mobile operating system
A mobile operating system is an operating system for mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typical laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on ...
based on a modified version of the
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is a free and open-source, monolithic, modular, multitasking, Unix-like operating system kernel. It was originally authored in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU ope ...
and other
open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
software, designed primarily for
touchscreen
A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...
mobile devices such as
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s and tablets. Android is developed by a consortium of developers known as the Open Handset Alliance, though its most widely used version is primarily developed by
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
. It was unveiled in November 2007, with the first commercial Android device, the HTC Dream, being launched in September 2008.
At its core, the operating system is known as Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and is
free and open-source software
Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...
(FOSS) primarily licensed under the Apache License. However most devices run on the
proprietary
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Android (operating system),
2008 software
Companies based in Mountain View, California
Alphabet Inc.
ARM operating systems
Cloud clients
Computer-related introductions in 2008
Computing platforms
Embedded Linux distributions
Free mobile software
Google acquisitions
Google software
Linux distributions without systemd
Mobile Linux
Operating system families
Smartphones
Software using the Apache license
Tablet operating systems
Linux distributions
Independent Linux distributions