What is Android?
Android” is a term given to a robot with a male human form, while “Gynoid” is a term for a robot with a female human form. Where this name appeared in the year 1270 and continued to spread until Google adopted it and named this name on the open source smartphone operating system that it launched. We are not, of course, talking about robots here. But when Android is mentioned, we are talking about smartphones, or more precisely about the smartphone operating system. Android is a very popular mobile operating system based on Linux and developed by Google. Android can be installed on smartphones, smartwatches, and even some types of Car Stereo players. Let’s take a look at the features of Android.
Android Open Source Project:
Android is a widely adopted open source project. Google is actively working on developing the Android platform, but offers part of it for free to device manufacturers and phone companies who want to equip their devices with Android. Google only charges manufacturers if they also install the Google Apps part of the Android operating system on their devices.
Many (but not all) major devices that use Android as their operating system also choose to include the Google Apps portion of the service within their devices. One notable exception among these companies that do not include Google apps on their devices is Amazon. Although Kindle Fire devices manufactured by Amazon are Android tablets, they do not use Google parts and apps in their devices, and Amazon includes a separate Android app store in their devices.
Using Android Beyond the Phone:
The Android system powers phones and tablets, but Samsung has experimented with Android interfaces on other electronic devices (other than phones) such as digital cameras and even some types of refrigerators that it manufactures.
Android TV is both a gaming and video streaming platform that uses the Android platform.
Parrot manufactures a “ digital photo frame “ and car stereo system all powered by Android.
Some devices customize (modify and equip) the open source Android system without integrating Google apps with it, so you may or may not recognize Android when you see it. The list of customizations and applications goes on and on, and we won’t talk about them here any more.
Open Handset Alliance:
Google formed a grouping of hardware, software, and telecommunications companies called the Open Handset Alliance, with the aim of these companies contributing to the development of Android. Most members (companies) also aim to make money with Android, either by selling phones, selling phone services or selling Android phone apps.
Android App Market (Google Play):
Anyone can download the Software Development Kit (SDK) and program apps for Android phones and start developing and publishing them on Google Play Store. Google takes 30% of the sales price from developers who sell their apps in the Google Play Market, in order to maintain the Google Play Market. (These fees charged by Google are fairly typical for other app publishing markets.)
Some devices do not have Google Play support and may use an alternative marketplace. Kindle devices use the Amazon app marketplace , which means that Amazon (like Google) makes money from any app sales made through its own marketplace.
Service Providers:
The iPhone is very popular and popular, but when it was first introduced, it was exclusive to AT&T Communications. Whereas Android is an open platform. Android phones can be offered by many mobile operators, although mobile phone manufacturers (Samsung, Huawei, etc.) may have an exclusive agreement with the mobile operator, and this agreement enables the user to purchase A smartphone at a reduced price or in installments without interest, provided that a phone line is purchased and the networks of a particular operator are used. This flexibility has allowed Android to grow at an incredible speed as a smartphone platform.
Google services:
Since Google has developed Android, Android comes with a lot of Google services and applications installed, for example most Android phones come with pre-installed applications such as “ Gmail “, “Google Calendar”, and “ Google Maps “. And “ Google Now “.
Since Android is modifiable, carriers can choose this mod. For example, Verizon Wireless has modified some Android phones to use Bing as the default search engine instead of Google . You can also remove a Google account on your own from most Android phones.
Touch screen:
Android supports touch screens and is difficult to use without a touch screen device. You can use Trackball to make navigations within Android, but almost everything on Android is done with touch. Android also supports “Multi-touch gestures” such as two-finger pinch and drag to zoom in and out. However, Android is flexible enough that it can support other input devices, such as “JoySticks” (for Android TVs) or popular keyboards (Keyboards).
The electronic keyboard (the on-screen keyboard) in most versions of Android works by either tapping the keys individually, or dragging between letters to form words. Android then guesses what you want to type and automatically completes the word. This drag-style interaction may seem slower at first, but experienced users find it much faster than typing messages by single-clicking the letters.
Safety:
Today, almost all Android phones offer some level of security, from fingerprint recognition to facial recognition features. Most phone versions also support two-factor authentication (two-step verification), and offer lock screen security options such as tracing a pattern through dots or entering a PIN or password to prevent strangers from accessing the phone. You can also lock apps in different methods.
Retail:
One of the frequent criticisms of Android is that it is a fragmented platform. Mobile phone manufacturers such as Motorola, LG, HTC, Sony, and Samsung are adding their own user interfaces to Android, and they have no intention of stopping it. These companies feel that the user interface distinguishes their brand, although the rest of the developers often express their frustration at having to support many differences between these interfaces in order for their applications to work on most Android devices.
Fragmentation advantages and disadvantages:
Android is the most exciting platform for consumers and developers. This is the opposite of the principles that iPhone manufacturers work on in many ways. Where the iPhone tries to create the best user experience by setting strict standards for hardware and software, Android tries to ensure this by unlocking as much of the operating system as possible.
This is good and tiring at the same time. Fragmented versions of Android (any version or device not made by Google) may provide a unique user experience, but they also mean fewer users of each type. This means that it’s hard to support app developers, accessory makers, and tech writers. Since when Google releases a new version or update for Android, this update is first released for Google devices (Nexus, Pixel), and then manufacturers of other phone devices (Samsung, Motorola, and others) release these updates to their devices after adjusting them according to the user interface of each A device, and this also means that it takes a long time for modified Android phones (not Google phones) to receive these updates, and sometimes these companies may not release modifications to their old devices, forcing the user to change his device always, which is something that iPhone users do not often have to do. .
Fragmentation issues aside, Android is a solid platform that houses some of the fastest and most amazing phones and tablets available in the market.
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