Android Over The Years: All The Biggest Changes From 1.0 To Update 14

Android is the dominant smartphone OS on the global market, and over the years it has become essentially the only competitor to Apple's iOS. But the platform had humble beginnings before it erased the competition (like Windows Phone, Symbian, and RIM) from the map, and it's evolved considerably from the first version that was released in 2008. Fifteen years after its initial launch, it's time to take a look at how much Android has changed over the years, starting with version 1 and running through to version 14, Google's latest and greatest.

Founded by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Chris White in 2003, it would be five years before Android was acquired by Google. Interestingly, Rubin thought Android would be a smart camera OS, but a few months after Google bought the company in 2005, he realized his product had much greater potential. From there, there were a series of early versions called Milestones by the Android team. Finally, in September 2008, Android 1.0 launched alongside the HTC Dream, ushering in a new era of mobile computing.

We have broken down the major changes across every major release of the Android platform, highlighting the progress made since that first device launched. The most surprising thing is that, for all the upgrades, fresh coats of paint, and new form factors Android has adapted to, it has, in many ways, always remained itself.

Of all Android's major updates, Éclair wasn't the splashiest, but given the pace of updates Google was shipping, that was to be expected. The 2.0 update shipped in October 2009, less than two months after version 1.6, mainly fixing bugs and improving performance. Although it refined what was already there and had a fresh set of icons, it was sandwiched between more significant updates. Still, better enterprise features were added for business users, including exchange email support and multiple account sync, making it possible for those still on the Blackberry train to switch over to the burgeoning OS.

The onscreen keyboard was improved, as it became clear physical keyboards were going the way of the dinosaur. This was also when the big Google search bar made its appearance as the default widget on home screens, providing instant access to information. Notably, Google Maps Navigation launched with Éclair, allowing people to ditch their standalone GPS units. It's remarkable to consider how much that single addition changed the way most people interact with the world around them, no longer relying on memory or road signs to travel the roads. Android 2.0 also had a car mode that we could consider an early precursor to Android Auto.

The Motorola Droid launched alongside Éclair and, given how much hype and marketing was centered on it, you'd be mistaken for thinking it was the first Android phone. Even today, the sharp, industrial angles of the device look slick and modern, but it had an anachronistic slide-out keyboard and D-pad that made it look dated.

Gingerbread was another notable upgrade to Android, showing just how quickly the OS was maturing when it was released in December 2010. One of the most significant additions was NFC support, opening the door to a world of smart interactions with the physical world. The iPhone wouldn't receive NFC until 2014, so it's remarkable to think Android had it back in 2010. But the biggest improvement was a UI overhaul that darkened UI elements, added an app manager, and revamped the Android Market to be more inviting for customers.

At this point, fragmentation was beginning to become a problem for Android. Gingerbread had low system requirements, but later versions required more processing power. Lots of users with lower-end hardware wouldn't be able to upgrade any further, and it took many years for both manufacturers and customers to catch up. The problem persists even today, as the latest version of Android has never been the one being used by the majority of devices.

One notable device to release with Gingerbread was the original Galaxy Note, which at the time was considered a massive device with its 5.3-inch AMOLED display. It kicked off the trend of ballooning screen sizes, but by today's standards, that's a small phone.

Ice Cream Sandwich was a step back to the drawing board after the curious misfire of Honeycomb, incorporating much of the tablet-only OS's design language into its UI. The update, which shipped in October 2011, was a much-needed modernization for Android that marked the introduction of on-screen navigation buttons for smaller devices, ditched the menu button (to the chagrin of enthusiasts), and added resizable, interactive widgets. It's safe to say this was the dawn of modern Android.

Also of note, Visual Voicemail was integrated, as were text responses to calls. Face Unlock was introduced, though the first iteration could be fooled by pictures and was not reliably secure. Native screenshot support was a great addition, as was real-time speech-to-text input and HDR photography. Another big change was the favorites bar or "dock" that got added to the home screen. One more useful feature that later got removed was Android Beam, which used NFC to share content from one phone to another when they were pressed back-to-back. Now that Apple has introduced a similar feature in iOS, here's hoping Beam makes a return.

Toward the end of 2012's first quarter, Google debuted the Google Play Store, finally doing away with Android Market and launching a suite of Play apps — Movies, Books, and Music. Strangely, only Play Books survives today, with Play Music killed off (and user libraries migrated to YouTube Music), and Play Movies having become Google TV.

Ice Cream Sandwich debuted on the Galaxy Nexus from Samsung which, with its signature hump on the bottom and soft but angular design, still stands apart from other handsets. It was well reviewed, even raved about by owners, and to this day, you can find former owners of the device who talk about it with nostalgia.

The first Android version to feature a tie-in with a major candy brand, KitKat was internally called Key Lime Pie before Nestle broke them off a piece of that branding. Released in October of 2013, it came with a minor visual overhaul that brightened things up, but more importantly, it optimized the system for midrange and budget devices by reducing memory usage with a program called "Project Svelte," helping to alleviate growing problems with version fragmentation. KitKat expanded NFC payment support along with other near-field capabilities, and at the time, Google was trying to make Google+ a thing, so there were also some integrations with the now defunct social media platform that feel obviously misguided in hindsight.

In the hardware space, the Nexus 5 and HTC One M8 were the hot phones of the year. While the former ran stock Android and the latter ran HTC's Sense skin, both received high praise from the tech press.

While the previous year's upgrades had focused on UI, Marshmallow focused on refreshing support for newer hardware with its October 2015 launch. USB-C was starting to see wide adoption as a universal standard, so Google added support for it. Native API support for fingerprint biometrics, 4K app rendering, and even MIDI support for musical instruments were also introduced with Marshmallow. Security was vastly improved with more granular permissions controls, letting users revoke apps that got too greedy with their device data, though those systems were still far from perfect and have been improved upon in more recent versions. But Marshmallow's most important feature was one most users would never notice, a deep sleep state called Doze that detected when your phone wasn't being used — for example, leaving it on the table overnight — and turn off all unnecessary functions, saving idle users a ton of battery juice.

The Nexus 6P was the main launch device for Marshmallow, with a "visor" camera design that would resurface years later on the Pixel 6 line. Ironically, the 6P was made by Huawei, which is no longer allowed to sell phones in the US market.

The second — and last — Android version to feature a popular snack brand tie-in, Oreo was launched in August of 2017 at an event held outside the trendy Chelsea Market in New York City, the location of the Oreo cookie's invention (via CNET). Among the headlining changes, notifications got another set of improvements, including dots on app icons to indicate unread alerts, as well as the ability to snooze notifications, and the notification shade now automatically sorted by priority and category to manage the increasing flood of app alerts people were experiencing. Bluetooth devices were now able to show battery life device-side, a welcome change as wireless buds grew in popularity. Picture-in-picture was added, allowing users to watch video while using other apps. Perhaps the best change most users didn't notice was Project Treble, a play on the phrase, "All bass, no treble," that allowed apps to only download parts of an app that needed updating, instead of redownloading the whole app. This significantly cut down update sizes.

On the hardware side of the equation, Google's Pixel 2 XL was beset by problems with its screen, but otherwise received lots of praise. Displays would continue to be the weak point of the Pixel lineup when compared to those from competitors like Samsung or Apple.

With Android 10, released in September of 2019, Google finally dropped their dessert naming scheme with 10 letters left to go (a fact that still makes completionist brains itch), but it was internally known as Quince Tart, so maybe that's for the best. It was a pretty big update, revamping gesture navigations to be more like the iPhone's. Unlike the iPhone, it had back gestures, although they conflicted with apps that had navigation drawers accessed by swiping in from the side of the screen and it took some time before developers updated their apps to remove those once-ubiquitous UI elements. Swiping from the bottom corner of the screen now activated Assistant. Other nice-to-haves included a system-wide dark mode to save users' eyes and batteries, as well as a major location permissions overhaul.

Android 10 launched in 2019, just as Samsung released its first ever foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold, and Google accordingly added foldable support with this update. Although that original Fold was plagued with issues and had to be re-released, foldable devices have only proliferated on the market in subsequent years. Google clearly saw that trend coming.

Internally codenamed Snow Cone, Android 12 was introduced in October of 2021, bringing the biggest design changes since Material was introduced. The new system, Material You, allowed system elements, app icons, and widgets to take on colors complementing the selected home screen wallpaper. Once again, this enticing visual refresh was the work of lead Google designer Matías Duarte.

More significant privacy features were introduced with Android 12, including indicators when the camera or microphones are accessed, the ability to only show apps an approximate location, and a new Privacy Dashboard. The next year, in 2022, Android 12L was released, a minor update focused on improving support for foldables, tablets, and other devices with larger screens. This was likely due to the development of the Pixel Fold, which Google would release two years later in 2023.

Google launched the Pixel 6 alongside Android 12, which brought the first major hardware design change to the company's phone lineup. It sported a "visor" camera bump that echoed the design of the years-old Nexus 6, and also marked the first time Google deployed custom silicon with the Tensor processor.

Codenamed Upside-Down Cake internally at Google, Android 14 is the latest version of Android, and it recently started rolling out at the beginning of October 2023. Its development was delayed by a month to ensure stability, although betas have been available for quite a while. The biggest ease-of-use improvement is a preview when back gestures are used that indicates whether the gesture will return to a previous screen or exit the app entirely, and also shows a preview of that page on some versions. It's a welcome update, since horizontal swipes in apps have been a minefield ever since the side-swipe back gesture was introduced, as you'll inevitably end up going to a previous page by accident if you're not precise.

Support for using phones as webcams is also here, so you can use your beefy flagship camera instead of your laptop's dinky built-in webcam in video meetings. Meanwhile, new accessibility features let you make text bigger while using smart scaling so those with poor eyesight can still see more than one thing onscreen.

Fifteen years after Android took its first steps, it has grown up into a remarkably mature operating system, capable of powering devices in an array of form factors and dominating the global market. Yet even while being adaptable enough to be forked and reskinned by major manufacturers, even as the world around it changed dramatically, it retains a core identity. Whatever the next fifteen years may hold, Android will sit in the pockets of billions of people around the globe.