The first-ever beta release for the public of Android by Google was achieved on 5 November 2007. This version was made available so that developers and users could get the hang of what was coming in 2008, which was when Android 1.0 made its debut but never got a name or made it to public users.
It’s only after Android 1.5 version, called Cupcake in 2009, that Google decided to start a tradition of naming its future Android flavours after desserts. Each version was called a "flavour" of Android.
It’s the most widely used operating platform on mobile phones in 2018, with the latest version, 9.0 named as Android Pie. It has allowed Google to mark its presence with users across different parts of the world.
It has been 11 years since the first Android beta version was released and here’s a look at how Android has evolved over these years, to become a powerful mobile platform that more than 80 percent of the world has used. Clearly, Android for Google is what Windows has been for Microsoft.
It’s interesting to see that even though the first Android release took place in 2008, the public had to wait till 2009 to get its first taste of the platform on a functioning device.
From there on, Google has tried its best to develop Android as a cross-platform ecosystem, but its success in the tablet and wearable segment has been underwhelming.
Honeycomb was its first attempt to try the convergence bit, which did show some positive signs with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as well. However, with Google diverging into Android Wear and later to Chrome OS, it accepted that Android was going to mainly stay on mobile devices.
Android is one of the reasons for Google’s success over the years, especially now that even televisions are capable of running it. There are many more flavours to come.
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