List of android versions with names

What is android:

Android is a mobile operating system first time developed by android incorporation in 2005. In 2007, android was acquired by Google. When Google bought android, it was not so popular and it was going in loss. Google released many versions of android operating system. The android operating system is made in Java.

There are millions of apps that are developed for android devices. As you know Apple has also mobile operating system known as iOS. iOS only runs on Apple devices but on the other hand android operating system runs on huge range of devices i.e. Samsung, HTC, Huawei, OPPO, and many others.

Below is the list of all android versions with names that are released:-

No codename – 1.0:

Version 1.0 was released in 23 September, 2008. Below are the features of version 1.0:-

Gmail synchronization
SMS, MMS, and instant messaging support
Media player and Bluetooth support
Wi-Fi and YouTube media player
Google maps with street view and GPS support
Google search, Google contacts sync, Google calendar sync and Google talk support
Many other apps like calculator, Alarm clock, Gallery, Settings etc.
Users can set and change wallpaper which is behind icons and widgets on home screen
Grouping of apps into single folder
Can support email servers including POP3, SMTP and IMAP4
With web browser you can view Html and xHtml pages

Petit Four – 1.1:

Petit Four was released in 9 February, 2009. Below are the features of Petit Four:-

Users can save attachments of pictures shared in messages
Now layouts have marquee support
Google Maps has more details i.e. reviews available for the businesses that show in google maps
Users can now show/hide dial pad during calling

CupCake – 1.5:

CupCake was released in 27 April, 2009. Below are the features of CupCake:-

Screens have now animated transition
Now users can upload videos to YouTube
Web browser has now copy and paste feature
New videos formats supported i.e. 3GP and MPEG-4
Screens have now auto-rotation on angle change of device
Users can now install third party virtual keywords that also support dictionary and suggest custom words
Pictures upload to Picasa

Donut – 1.6:

Donut was released in 15 September 2009. Here are some features of Donut:-

Camera, gallery and camcorder was improved
Gesture framework is expanded
Apps have improved search results and now users have ability to see app screenshots before install
WVGA screen resolution
Voice search
Text to speech and VPN supported

Eclair – 2.0-2.1:

Eclair was released in 26 October 2009. Some of Eclair features are:-

Google maps was improved
Multiple accounts sync to device
Improved browser UI and HTML5 support
Live wallpapers were introduced which show animation on screen movement
Fast typing speed of virtual keyboard and enhanced dictionary and new words are added to the memory for later use
Hardware speed is optimized
Now support more screen sizes and have nice contrast ratio on screen resolution
Flash support in camera, digital zoom and white balance in camera
Color effects in camera

Froyo – 2.2-2.2.3:

Froyo was released in 20 May 2010. Some features of Froyo are listed below:-

Browser has more features for gif images i.e. now showing all frames of gif not just first frame
Addition of USB Tethering and WI-FI hotspot
Now Bluetooth enabled in car and desk docks
Adobe flash was supported
Overall speed of android device is optimized
Files can be now uploaded to browser apps
Browser and phone shortcuts are introduced in app launcher
Microsoft products are enhanced with new security and sync capability
Disabling of data on mobile networks is added

Gingerbread – 2.3-2.3.7:

Gingerbread was released in 6 December 2010. Below are some features of gingerbread:-

Game developers now have more control over audio, input and graphical utilities
Extra-large screens are supported
New download manager for files download from browser, apps and email
UI is improved for fast speed
Multiple cameras are now supported i.e. if front camera is present then it is also integrated with android
For performance improvement garbage collection is made concurrent
Copy and paste feature is now easy to use i.e. holding and pressing will copy and paste
Added support for NFC (Near field communication)
Faster virtual keyboard with voice input and suggested words are improved

Honeycomb – 3.0-3.2.6:

Honeycomb was released in 22 February, 2011. Honeycomb has following features added:-

Acceleration in hardware
User data is now encrypted
Virtual keyboard is now redesigned for faster typing and making typing efficient and accurate for larger screens
Multi core processors are now supported
Now apps cannot write to secondary storage
System bar is added for notification and is available at the bottom of screen
Intuitive copy and paste interface
Now browser support multiple tabs and has incognito access for anonymous browsing
Camera has more features in flash, front facing, focus, zoom with quick access
Contacts manager has now new UI and is nicely managed
Photo albums can be viewed in full screen and can be accessed with thumbnails
Now users can select one or more email messages and UI of email app is improved
Android market apps are now automatically updated

Ice Cream Sandwich – 4.0-4.0.4

Ice Cream Sandwich was released in 18 October 2011. It has following features:-

Voice quality improved and better voice to text conversion
Now gallery is organized with location and person
1080p video recording is introduced in android stock device
Copy and paste functionality is improved
WI-FI direct is introduced
Now apps can shut down with a swipe
Calendar has now pinch to zoom functionality
Screen can be rotated smoothly
Camera performance in improved
If your device is locked you can access to apps with a single touch
Browsers have now bookmarks sync to device
Folders on device can be created with drag and drop functionality
New image format known as WebP is introduced
Photo editor is now built in with the device and video recording has now zoom functionality
Virtual keyboard has improved error correction

Jelly Bean – 4.1-4.3.1

Jelly Bean was released in 9 July 2012. Jelly Bean has following features:-

Now notifications can be expandable
Widgets and shortcuts can be re-arranged automatically to fit other items on the home screen
Enhanced accessibility
Now audio has multichannel support
Specific apps notifications can be turn on and off
Rotation on home screen can be enabled/disabled
Group messaging support
Clock in device is improved with world timing, stop watch and timer
For wireless charging and low battery, new sounds are introduced
Bluetooth low energy support
Now emoji is natively built in the device
4k resolution is supported

KitKat – 4.4-4.4.4

KitKat was released in 31 October 2013. KitKat has following features:-

Sensor batching
UI transition packed with new framework
Counter API
Step detector
Wireless printing capability
Low capacity devices are now optimized in performance
WI-FI and mobile data is now moved to quick settings
Security is enhanced
Google maps has now new UI interface update
GPS support
Music playback in offline mode

Lollipop – 5.0-5.1.1

Lollipop was released in 12 November 2014. Following are the features of Lollipop:-

WI-FI has now native calling support
Widgets are removed from lock screen
Print previews are now supported
Smart lock feature
64-bit CPU’s are supported
USB devices have now audio input and output support
New emoji’s are added
Notification have new UI and pull down of quick settings
UI with material design is introduced

Marshmallow – 6.0-6.0.1

Marshmallow was released in 5 October, 2015. Below are the features of Marshmallow:-

Apps have now 4k display mode
Direct sharing between target specific apps
MIDI support for music
Standby feature for app
Removal of Miracast support
Fingerprint reader is now natively supported in the device
Now users can search contextually within the apps
Apps have now full backup and restore functionality
Search bar for applications
Multi-window feature introduced as beta
If app folders have more apps then it is multi paged automatically
Doze mode is added by which mobile battery is less used in inactive mode
USB-C support is added

Nougat – 7.0-7.1.2

Nougat was released in 22 August, 2016. Nougat has following features:-

New emoji’s are added and previous emoji’s are improved in UI
File browser get improved
New API of Vulkan 3D is added
Zoom to screen is added
Clear All option added to the screen
Now multiple windows can be floated on the screen
Overview screen is redesigned
File based encryption is supported
Doze functionality is improved by which device can save battery timings
File browser is improved
Android TV has now picture-to-picture support
Daydream VR(Virtual Reality) is added
More locales are supported for the device
Quick settings have more options added
Notification cards are replaced with notification sheets
Display and touch performance is improved in the device

Oreo – 8.0-8.1

Oreo was released in 21 August 2017. Oreo has following features:-

New API’s added i.e. Shared memory, Neural networks, and Wallpaper Colors
Light and dark themes are made automatic
White color with toast messages and toast messages retain the old transparency
Icons are now responsive
Google play protect is introduced
Improvement in notifications
Support for multi-display
Downloadable fonts is added
WI-FI assistant
Emoji’s are improved
Faster boot time than previous version
Now apps are limited in consuming CPU time in background

Pie – 9.0

Pie was released in 6 August, 2018. Pie has following features:-

Battery percentage is now always shown
On the left side of screen, clock is now displayed
Now user can know which app he has used in a day and how much time he spends on the app. This stats is displayed on the dashboard of the device. User can also limit the time that he want to use for the app
Switching within or between apps has new transitions
NFC unlock
Vulkan is updated to 1.1 version
When battery is low then orange overlay is not displayed but only one color is displayed in notification and status bar
App icons have embed in rounded shape
Quick setting menu has new UI interface
Device screen brightness is now controlled by the user activity on the apps
Semitransparent background for dock
Volume slider is redesigned
Bluetooth is automatically enabled in cars
In settings menu, about phone interface is updated
Shush and adaptive battery is introduced

Queen Cake – 10.0

Queen Cake or version 10.0 was released in 3 September, 2019. Version 10 has following features:-

Biometric authentication in apps is now improved
Foldable phones are now supported
Background apps cannot go to foreground automatically
Photos can be edited more smoothly and have more features
Notification bubbles are now supported
Support for Opus audio codec and AV1 video codec
HDR10+ video format is now supported
MIDI API is now natively supported in the operating system which controls music controllers
Sharing shortcuts enabling sharing of content directly to the contacts

Android Operating system is releasing updates often and every update of the OS is not dependent on any specific date. The major updates normally comes after few months.

Note that android market is very big now and monitoring every app is not possible. So there are chances that some apps spread virus or may get access to your device data. So before installing any app, you can check its reviews on the google play store and avoid installing third party apps.