of early Google apps like Gmail, Maps, Calendar, and YouTube, all of which were integrated into the operating system - a stark contrast to the more easily updatable standalone-app model employed today. (Feel free to skip ahead if you just want to see what’s new in Android 11 or Android 12.) Android versions 1.0 to 1.1: The early daysĪndroid made its official public debut in 2008 with Android 1.0 - a release so ancient it didn’t even have a cute codename. Here’s a fast-paced tour of Android version highlights from the platform’s birth to present. Google’s mobile operating system may have started out scrappy, but holy moly, has it ever evolved. From its inaugural release to today, Android has transformed visually, conceptually and functionally - time and time again.

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