Android operating system version history

The version history of the Android mobile operating system began with the public release of the Android beta in November 5, 2007. The first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released in September 2008. Android is continually developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance, and it has seen a number of updates to its base operating system since the initial release.

Versions 1.0 and 1.1 were not released under specific code names. Android code names are confectionery-themed and have been in alphabetical order since 2009's Android 1.5 Cupcake, with the most recent major version being Android 7.0 Nougat, released in August 2016.

Note: To clarify, support for e.g. Android 4.4.4 KitKat (Google's support cut-off), means at least security patches in 2014, 2016 and 2017. The updates may or may not reach actual users' devices; that depends on vendors. Google (and others) may support their own users' devices with a major upgrade only, instead of a security update to those older versions, but it's possible to do.

A version of Android KitKat exclusive to Android Wear devices was released on June 25, 2014, with an API level of 20.

The development of Android started in 2003 by Android, Inc., which was purchased by Google in 2005.

There were at least two internal releases of the software inside Google and the OHA before the beta version was released. The code names "Astro Boy" and "Bender" were used internally for some pre-1.0 milestones.

Dan Morrill created some of the first mascot logos, but the current Android logo was designed by Irina Blok. The project manager, Ryan Gibson, conceived the confectionery-themed naming scheme that has been used for the majority of the public releases, starting with Android 1.5 Cupcake.

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:

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.

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