Android Versions & their History

Android version history:-

The version history of the Android mobile operating system began with the release of the Android beta in November 2007. The first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released in September 2008. Android is under ongoing development by Google and the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), and has seen a number of updates to its base operating system since its initial release.
Since April 2009, Android versions have been developed under a confectionery-themed code name and released in alphabetical order; the exceptions are versions 1.0 and 1.1 as they were not released under specific code names:

• Alpha (1.0)
• Beta (1.1)
• Cupcake (1.5)
• Donut (1.6)
• Eclair (2.0–2.1)
• Froyo (2.2–2.2.3)
• Gingerbread (2.3–2.3.7)
• Honeycomb (3.0–3.2.6)
• Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0–4.0.4)
• Jelly Bean (4.1–4.3.1)
• KitKat (4.4–4.4.4)
• Lollipop (5.0–5.0.2)

On September 3, 2013, Google announced that one billion activated devices now use the Android OS worldwide. The most recent major Android update was Lollipop 5.0, which was released on November 3, 2014 along with the Nexus 6 smartphone, Nexus 9 tablet, and Nexus Player set-top box.

Global Android version distribution since December 2009. As of January 2015, Android 4.4 "KitKat" is the most widely used Android version, operating on 39.1% of Android devices worldwide. At the same time, all Android "Jelly Bean" versions (4.1–4.3.1) combined are on 46% of Android devices worldwide.

 

Pre-commercial release versions (2007–2008):-

Alpha

There were at least two internal releases inside Google and the OHA before the Beta was released in November 2007. For the milestones in internal releases, names of fictional robots were chosen, with various releases code-named "Astro Boy", "Bender" and "R2-D2". Dan Morrill created some of the first mascot logos, but the current green Android logo was designed by Irina Blok. The project manager, Ryan Gibson, conceived of the confections naming scheme that has been used for the majority of the public releases, starting with Android 1.5.

Beta

The Beta was released on November 5, 2007, while the software development kit (SDK) was released on November 12, 2007.The November 5 date is popularly celebrated as Android's "birthday". Public beta versions of the SDK were released in the following order:

• November 16, 2007: m3-rc22a
• December 14, 2007: m3-rc37a
• February 13, 2008: m5-rc14
• March 3, 2008: m5-rc15
• August 18, 2008: 0.9
• September 23, 2008: 1.0-r1
  

 

Version history by API level:-

The following tables show the release dates and key features of all Android operating system updates to date, listed chronologically by their official application programming interface (API) levels.

Android 1.0 (API level 1) Android 1.0 (API level 1)

Android 1.1 (API level 2) Android 1.1 (API level 2)

Android 1.5 Cupcake (API level 3) Android 1.5 Cupcake (API level 3)

Android 1.6 Donut (API level 4)

Android 2.0 Eclair (API level 5) Android 2.0 Eclair (API level 5)

Android 2.0.1 Eclair (API level 6) Android 2.0.1 Eclair (API level 6)

Android 2.1 Eclair (API level 7) Android 2.1 Eclair (API level 7)

Android 2.2–2.2.3 Froyo (API level 8) Android 2.2–2.2.3 Froyo (API level 8)

Android 2.3–2.3.2 Gingerbread (API level 9) Android 2.3–2.3.2 Gingerbread (API level 9)

Android 2.3.3–2.3.7 Gingerbread (API level 10) Android 2.3.3–2.3.7 Gingerbread (API level 10)

Android 3.0 Honeycomb (API level 11) Android 3.0 Honeycomb (API level 11)

Android 3.1 Honeycomb (API level 12)

Android 3.2 Honeycomb (API level 13)

Android 4.0–4.0.2 Ice Cream Sandwich (API level 14) Android 4.0–4.0.2 Ice Cream Sandwich (API level 14)

Android 4.0.3–4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich (API level 15) Android 4.0.3–4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich (API level 15)

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean (API level 16) Android 4.1 Jelly Bean (API level 16)

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean (API level 17) Android 4.2 Jelly Bean (API level 17)

Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (API level 18) Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (API level 18)

Android 4.4 KitKat (API level 19) Android 4.4 KitKat (API level 19)

Android 4.4 KitKat with wearable extensions (API level 20) Android 4.4 KitKat with wearable extensions (API level 20)

Android 5.0 Lollipop (API level 21) Android 5.0 Lollipop (API level 21)

Android 5.0 "Lollipop" was unveiled under the codename "Android L" on June 25, 2014 during Google I/O, and became available as official over-the-air (OTA) updates on November 12, 2014 for select devices that run distributions of Android serviced by Google, including Nexus and Google Play edition devices. Its source code was made available on November 3, 2014. Lollipop brings a redesigned user interface built around a responsive design language referred to as "material design". Other changes include improvements to the notifications, which can be accessed from the lockscreen and displayed within applications as top-of-the-screen banners. Google also made internal changes to the platform, with the Android Runtime (ART) officially replacing Dalvik for improved application performance, and with changes intended to improve and optimize battery usage, known internally as Project Volta.