ANDROID

Android is a mobile system operating system based on the modified version of Linux kernel and other open source software which mainly designed for the touchscreen device such as smartphone, tablet etc. Android is developed by the Open Handset Alliance and commercially sponsored by Google.

History:

Android Inc. was founded in Palo Alto California, in October 2003 by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick  Sears and Chris white. The early intention of the company were to develop n advance operating system for digital cameras, and this was the basis of its pitch to investors in April 2004. peculation about Google’s intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006. An early prototype had a close resemblance to a BlackBerry phone, with no touchscreen and a physical QWERTY keyboard, but the arrival of 2007’s Apple iPhone meant that Android “had to go back to the drawing board”. Google later changed its Android specification documents to state that “Touchscreens will be supported”, although “the Product was designed with the presence of discrete physical buttons as an assumption, therefore a touchscreen cannot completely replace physical buttons”.

Feature:

Interface: Android’s default user interface is mainly based on direct manipulation, using touch inputs that loosely correspond to real-world actions, like swiping, tapping, pinching, and reverse pinching to manipulate on-screen objects, along with a virtual keyboard. Game controllers and full-size physical keyboards are supported via Bluetooth or USB.

Home Screen: Android devices boot to the home screen, the primary navigation and information “hub” on Android devices, analogous to the desktop found on personal computers. Android home screens are typically made up of app icons and widgets; app icons launch the associated app, whereas widgets display live, auto-updating content, such as a weather forecast, the user’s email inbox, or a news tickers directly on the home screen.

Status Bar: Along the top of the screen is a status bar, showing information about the device and its connectivity. This status bar can be pulled (swiped) down from to reveal a notification screen where apps display important information or updates, as well as quick access to system controls and toggles such as display brightness, connectivity settings (WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular data), audio mode, and flashlight. Vendors may implement extended settings such as the ability to adjust the flashlight brightness.

Notification: Notifications are “short, timely, and relevant information about your app when it’s not in use”, and when tapped, users are directed to a screen inside the app relating to the notification. Beginning with Android 4.1 “Jelly Bean”, “expandable notifications” allow the user to tap an icon on the notification in order for it to expand and display more information and possible app actions right from the notification.

App List: An “All Apps” screen lists all installed applications, with the ability for users to drag an app from the list onto the home screen. A recent screen lets users switch between recently used apps. The list may appear side-by-side or overlapping, depending on Android version.

File manager: Since Android 6 Marshmallow, a minimalistic file manager codenamed Documents UI is part of the operating system’s core, and based on the file selector. It is only accessible through the storage menu in the system settings.