A mobile operating system is an operating system for mobile phones,

tablet Tablet may refer to: Medicine * Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill" Computing * Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the ...

smartwatch A smartwatch is a wearable computer in the form of a watch; modern smartwatches provide a local touchscreen interface for daily use, while an associated smartphone app provides management and telemetry, such as long-term biomonitoring. While e ...

es, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal

mobile computing device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physica ...

s. While computers such as typical

laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

s are "mobile", the operating systems used on them are generally not considered mobile ones, as they were originally designed for

desktop computer A desktop computer (often abbreviated desktop) is a personal computer designed for regular use at a single location on or near a desk due to its size and power requirements. The most common configuration has a case that houses the power supply ...

s that historically did not have or need specific ''mobile'' features. This line distinguishing mobile and other forms has become blurred in recent years, due to the fact that newer devices have become smaller and more mobile unlike hardware of the past. Key notabilities blurring this line are the introduction of tablet computers and light-weight

s and the hybridization of the two in 2-in-1 PCs. Mobile operating systems combine features of a

operating system with other features useful for mobile or handheld use, and usually including a wireless inbuilt modem and

SIM Sim or SIM may refer to: Computing and technology *SIM card or Subscriber Identity Module, used by mobile telephones * HP Systems Insight Manager, a system management tool * Scientific instrument module in the Apollo command and service module ...

tray for telephony and data connection. In Q1 2018, over 383 million smartphones were sold (highest ever recorded) with 86.2 percent running Android and 12.9 percent running

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

. Nonetheless, although not as many as 2018 (1.56 billion), 2021 still had soaring sales, 1.43 billion to be exact with 83.32 percent being Android. Android alone is more popular than the popular desktop operating system Microsoft Windows, and in general smartphone use (even without tablets) outnumbers desktop use. Mobile devices, with mobile communications abilities (e.g., smartphones), contain two mobile operating systemsthe main user-facing software platform is supplemented by a second low-level proprietary real-time operating system which operates the radio and other hardware. Research has shown that these low-level systems may contain a range of security vulnerabilities permitting malicious base stations to gain high levels of control over the mobile device. Mobile operating systems have majority use since 2017 (measured by web use); with even only the smartphones running them (excluding tablets) having majority use, more used than any other kind of device.TechFoogle, June 30, 2019
Top 10 Mobile Operating System
Thus traditional desktop OS is now a minority-used kind of OS; see usage share of operating systems. However, variations occur in popularity by regions, while desktop-minority also applies on some days in countries such as United States and United Kingdom.

Timeline

Mobile operating system milestones mirror the development of mobile phones, PDAs, and smartphones:

Pre-1993

* 1973–1993 – Mobile phones use

embedded system An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded'' a ...

s to control operation.

1993–1999

* 1993 ** April – PenPoint OS by GO Corp. becomes available on the

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...

EO Personal Communicator. ** August –

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ...

launches Newton OS running on their Newton series of portable computers. * 1994 ** March – Magic Cap OS by

General Magic General Magic was an American software and electronics company co-founded by Bill Atkinson, Andy Hertzfeld, and Marc Porat. Based in Mountain View, California, the company developed precursors to "USB, software modems, small touchscreens, to ...

is first introduced on the

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Magic Link PDA. ** August – The first smartphone, the

IBM Simon The IBM Simon Personal Communicator (simply known as IBM Simon) is a handheld, touchscreen PDA designed by International Business Machines (IBM), and manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric. Although the term " smartphone" was not coined until 19 ...

, has a touchscreen, email, and PDA features. * 1996 ** March – The Palm

Pilot 1000 The Pilot 1000 and Pilot 5000 were the first generations of PDAs produced by Palm Computing (then a subsidiary of U.S. Robotics). It was introduced in March 1996. The Pilot uses a Motorola 68328 processor at 16 MHz, and had 128 kB (Pilot ...

personal digital assistant A personal digital assistant (PDA), also known as a handheld PC, is a variety mobile device which functions as a personal information manager. PDAs have been mostly displaced by the widespread adoption of highly capable smartphones, in part ...

is introduced with the

Palm OS Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) was a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS was designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provi ...

mobile operating system. ** August – Nokia releases the

Nokia 9000 Communicator The Nokia 9000 Communicator was the first product in Nokia's Communicator series, announced at CeBIT 1996 and introduced into the market on 15 August 1996. The phone was large and heavy at but powerful at the time. It is powered by an Intel 24&n ...

running an integrated system based on the PEN/GEOS 3.0 OS from Geoworks. * 1997 – EPOC32 first appears on the

Psion Series 5 The Psion Series 5 was a personal digital assistant (PDA) from Psion. It came in two main variants, the ''Series 5'' (launched in 1997) and the ''Series 5mx'' (1999), the latter having a faster processor, clearer liquid crystal display (LCD), a ...

PDA. Release 6 of EPOC32 will later be renamed to

Symbian OS Symbian is a discontinued mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for smartphones. It was originally developed as a proprietary software OS for personal digital assistants in 1998 by the Symbian Ltd. consortium. Symbia ...

. * 1998 – Symbian Ltd. is formed as a joint venture by Psion, Ericsson, Motorola, and Nokia, Psion's EPOC32 OS becomes Symbian's EPOC operating system, and is later renamed to

. Symbian's OS was used by those companies and several other major mobile phone brands, but especially Nokia. * 1999 ** June – Qualcomm's pdQ becomes the first smartphone with

. ** October – Nokia S40 Platform is officially introduced along with the Nokia 7110, the first phone with T9

predictive text Predictive text is an input technology used where one key or button represents many letters, such as on the numeric keypads of mobile phones and in accessibility technologies. Each key press results in a ''prediction'' rather than repeatedly ...

input and a

Wireless Application Protocol Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network. A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that use the protocol. Introduced in 1999, WAP achie ...

(WAP) browser for accessing specially formatted Internet data.

2000s

* 2000 – The Ericsson R380 is released with EPOC32 Release 5, marking the first use on a phone of what's to become known as

(as of Release 6). * 2001 ** June – Nokia's

Symbian Symbian is a discontinued mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for smartphones. It was originally developed as a proprietary software OS for personal digital assistants in 1998 by the Symbian Ltd. consortium. Symbi ...

Series 80 platform is first released on the Nokia 9210 Communicator This is the first phone running an OS branded as Symbian, and the first phone using that OS that allows user installation of additional software. ** September – Qualcomm's

Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (Brew MP, Brew, Qualcomm BREW, or BREW) is an application development platform created by Qualcomm, originally for code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile phones, featuring third-party applications suc ...

(BREW) platform on their REX

real-time operating system A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an operating system (OS) for real-time applications that processes data and events that have critically defined time constraints. An RTOS is distinct from a time-sharing operating system, such as Unix, whic ...

(RTOS) is first released on the Kyocera QCP-3035. * 2002 ** March ***

BlackBerry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus '' Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy ...

releases its first smartphone, running Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME). *** UIQ is first released, at v2.0, on

, and becomes available later in the year on the

Sony Ericsson P800 The Sony Ericsson P800 is a smartphone introduced in 2002 based upon UIQ version 2.0 (which itself is based upon Symbian OS v7.0) from Sony Ericsson. The P800 is considered the successor of the Ericsson R380, and initial design work was done wi ...

, the successor to the Ericsson R380. ** June *** Microsoft's first

Windows CE Windows Embedded Compact, formerly Windows Embedded CE, Windows Powered and Windows CE, is an operating system subfamily developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows Embedded family of products. Unlike Windows Embedded Standard, which is b ...

(Pocket PC) smartphones are introduced. *** Nokia's

Series 60 (S60) platform is released with the Nokia 7650, Nokia's first phone with a camera and

Multimedia Messaging Service Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a standard way to send messages that include multimedia content to and from a mobile phone over a cellular network. Users and providers may refer to such a message as a PXT, a picture message, or a multimed ...

(MMS). S60 would form the basis of the OS on most of Nokia's smartphones until 2011, when they adopted Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. S60 was also used on some phones from Samsung and others, and later by Sony Ericsson after the consolidation of some Symbian UI variants in 2008. ** October – The Danger Hiptop (T-Mobile Sidekick in U.S.) is first released by Danger, Inc., running DangerOS. * 2003 – Motorola introduces first Linux-based cellphone Motorola A760 base on Linux MontaVista distribution. * 2005 ** May – Microsoft announces Windows Mobile 5.0. ** November – Nokia introduces

Maemo Maemo is a software platform originally developed by Nokia, now developed by the community, for smartphones and Internet tablets. The platform comprises both the Maemo operating system and SDK. Maemo played a key role in Nokia's strategy to ...

OS on the first, small Internet tablet, the N770, with a 4.13" screen. * 2007 ** January – Apple's iPhone with

(named "iPhone OS" for its first three releases) is introduced as a "widescreen iPod", "mobile phone", and "Internet communicator". ** February – Microsoft announces Windows Mobile 6.0. ** May – Palm announces the

Palm Foleo The Palm Foleo was a planned subnotebook computer that was announced by mobile device manufacturer Palm Inc. on May 30, 2007, and canceled three months later. It intended to serve as a companion for smartphones including Palm's own Treo line. T ...

, a "Mobile Companion" device similar to a

subnotebook Subnotebook, also called ultraportable, superportable, or mini notebook, was a marketing term for laptop computers that are smaller and lighter than a typical notebook-sized laptop. Types and sizes As typical laptop sizes have decreased over t ...

computer, running a modified

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which in ...

kernel and relying on a companion

Palm Treo The Palm Treo (stylized as Trēo) is a discontinued line of smartphones originally developed by Handspring, which was bought by Palm, Inc. They were then manufactured and maintained by Palm, Inc. Treos had a number of integrated features such ...

smartphone to send and retrieve mail, as well as provide data connectivity when away from WiFi. Palm canceled Foleo development on September 4, 2007, after facing public criticism. ** June - World's very first iPhone is released in the United States. ** November – Open Handset Alliance (OHA) is established, led by Google with 34 members ( HTC,

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data s ...

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

, LG, etc.) * 2008 ** February – LiMo Foundation announces the first phones running the LiMo mobile Linux distribution, from

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network solu ...

, Panasonic Mobile, and

, released later in the year. The LiMo Foundation later became the Tizen Association and LiMo was subsumed by

Tizen Tizen () is a Linux-based mobile operating system backed by the Linux Foundation, mainly developed and used primarily by Samsung Electronics. The project was originally conceived as an HTML5-based platform for mobile devices to succeed MeeGo. Sa ...

. ** June – Nokia becomes the sole owner of Symbian Ltd. The Symbian Foundation was then formed to co-ordinate the future development of the

platform among the corporations using it, in a manner similar to the Open Handset Alliance with Android. Nokia remained the major contributor to Symbian's code. ** July –

releases

iPhone OS 2 iPhone OS 2 is the second major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iPhone OS 1. It was the first release of iOS to support third-party applications via the App Store. iPhone OS 2.2.1 was t ...

with the

iPhone 3G The iPhone 3G (also known as iPhone 2) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc.; it is the second generation of iPhone, successor to the original iPhone, and was introduced on June 9, 2008, at the WWDC 2008 at the Mosco ...

, making available

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the c ...

. ** October – OHA releases Android (based on

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 ...

) 1.0 with the

HTC Dream The HTC Dream (also known as the T-Mobile G1 in the United States and parts of Europe, and as the Era G1 in Poland) is a smartphone developed by HTC. First released in September 2008, the Dream was the first commercially released device to us ...

(T-Mobile G1) as the first Android phone. ** November – Symbian^1, the Symbian Foundation's touch-specific S60-based platform (equivalent to S60 5th edition) is first released on Nokia's first touchscreen Symbian phone, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, with a resistive screen and a stylus. Symbian^1 being derived from S60 meant that support for UIQ disappeared and no further devices using UIQ were released. * 2009 ** January ***

announces

Moblin Moblin, short for 'mobile Linux', is a discontinued open source operating system and application stack for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), netbooks, nettops and embedded devices. Built around the Intel Atom processor, all builds were designed to ...

2, specifically created for

netbook Netbook was a commonly used term that identified a product class of small and inexpensive laptops which were sold from 2007 to around 2013. These machines were designed primarily as cost-effective tools for consumers to access the Inte ...

s that run the company's

Atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, ...

processor. In April 2009 Intel turned Moblin over to the

Linux Foundation The Linux Foundation (LF) is a non-profit technology consortium founded in 2000 as a merger between Open Source Development Labs and the Free Standards Group to standardize Linux, support its growth, and promote its commercial adoption. Addit ...

. *** Palm introduces

webOS webOS, also known as LG webOS and previously known as Open webOS, HP webOS and Palm webOS, is a Linux kernel-based multitasking operating system for smart devices such as smart TVs that has also been used as a mobile operating system. Initiall ...

with the

Palm Pre The Palm Pre , styled as palm prē, is a multitasking smartphone that was designed and marketed by Palm with a multi-touch screen and a sliding keyboard. The smartphone was the first to use Palm's Linux-based mobile operating system, webOS. The ...

(released in June). The new OS is not backward-compatible with their previous

. ** February *** Palm announces that no further devices with

are going to be released by the company. (The last was the

Palm Centro The Palm Centro is a smartphone marketed by Palm, Inc. beginning its release on October 14, 2007 offering the functionality of the larger Treo 755p in a smaller size. The Centro is one of the last devices to run the Palm OS operating system. The ...

, released October 14, 2007.) *** Microsoft announces

Windows Mobile 6.5 Windows Mobile 6.5 was a stopgap update to Windows Mobile 6.1 intended to bridge the gap between version 6.1, that arrived in 2008, and Windows Phone 7 that was released in 2010. It was never part of Microsoft's original mobile phone roadmap, ...

, an "unwanted stopgap" update to Windows Mobile 6.1 intended to bridge the gap between version 6.1 and the then yet-to-be released Windows Mobile 7 (later canceled in favor of

Windows Phone 7 Windows Phone 7 is the first release of the Windows Phone mobile client operating system, released worldwide on October 21, 2010, and in the United States on November 8, 2010. It runs on the Windows CE 6.0 kernel. It received multiple large upda ...

). The first devices running it appeared in late October 2009. ** May – DangerOS 5.0 becomes available, based on

NetBSD NetBSD is a free and open-source Unix operating system based on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). It was the first open-source BSD descendant officially released after 386BSD was forked. It continues to be actively developed and is ava ...

. ** June –

releases iPhone OS 3 with the

iPhone 3GS The iPhone 3GS (originally styled iPhone 3G S) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the third generation iPhone and the successor to the iPhone 3G. It was unveiled on June 8, 2009 at the WWDC 2009 which took p ...

. ** November – Nokia releases the

Nokia N900 The Nokia N900 is a smartphone made by Nokia. It supersedes the Nokia N810. Its default operating system, Maemo 5, is a Linux-based OS originally developed for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. It is the first Nokia device based upon the Tex ...

, its first and only smartphone running the

OS intended for "handheld computers...with voice capability", while stating that they remain focused on

S60 as their smartphone OS. (Nokia had previously released three

Mobile Internet device A mobile Internet device (MID) is a multimedia capable mobile device providing wireless Internet access. They are designed to provide entertainment, information and location-based services for personal or business use. They allow 2-way communica ...

s running Maemo, without cellular network connectivity.)

2010s

2010

* February **

MeeGo MeeGo is a discontinued Linux distribution hosted by the Linux Foundation, using source code from the operating systems Moblin (produced by Intel) and Maemo (produced by Nokia). Primarily targeted at mobile devices and information appliances ...

is announced, a mobile

distribution merging

from Nokia and

from

and

, to be hosted by Linux Foundation. MeeGo is not backward-compatible with any previous operating system. **

introduces the

Bada Bada (stylized as bada; Korean: ) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Samsung Electronics for devices such as mid- to high-end smartphones and tablet computers. The name is derived from " (bada)", meaning " ocean" or "sea" i ...

OS and shows the first Bada smartphone, the Samsung S8500. It was later released in May 2010. * April **

releases the

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...

( first generation) with iPhone OS 3.2. This is the first version of the OS to support tablet computers. For its next major version (4.0) iPhone OS will be renamed

. ** HP acquires Palm in order to use

in multiple new products, including smartphones, tablets, and

printers Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

, later stating their intent to use it as the universal platform for all their devices. * May – Microsoft Kin phone line with KIN OS (based on

and a "close cousin" to

Windows Phone Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro desig ...

) become available. * June –

releases

iOS 4 iOS 4 is the fourth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iPhone OS 3. It was announced at the Apple Special Event on April 8, 2010, and was released on June 21, 2010. iOS 4 is the f ...

, renamed from iPhone OS, with the

iPhone 4 The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the 4S. Following a number of notable leaks, the iPhone 4 was first unvei ...

. * July – Microsoft Kin phones and KIN OS are discontinued. * September **

releases a variant of

powering the new 2nd generation Apple TV. **

Symbian^3 Symbian is a discontinued mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for smartphones. It was originally developed as a proprietary software OS for personal digital assistants in 1998 by the Symbian Ltd. consortium. Symbian O ...

is first released on the Nokia N8. This would be Nokia's last flagship device running

(though not their last Symbian phone), before switching to Windows Phone 7 for future flagship phones. ** The Danger Hiptop line and DangerOS are discontinued as a result of Microsoft's acquisition of Danger, Inc. in 2008. * November ** Nokia assumes full control over

as the Symbian Foundation disintegrates. **

OS is released on Windows Phone 7 phones by

HTC HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, s=宏达国际电子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t) or High Tech Computer Corporation, (literally ''Hongda International Electron ...

, LG,

, and

. The new OS is not backward-compatible with the prior

Windows Mobile Windows Mobile is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants. Its origin dated back to Windows CE in 1996, though Windows Mobile itself first appeared in 2000 as Pock ...

OS.

2011

* February ** Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), the first version to officially support tablet computers, is released on the Motorola Xoom. ** Nokia abandons the

OS and announces that it would use Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 as its primary smartphone platform, while Symbian would be gradually wound down. * April –

BlackBerry Tablet OS BlackBerry Tablet OS is an operating system from BlackBerry Ltd based on the QNX Neutrino real-time operating system designed to run Adobe AIR and BlackBerry WebWorks applications, currently available for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet comput ...

, based on

QNX Neutrino QNX ( or ) is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market. QNX was one of the first commercially successful microkernel operating systems. The product was originally developed in the early 19 ...

is released on the

PlayBook. * July **

Mozilla Mozilla (stylized as moz://a) is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. The Mozilla community uses, develops, spreads and supports Mozilla products, thereby promoting exclusively free software and open standards, w ...

announces their ''Boot to Gecko'' project (later named

Firefox OS Firefox OS (project name: ''Boot to Gecko'', also known as ''B2G'') is a discontinued open-source operating system made for smartphones, tablet computers, smart TVs, and dongles designed by Mozilla and external contributors. It is based on the ...

) to develop an OS for handheld devices emphasizing standards-based Web technologies, similar to

. **

3.0, the first version to support tablet computers, is released on the HP

TouchPad A touchpad or trackpad is a pointing device featuring a tactile sensor, a specialized surface that can translate the motion and position of a user's fingers to a relative position on the operating system that is made output to the screen. Touchp ...

. * August – HP announces that

device development and production lines would be halted. The last HP webOS version, 3.0.5, is released on January 12, 2012. * September **

is introduced with the limited-release

Nokia N9 The Nokia N9 (codename '' Lankku'') is a flagship smartphone developed by Nokia, running on the Linux-based MeeGo mobile operating system. Announced in June 2011 and released in September, it was the first and only device from Nokia with MeeGo, ...

, Nokia's first and only consumer device to use the OS. (A small number of the

Nokia N950 The Nokia N950 is a developers-only phone aimed toward Linux-based MeeGo OS and Nokia N9 developers. About 5,000 units were produced and sent to developers throughout July 2011. Nokia exclusively distributed the device to developers as it was not ...

, a MeeGo phone available only to developers, were released in mid-2011.) ** After Nokia's abandonment of

and the

announce a partnership with Samsung to launch

, shifting their focus from MeeGo (Intel and Linux Foundation) and

(Samsung) during 2011 and 2012. * October **

releases

iOS 5 iOS 5 is the fifth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 4. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 6, 2011, and was released on October 12, 2011. ...

with the

iPhone 4S The iPhone 4S (originally styled as iPhone 4 S, retroactively stylized with a lowercase 's' as iPhone 4s as of September 2013) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fifth generation of the iPhone, succ ...

, integrating the

Siri Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer questi ...

voice assistant. ** The Mer project is announced, based on an ultra-portable core for building products, composed of

HTML5 HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTM ...

, QML, and

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior, ofte ...

, which is derived from the

codebase. * November –

Fire OS Fire OS is a mobile operating system based on the Android Open Source Project, it is developed by Amazon for their devices. Fire OS includes proprietary software, a customized user interface primarily centered on content consumption, and heavy ...

, a fork of the Android operating system, is released by Amazon.com on the

Kindle Fire The Amazon Fire, formerly called the Kindle Fire, is a line of tablet computers developed by Amazon. Built with Quanta Computer, the Kindle Fire was first released in November 2011, featuring a color 7-inch multi-touch display with IPS tec ...

tablet.

2012

* May – Nokia releases the Nokia 808 PureView, later confirmed (in January 2013) to be the last

smartphone. This phone was followed by a single last Symbian software update, "Nokia Belle, Feature Pack 2", later in 2012. * July ** Finnish start-up

Jolla Jolla Oy (sometimes referred to as Jolla Ltd.) is a Finnish technology company; vendor and developer of Sailfish OS. Headquartered in Tampere, Finland, Jolla has its own research and development offices in Helsinki, Tampere and Cyberport, Hon ...

, formed by former Nokia employees, announces that

's community-driven successor Mer would be the basis of their new

Sailfish The sailfish is one or two species of marine fish in the genus ''Istiophorus'', which belong to the family Istiophoridae (marlins). They are predominantly blue to gray in colour and have a characteristically large dorsal fin known as the s ...

smartphone OS. **

announces that the project formerly named ''Boot to Gecko'' (which is built atop an Android Linux kernel using Android drivers and services; however it uses no Java-like code of Android) is now

(since discontinued) and has several handset OEMs on board. * August –

announces they won't ship further phones using their

OS, instead focusing on

Windows Phone 8 Windows Phone 8 is the second generation of the Windows Phone mobile operating system from Microsoft. It was released on October 29, 2012, and, like its predecessor, it features a flat user interface based on the Metro design language. It was ...

and Android. * September –

releases

iOS 6 iOS 6 is the sixth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc, being the successor to iOS 5. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 11, 2012, and was released on September 19, 201 ...

with the

iPhone 5 The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the 6th generation iPhone, succeeding both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, and preceding both the iPhone 5S and 5C. It was formally unveiled as part of a press ...

2013

* January –

releases their new operating system for smartphones,

BlackBerry 10 BlackBerry 10 is a discontinued proprietary mobile operating system for the BlackBerry line of smartphones, both developed by BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion). BlackBerry 10 is based on QNX, a Unix-like operating system that was ...

, with their Q10 and Z10 smartphones. BlackBerry 10 is not backward-compatible with the

BlackBerry OS BlackBerry OS is a discontinued proprietary mobile operating system developed by Canadian company BlackBerry Limited for its BlackBerry line of smartphone handheld devices. The operating system provides multitasking and supports specializ ...

used on their previous smartphones. * February – HP sells

to LG. * September –

releases

iOS 7 iOS 7 is the seventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 6. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10, 2013, and was released on September 18 ...

with the

iPhone 5S The iPhone 5S (stylized and marketed as iPhone 5s) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the seventh generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, and unveiled in September 2013, alongside the iPhone 5C. T ...

and

iPhone 5C The iPhone 5C (marketed as iPhone 5c) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the sixth generation of the iPhone. The device was unveiled on September 10, 2013, and released on September 20, 2013, alo ...

. * October **

Canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...

announces Ubuntu Touch, a version of the Linux distribution expressly designed for smartphones. The OS is built on the Android Linux kernel, using Android drivers and services, but does not use any of the Java-like code of Android. ** Google releases Android KitKat 4.4. * November –

releases

Sailfish OS Sailfish OS is a Linux-based operating system based on free software, and open source projects such as Mer as well as including a closed source UI. The project is being developed by the Finnish company Jolla. The OS first shipped with th ...

on the Jolla smartphone.

2014

* February ** Microsoft releases

Windows Phone 8.1 Windows Phone 8.1 is the discontinued third generation of Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system, succeeding Windows Phone 8. Rolled out at Microsoft's Build Conference in San Francisco, California, on April 2, 2014, it was released ...

** Nokia introduces their Nokia X platform OS as an Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean fork on the

Nokia X family The Nokia X family was a range of budget smartphones that was produced and marketed by Microsoft Mobile, originally introduced in February 2014 by Nokia. The smartphones run on the Nokia X platform, a Linux-based operating system which was a for ...

of smartphones. Similar to Amazon.com's

, it replaces Google's apps and services with ones from Nokia (such as HERE Maps, Nokia Xpress and

MixRadio MixRadio was an online music streaming service owned by Line Corporation. The service was first introduced by Nokia in 2011 as ''Nokia Music'' for Windows Phone, serving as a successor to Nokia's previous Nokia Music Store/Comes with Music/Ovi ...

, and Nokia's own app store) and Microsoft (such as

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, de ...

and

Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, an e-mail and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook.com, a web mail service from Microsoft * Outlook on the web, a suite of web applications ...

), with a user interface that mimics the

UI. After the acquisition of Nokia's devices unit, Microsoft announced in July 2014 that no more Nokia X smartphones would be introduced, marking the end of the platform just a few months later. * August – The Samsung SM-Z9005 Z is the first phone released running

, with v2.2.1 of the OS. * September **

releases

iOS 8 iOS 8 is the eighth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 7. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 2, 2014, and was released on September 17, 2 ...

with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. **

releases

version 10.3 with integration with the

Amazon Appstore Amazon Appstore is an app store for Android-compatible platforms operated by Amazon.com Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon. The store is primarily used as the storefront for Amazon's Android-based Fire OS. including Amazon Fire tablets, a ...

* November – Google releases Android 5.0 "Lollipop"

2015

* February – Google releases Android 5.1 "Lollipop". * April ** LG releases the LG Watch Urbane LTE

running "LG Wearable Platform OS" based on

. This is a version of their Android

Wear OS Wear OS (also known simply as Wear and formerly Android Wear) is a version of Google's Android operating system designed for smartwatches and other wearables. By pairing with mobile phones running Android version 6.0 "Marshmallow" or newer, ...

-based

LG Watch Urbane The LG Watch Urbane is a smartwatch released by LG Corporation on April 27, 2015. There are gold and silver models, each with a 22mm-wide interchangeable strap. The watch has IP67 dust and water resistance. The LG Watch Urbane was equipped wit ...

, with added LTE connectivity. **

watchOS watchOS is the operating system of the Apple Watch, developed by Apple Inc. It is based on iOS, the operating system used by the iPhone, and has many similar features. It was released on April 24, 2015, along with the Apple Watch, the only de ...

, based on

, is released by

with the

Apple Watch Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was re ...

. * September **

releases

iOS 9 iOS 9 is the ninth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 8. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, 2015, and was released on September 16, 20 ...

with the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus,

iPad Pro The iPad Pro is a premium model of Apple's iPad tablet computer. It runs iPadOS, a tablet-optimized version of the iOS operating system. The original iPad Pro was introduced in September 2015, and ran iOS 9. The second-generation iPad ...

, and

iPad Mini 4 The iPad Mini 4 (stylized and marketed as iPad mini 4) is the fourth-generation iPad Mini tablet computer designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced along with the iPad Pro on September 9, 2015, and released the same day. ...

, plus watchOS 2.

tvOS tvOS (formerly known as Apple TV Software) is an operating system developed by Apple Inc. for the Apple TV, a digital media player. In the first-generation Apple TV, Apple TV Software was based on Mac OS X. Starting with the second-generation ...

9 is also made distinct from iOS, with its own App Store, launching with Apple TV 4th generation. ** Google releases Android 6.0 "Marshmallow". * October –

announces that there are no plans to release new APIs and software development kits for

, and future updates would focus on security and privacy enhancements only. * November – Microsoft releases

Windows 10 Mobile Windows 10 Mobile is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft. First released in 2015, it is a successor to Windows Phone 8.1, but was marketed by Microsoft as being an edition of its PC operating system Windows 10. W ...

2016

* February – Microsoft releases the Lumia 650, their last

phone before discontinuing all mobile hardware production the following year. * July – The BlackBerry Classic, the last device to date running a BlackBerry OS is discontinued. While

BlackBerry Limited BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it was originally known as Research In Motion (RIM). As RIM, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablet ...

claimed to still be committed to the

operating system, they have since only shipped Android devices after releasing the BlackBerry Priv, their first Android smartphone in November 2015. * August ** Google posts the Fuchsia source code on GitHub. ** Google releases Android 7.0 "Nougat". * September –

releases

iOS 10 iOS 10 is the tenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 9. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 13, 2016, and was released on September 13 ...

with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, and watchOS 3 with the Apple Watch Series 1 and 2. * November ** Tizen releases

3.0. ** BlackBerry releases

version 10.3.3.

2017

* April **Development of Ubuntu Touch is transferred from Canonical Ltd. to the UBports Foundation **Samsung officially launches Android-based

Samsung Experience Samsung Experience (stylized as SΛMSUNG Experience) was a software overlay for the Android "launcher" by Samsung for its Galaxy devices running Android 7.x “Nougat” and Android 8.x “Oreo”. It was introduced in late 2016 on a beta build ...

custom firmware starting with version 8.1 on

Samsung Galaxy S8 The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+ are Android smartphones produced by Samsung Electronics as the eighth generation of the Samsung Galaxy S series. The S8 and S8+ were unveiled on 29 March 2017 and directly succeeded the Samsung Gala ...

. * May **Samsung announces Tizen 4.0 at Tizen Developer Conference 2017. * August **Google releases Android 8.0 "Oreo". * September **

releases

iOS 11 iOS 11 is the eleventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 10. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 5, 2017, and released on September 19, 20 ...

with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus and

iPhone X The iPhone X ( Roman numeral "X" pronounced "ten", also known as iPhone 10) is a smartphone designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the 11th generation of the iPhone. Available for pre-order from October 27, 2017, it was r ...

, and watchOS 4 with the Apple Watch Series 3. * October **Microsoft announces that

development is going into maintenance mode only, ending the release of any new features or functionality due to lack of market penetration and resultant lack of interest from app developers, and releases the final major update to it, the " Fall Creators Update." ** Cherry Mobile release CherryOS based on Android

2018

* February **Samsung releases Samsung Experience 9.0 based on Android "Oreo" 8.0 globally to Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+. * March ** Google and partners officially launches Android Go (based on Android "Oreo" 8.1 but tailored for low-end devices) with Nokia 1, Alcatel 1X, ZTE Tempo Go, General Mobile 8 Go, Micromax Bharat Go and Lava Z50. ** Google releases Android "9" as a developer preview. * April **Microsoft release

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on ...

Version 1803 "April 2018 Update". * May **Huawei release LiteOS version 2.1. * August ** Google releases Android 9.0 "Pie". ** UBPorts released Ubuntu Touch OTA-14, upgrading the OS based on the Canonical's long-term support version of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus". ** Xiaomi officially introduces MIUI for POCO for their Poco series smartphone. ** Samsung officially introduces Tizen 4.0 with the release of Samsung Galaxy Watch series. * September **

releases

iOS 12 iOS 12 is the twelfth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. Aesthetically similar to its predecessor, iOS 11, it focuses more on performance than on new features, quality improvements and security updates. Anno ...

with the iPhone XS and XS Max, and watchOS 5 with Apple Watch Series 4. ** Huawei releases EMUI 9.0. * October **Microsoft releases

Version 1809 "October 2018 Update". * November **Samsung announces the

One UI One UI is a user interface developed by Samsung Electronics for its Android devices running Android 9 "Pie" and later. Succeeding Samsung Experience and TouchWiz, it is designed to make using larger smartphones easier and be more visually appe ...

as the latest version of the Samsung Experience UI. **Amazon released Fire OS 6 to supported Fire HD devices.

2019

* January ** Microsoft announces that support for

would end on December 10, 2019, and that Windows 10 Mobile users should migrate to

or Android phones. * June **

announces

iOS 13 iOS 13 is the thirteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for their iPhone, iPod Touch, and HomePod lines. The successor to iOS 12 on those devices, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Develope ...

6, and

iPadOS iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for its iPad line of tablet computers. It is a rebranded variant of iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones, renamed to reflect the diverging features of the two product l ...

as a distinct variant of iOS. * August **

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smart ...

officially announces

HarmonyOS HarmonyOS (HMOS) () is a distributed operating system developed by Huawei to collaborate and interconnect with multiple smart devices on the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem. In its current multi-kernel design, the operating system selects s ...

* September **

releases

with the

iPhone 11 The iPhone 11 is a smartphone designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the 13th generation of iPhone, succeeding the iPhone XR, and was unveiled on September 10, 2019 alongside the iPhone 11 Pro at the Steve Jobs Theater in Appl ...

series, watchOS 6 with Apple Watch Series 5, and

with the 7th generation iPad. ** Google releases Android 10. ** The Librem 5, the first phone running

PureOS PureOS is a Linux distribution focusing on privacy and security, using the GNOME desktop environment. It is maintained by Purism for use in the company's Librem laptop computers as well as the Librem 5 smartphone. PureOS is designed to include ...

, is released. * October ** Samsung announces the One UI 2.0 as the latest version of their Galaxy Smartphone and Smartwatch UI . * November ** Microsoft releases the Windows 10 November 10, 2019 Update.

Current software platforms

These operating systems often run atop

baseband In telecommunications and signal processing, baseband is the range of frequencies occupied by a signal that has not been modulated to higher frequencies. Baseband signals typically originate from transducers, converting some other variable into a ...

or other

s that handle hardware aspects of the phone.

Android

Android (based on the modified

) is a mobile operating system developed by Google. The base system is

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 s ...

(and only the kernel

copyleft Copyleft is the legal technique of granting certain freedoms over copies of copyrighted works with the requirement that the same rights be preserved in derivative works. In this sense, ''freedoms'' refers to the use of the work for any purpose, ...

), but the apps and drivers which provide functionality are increasingly becoming closed-source. Besides having the largest installed base worldwide on smartphones, it is also the most popular operating system for general purpose computers (a category that includes desktop computers and mobile devices), even though Android is not a popular operating system for regular (desktop)

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...

s (PCs). Although the Android operating system 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 sour ...

, in devices sold, much of the software bundled with it (including Google apps and vendor-installed software) is

proprietary software Proprietary software is software that is deemed within the free and open-source software to be non-free because its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner exercises a legal monopoly afforded by modern copyright and ...

and closed-source. Android's releases before 2.0 (1.0, 1.5, 1.6) were used exclusively on mobile phones. Android 2.x releases were mostly used for mobile phones but also some tablets. Android 3.0 was a tablet-oriented release and does not officially run on mobile phones. Both phone and tablet compatibility were merged with Android 4.0. The current Android version is

Android 13 Android 13 is the thirteenth major release of the Android mobile operating system, developed by Google, released for the public on August 15, 2022. History Android 13 (internally codenamed Tiramisu, after the Italian dessert) was announ ...

, released on August 15, 2022.

Android One

Android One, a successor to Google Nexus, is a software experience that runs on the unmodified Android operating system. Unlike most of the "stock" Androids running on the market, the Android One

User Interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine ...

(UI) closely resembles the

Google Pixel Google Pixel is a brand of consumer electronic devices developed by Google that run either ChromeOS or the Android operating system. The Pixel brand was introduced in February 2013 with the first-generation Chromebook Pixel. The Pixel line incl ...

UI, due to Android One being a software experience developed by Google and distributed to partners such as Nokia Mobile (HMD) and

Xiaomi Corporation (; ), commonly known as Xiaomi and registered as Xiaomi Inc., is a Chinese designer and manufacturer of consumer electronics and related software, home appliances, and household items. Behind Samsung, it is the second largest m ...

. Thus, the UI is intended to be as clean as possible.

Original equipment manufacturer An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

(OEM) partners may tweak or add additional apps such as cameras to the

firmware In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide ...

, but most of the apps are handled proprietarily by Google. Operating system updates are handled by Google and internally tested by OEMs before being distributed via an OTA update to

end user In product development, an end user (sometimes end-user) is a person who ultimately uses or is intended to ultimately use a product. The end user stands in contrast to users who support or maintain the product, such as sysops, system administrat ...

s. :Current Android One version list *Android One versions follow those of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), starting from Android 5.0 "Lollipop"

BlackBerry Secure

BlackBerry Secure is an operating system developed by

, based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). BlackBerry officially announced the name for their Android-based front-end touch interface in August 2017, before which BlackBerry Secure was running on BlackBerry brand devices, such as BlackBerry Priv, DTEK 50/ 60 and BlackBerry KeyOne. Currently, BlackBerry plans to license out the BlackBerry Secure to other OEMs. :Current BlackBerry Secure version list * BlackBerry Secure version 1.x - based on Android "Marshmallow" 6.x and "Nougat" 7.x

CalyxOS

CalyxOS CalyxOS is an operating system for smartphones based on Android with mostly free and open-source software. It is produced by the Calyx Institute as part of its mission to "defend online privacy, security and accessibility." CalyxOS preserves ...

is an operating system for smartphones based on Android with mostly

free and open-source 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 sour ...

software. It is produced by the

Calyx Institute The Calyx Institute is a New York-based 501(c)(3) research and education nonprofit organization formed to make privacy and digital security more accessible. It was founded in 2010 by Nicholas Merrill, Micah Anderson, and Kobi Snitz. History ...

as part of its mission to "defend online privacy, security and accessibility."

ColorOS

ColorOS is a custom front-end touch interface based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and developed by OPPO Electronics Corp. In 2016, OPPO officially released ColorOS with every OPPO and Realme device and released an official ROM for the OnePlus One. Future Realme devices will have their own version of ColorOS. :Current ColorOS version list * ColorOS 1.x - based on Android "Jelly Bean" 4.2.x and "KitKat" 4.4 * ColorOS 2.x - based on Android "KitKat" 4.4 and "Lollipop" 5 * ColorOS 3.x - based on Android "Lollipop" 5, "Marshmallow" 6, and "Nougat" 7 * ColorOS 5.x - based on Android "Oreo" 8 * ColorOS 6.x - based on Android "Pie" 9 * ColorOS 7.x - based on

Android 10 Android 10 ( codenamed Android Q during development) is the tenth major release and the 17th version of the Android mobile operating system. It was first released as a developer preview on March 13, 2019, and was released publicly on Septembe ...

* ColorOS 11.x - based on

Android 11 Android 11 is the eleventh major release and 18th version of Android, the mobile operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance led by Google. It was released on September 8, 2020. The first phone launched in Europe with Android 11 ...

* ColorOS 12.x - based on Android 11 and 12

CopperheadOS

CopperheadOS is a security-hardened version of Android.

DivestOS

DivestOS is a soft fork of

LineageOS LineageOS is an Android-based operating system for smartphones, tablet computers, and set-top boxes, with mostly free and open-source software. It is the successor to CyanogenMod, from which it was forked in December 2016, when Cyanogen Inc. a ...

. Includes Monthly Updates, FOSS Focus, Deblobbing, Security and Privacy focus, and F-Droid

EMUI

Huawei EMUI is a front-end touch interface developed by Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and its sub-brand

Honor Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

which is based on Google's Android Open Source Project (AOSP). EMUI is preinstalled on most Huawei and Honor devices. While it was based on the open-source Android operating system, it consists of closed-source proprietary software.

/e/

/e/ is an operating system forked from the source code of

(based on Android). /e/ targets Android smart phone devices and uses

MicroG MicroG (typically styled as microG) is a free and open-source implementation of proprietary Google libraries that serves as a replacement for Google Play Services on the Android operating system. It is maintained by German developer Marvin Wi� ...

as a replacement for Google Play Services. /e/OS is not completely

open source software Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. O ...

, because it comes with the proprietary Magic Earth 'Maps' app.

Fire OS

Amazon Fire OS is a mobile operating system forked from Android and produced by

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

for its Fire range of tablets,

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

and Echo Dot, and other content delivery devices like Fire TV (previously for their Fire Phone). Fire OS primarily centers on content consumption, with a customized user interface and heavy ties to content available from Amazon's own storefronts and services. :Current Fire OS version list * Fire OS 1.x * Fire OS 2.x * Fire OS 3.x * Fire OS 4.x * Fire OS 5.x * Fire OS 6.x * Fire OS 7.x

Flyme OS

Flyme OS Meizu Technology Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer based in Zhuhai, Guangdong. Founded in 2003 by Jack Wong, Meizu began as a manufacturer of MP3 players and later MP4 players. In 2008, Meizu moved its focus to smartph ...

is an operating system developed by Meizu Technology Co., Ltd., an

operating system based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). Flyme OS is mainly installed on Meizu smartphones such as the MX series. However, it also has official ROM support for a few Android devices. :Current Flyme OS version list * Flyme OS 1.x.x (based on Android "Ice Cream Sandwich" 4.0.3, initial release) * Flyme OS 2.x.x (based on Android "Jelly Bean" 4.1.x – 4.2.x) * Flyme OS 3.x.x (based on Android "Jelly Bean" 4.3.x) * Flyme OS 4.x.x (based on Android "KitKat" 4.4.x) * Flyme OS 5.x.x (based on Android "Lollipop" 5.0.x – 5.1.x) * Flyme OS 6.x.x (based on Android "Nougat" 7.x, "Marshmallow" 6.0.x and "Lollipop" 5.0.x – 5.1.x for old devices) * Flyme OS 7.x.x (based on Android "Pie" 9.0, "Oreo" 8.x and "Nougat" 7.x) * Flyme OS 8.x.x (based on

, "Pie" 9.0, "Oreo" 8.x and "Nougat" 7.x) * Flyme OS 9.x.x (based on

and 10)

FuntouchOS

FuntouchOS is a custom user interface developed by Vivo that is based on the Android Open Source Project. FuntouchOS 10.5 had a redesigned UI that resembled stock Androids. :Current FuntouchOS version list * FuntouchOS 2.x - Based on Android "KitKat" 4.4, Android "Lollipop" 5 and Android "Marshmallow" 6, initial release * FuntouchOS 3.x - Based on Android "Marshmallow" 6 and Android "Nougat" 7 * FuntouchOS 4.x - Based on Android "Oreo" 8 * FuntouchOS 9.x - Based on Android "Pie" 9 * FuntouchOS 10.x - Based on Android "Pie" 9 and

* FuntouchOS 10.5 - Based on Android 10 and

, redesigned UI * FuntouchOS 11.x - Based on Android 10 and Android 11 * FuntouchOS 12.x - Based on Android 11 and Android 12

GrapheneOS

GrapheneOS is a variant of Android for

Pixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the sma ...

hardware.

HiOS

HiOS is an Android-based operating system developed by

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

mobile phone manufacturer Tecno Mobile, a subsidiary of Transsion Holdings, exclusively for their smartphones. HiOS allows for a wide range of user customization without requiring rooting the mobile device. The operating system is also bundled with utility applications that allow users to free up memory, freeze applications, limit data accessibility to applications among others. HiOS comes with features like Launcher, Private Safe, Split Screen and Lockscreen Notification. :Current HiOS version list * HiOS 1.x - based on Android "Marshmallow" 6 * HiOS 2.x - based on Android "Nougat" 7 * HiOS 3.x - based on Android "Nougat" 7 * HiOS 4.x - based on Android "Oreo" 8 * HiOS 5.x - based on Android "Pie" 9 * HiOS 6.x - based on

* HiOS 7.x - based on Android 10 * HiOS 7.6.x - based on

* HiOS 8.x - based on Android 11

HTC Sense

HTC Sense is a software suite developed by HTC, used primarily on the company's Android-based devices. Serving as a successor to HTC's TouchFLO 3D software for

, Sense modifies many aspects of the Android user experience, incorporating added features (such as an altered home screen and keyboard), widgets, HTC-developed applications, and redesigned applications. The first device with Sense, the

HTC Hero HTC Hero (marketed as T-Mobile G2 Touch by T-Mobile in the UK, Austria, Germany, Croatia, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Hungary; and as Era G2 Touch in Poland) is the third phone manufactured by HTC running the Android platform, announced on J ...

, was released in 2009. * HTC Sense 1.x (based on Android "Eclair" 2.0/2.1, initial release) * HTC Sense 2.x (based on Android "Eclair", "Froyo" and "Gingerbread" 2.0/2.1, 2.2.x and 2.3.x, redesigned UI) * HTC Sense 3.x (based on Android "Gingerbread" 2.3.x, redesigned UI) * HTC Sense 4.x (based on Android "Ice Cream Sandwich" and "Jelly Bean" 4.0.x and 4.1.x, redesigned UI) * HTC Sense 5.x (based on Android "Jelly Bean" 4.1.x – 4.3.x, redesigned UI) * HTC Sense 6.x (based on Android "KitKat" 4.4.x, redesigned UI) * HTC Sense 7.x (based on Android "Lollipop" 5.0.x, redesigned UI) * HTC Sense 8.x (based on Android "Marshmallow" 6.0.x, redesigned UI) * HTC Sense 9.x (based on Android "Nougat" 7.x, redesigned UI) * HTC Sense 10.x (based on Android "Oreo" 8.x and "Pie" 9.0, redesigned UI)

iQOO UI

iQOO UI is a custom user interface that is based on Vivo's Funtouch OS, which itself is based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). The UI mostly resembles its predecessor, but with a customized UI on top of the Funtouch OS. :Current iQOO UI version list * iQOO UI 1.x - Based on Funtouch OS

Indus OS

Indus OS is a custom mobile operating system based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). It is developed by the Indus OS team based in India. No longer valid as of 2018, Indus OS is available on

Micromax Micromax (Scott Wright) is a fictional character, a mutant superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history Micromax was created by Alan Davis and first appeared in '' Excalibur'' #44 (Dec. 1991). ...

, Intex, Karbonn, and other Indian smartphone brands. :Current Indus OS version list * Firstouch OS (based on Android "Lollipop" 5.0) * Indus OS 2.0 (based on Android "Marshmallow" 6.0) * Indus OS 3.0 (based on Android "Nougat" 7.0.1)

LG UX

LG UX (formerly Optimus UI) is a front-end touch interface developed by

LG Electronics LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG Corporation, the fourth largest ''chaebol'' in South Korea, and often considered ...

and partners, featuring a full

touch user interface A touch user interface (TUI) is a computer-pointing technology based upon the sense of touch ( haptics). Whereas a graphical user interface (GUI) relies upon the sense of sight, a TUI enables not only the sense of touch to innervate and activate ...

. It is not an operating system. LG UX is used internally by LG for sophisticated

feature phone A feature phone (also spelled featurephone) is a type or class of mobile phone that retains the form factor of earlier generations of mobile telephones, typically with press-button based inputs and a small non-touch display. They tend to use an ...

s and tablet computers, and is not available for licensing by external parties. Optimus UI 2, based on Android 4.1.2, has been released on the Optimus K II and the Optimus Neo 3. It features a more refined user interface compared to the prior version based on Android 4.1.1, along with new functionalities such as voice shutter and quick memo. :Current LG UX version list * Optimus UI 1.x – based on Android "Gingerbread" 2.3.x, initial release * Optimus UI 2.x – based on Android "Ice Cream Sandwich" and "Jelly Bean" 4.0.x and 4.1.x – 4.3.x, redesigned UI * LG UX 3.x – based on Android "KitKat" and "Lollipop" 4.4.x and 5.0.x, redesigned UI * LG UX 4.x – based on Android "Lollipop" and "Marshmallow" 5.1.x and 6.0.x, redesigned UI * LG UX 5.x – based on Android "Marshmallow" and "Nougat" 6.0.x and 7.0.x, redesigned UI * LG UX 6.x – based on Android "Nougat" 7.0.x, redesigned UI * LG UX 6.x+ – based on Android "Oreo" 8.0.x, redesigned UI * LG UX 7.x – based on Android "Oreo" 8.x, redesigned UI * LG UX 7.x+ – based on Android "Oreo" 8.x., redesigned UI * LG UX 8.x – based on Android "Pie" 9.0, redesigned UI * LG UX 9.x – based on Android 10 redesigned UI

LineageOS

Lineage Android Distribution is a custom mobile operating system based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). It serves as the successor to the highly popular custom ROM,

CyanogenMod CyanogenMod ( ; CM) is a discontinued open-source operating system for mobile devices, based on the Android mobile platform. It was developed as free and open-source software based on the official releases of Android by Google, with added ori ...

, from which it was forked in December 2016 when Cyanogen Inc. announced it was discontinuing development and shut down the infrastructure behind the project. Since Cyanogen Inc. retained the rights to the Cyanogen name, the project rebranded its fork as LineageOS. Similar to CyanogenMod, it does not include any proprietary apps unless the user installs them. It allows Android users who can no longer obtain update support from their manufacturer to continue updating their OS version to the latest one based on official release from Google AOSP and heavy theme customization.

Magic UI

Magic UI is a front-end touch interface developed by

as a subsidiary of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd before Honor became an independent company. Magic UI is based on Huawei EMUI, which is based on Google's Android Open Source Project (AOSP). The overall user interface looks almost identical to EMUI, even after the separation. While it was based on the open-source Android operating system, it consists of closed-source proprietary software. Due to sanctions imposed by the US on Huawei, new devices released by both Huawei and Honor are no longer allowed to include Google Mobile Services. To allow Honor to regain access to Google services, Huawei sold off Honor to become an independent company, thereby allowing them to pre-install Google Mobile Services on their latest devices. * Magic UI 1.x - Based on EMUI 8 with Android "Oreo" 8 (Initial released) * Magic UI 2.x - Based on EMUI 9 with Android "Pie" 9 (Minor UI update) * Magic UI 3.x - Based on EMUI 10 with Android 10 (Minor UI update) * Magic UI 4.x - Based on EMUI 11 with Android 10 and Android 11 (Minor UI update) * Magic UI 5.x - Based on EMUI 11 with Android 10 and Android 11 (Minor UI update) * Magic UI 6.x - Based on EMUI 12 with Android 12 (Major UI redesigned)

Microsoft Launcher

Microsoft Launcher (formerly known as Arrow Launcher) is an application launcher for the Android mobile platform developed by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...

and intended to provide a more convenient integration between Windows desktop PCs and Android smartphones. Originally available as a

beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labi ...

in October 2015 and published to the

Google Play Store Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating sys ...

on October 5, 2017. It does not replace the stock Android operating system, but adds an additional graphical layer with a focus on Microsoft applications and services. It was pre-installed on both the Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2. Starting from Android 12 onwards, the UI on both Surface Duo and Duo 2 has been updated with the Fluent Design System, which closely resemble to those of

Windows 11 Windows 11 is the latest major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, released in October 2021. It is a free upgrade to its predecessor, Windows 10 (2015), and is available for any Windows 10 devices that meet the new Windows 11 ...

MIUI

Mi User Interface (MIUI), developed by the Chinese electronic company

, is a mobile operating system based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). MIUI is mostly found in Xiaomi smartphones such as the Mi and Redmi Series. However, it also has official ROM support for a few Android devices. Although MIUI is based on AOSP, which is open-source, it consists of closed-source proprietary software.

=MIUI for POCO

= A specific version of MIUI developed for Xiaomi sub-brand (Currently an independence brand)

POCO Poco was an American country rock band originally formed in 1968 after the demise of Buffalo Springfield. Guitarists Richie Furay and Jim Messina, former members of Buffalo Springfield, were joined by multi-instrumentalist Rusty Young, bassi ...

, the overall experience of the "skin" is similar to those of standard MIUI expect during the early release of MIUI for POCO where compared to standard MIUI it has an app drawer and allowed for 3rd party Android icon customization. Whereas the current MIUI for POCO shared all the common experience with those of standard MIUI, expect the icon and the 3rd party icon customization which remained only available to MIUI for POCO.

MyOS

MyOS (formerly called MiFavor) is a custom Android UI developed by

ZTE ZTE Corporation is a Chinese partially state-owned technology company that specializes in telecommunication. Founded in 1985, ZTE is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. ZTE's core business is wireless, exchange, opti ...

for their flagship smartphones. MyOS is based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). This is a redesign from their previous custom Android UI, MiFavor. :Current MyOS version list * MiFavor 1.x – based on Android "KitKat" 4.4.x, initial release * MiFavor 2.x – based on Android "Lollipop" 5.0.x – 5.1.x, redesigned UI * MiFavor 3.x – based on Android "Marshmallow" 6.x, redesigned UI * MiFavor 4.x – based on Android "Nougat" 7.x, redesigned UI * MiFavor 5.x – based on Android "Oreo" 8.x, redesigned UI * MiFavor 9.x – based on Android "Pie" 9.0, redesigned UI * MiFavor 10.x – based on Android 10, redesigned UI * MyOS 11.x - based on Android 11, initial release migrate from MiFavor * MyOS 12.x - based on Android 12, redesigned UI

My UI

My UI (formerly called My UX) is a custom Android UI developed by Motorola for their devices. My UX used to look like the stock Android user experience up until My UI 3.x. :Current My UX version list * My UX 1.x - based on Android 10, initial release * My UI 2.x - based on Android 11 * My UI 3.x - based on Android 12 * My UI 4.x - based on Android 12

nubia UI

nubia UI is a custom Android UI developed by

and

nubia Nubia () ( Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), o ...

for their smartphones. nubia UI is based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). :Current nubia UI version list * Nubia UI 6.x - based on Android 8 "Oreo" * Nubia UI 7.x - based on Android 9 "Pie" * nubia UI 8.x - based on Android 10 * nubia UI 9.x - based on Android 11

One UI

One UI (formerly called

TouchWiz TouchWiz was a user interface developed by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd with partners, featuring a full touch user interface. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as an operating system. TouchWiz is used internally by Samsung for smartphones ...

and

) is a front-end touch interface developed by

Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of the Samsung chaebol, a ...

in 2008 with partners, featuring a full

. It is not a true operating system, but a user experience. Samsung Experience is used internally by Samsung for smartphones,

s and tablet computers, and is not available for licensing by external parties. The Android version of Samsung Experience also came with Samsung-made apps preloaded until the

Galaxy S6 The Samsung Galaxy S6 is a line of Android-based smartphones manufactured, released and marketed by Samsung Electronics. Succeeding the Samsung Galaxy S5, the S6 was not released as a singular model, but instead in two variations unveiled an ...

, which removed all Samsung pre-loaded apps except Samsung Galaxy Store (formerly Galaxy Apps) to save storage space due to the removal of its

MicroSD Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanD ...

. With the release of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, Samsung Experience 8.1 was preinstalled on it with new functions, known as Samsung DeX. Similar to the concept of Microsoft Continuum, Samsung DeX allowed high-end Galaxy devices such as S8/S8+ or Note 8 to connect into a docking station, which extends the device to allow desktop-like functionality by connecting a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Samsung also announced "Linux on Galaxy", which allows users to use the standard Linux distribution on the DeX platform. :Previous Samsung Android UI version list * TouchWiz 3.x (based on Android 2.1 "Éclair" and Android 2.2 "Froyo") (Initial release for Android UI) * TouchWiz 4.x (based on Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" and Android 3.0 "Honeycomb") (Minor UI update) * TouchWiz Nature UX (based on Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich") (Minor UI update) * TouchWiz Nature UX 2.x (based on Android 4.2 "Jellybean") (Minor UI update) * TouchWiz Nature UX 3.x (based on Android 4.4 "KitKat") (Minor UI update) * TouchWiz Nature UX 4.x (based on Android 5 "Lollipop") (Minor UI update) * TouchWiz Nature UX 5.x (based on Android 5 "Lollipop") (Major UI update) * TouchWiz Nature UX 6.x (based on Android 6 "Marshmallow") (Minor UI update) * TouchWiz Grace UX (based on Android 6 "Marshmallow") (Major UI update) * Samsung Experience 8.x (based on Android 7 "Nougat") (Initial release migrate from TouchWiz) * Samsung Experience 9.x (based on Android 8 "Oreo") (Minor update) * Samsung Experience 10.x (based on Android 9 "Pie) (Minor and Last update before redesign One UI) :Current One UI version list * One UI 1.x (based on Android 9 "Pie") (Initial release) * One UI 2.x (based on Android 10) (Minor UI update) * One UI 3.x (based on Android 11) (Minor UI update) * One UI 4.x (based on Android 12) (Minor UI update)

Origin OS

Origin OS is a custom user interface developed by Vivo that is based on Android. It is a redesigned skin of Funtouch OS. It is currently only available in China but may someday be released globally. :Current Origin OS version list * Origin OS 1.0 - based on Android 10 and Android 11 (initial release) * Origin OS Ocean - based on Android 12 * Origin OS HD - based on Android 12 (currently only used in Vivo Pad)

OxygenOS

OxygenOS is based on the open source Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and is developed by OnePlus to replace Cyanogen OS on OnePlus devices such as the OnePlus One. It is preinstalled on the OnePlus 2, OnePlus X, OnePlus 3, OnePlus 3T, OnePlus 5, OnePlus 5T, and OnePlus 6. As stated by Oneplus, OxygenOS is focused on stabilizing and maintaining of stock Android functionalities like those found on

Nexus NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members of the program can avoid waits at border ...

devices. It consists of mainly Google apps and minor UI customization to maintain the sleekness of stock Android. :Current OxygenOS version list * Oxygen OS 1.0.x (based on Android 5.0.x "Lollipop") (initial release) * Oxygen OS 2.0.x (based on Android 5.1.x "Lollipop") (overall maintenance update) * Oxygen OS 3.0.x (based on Android 6.0 "Marshmallow") (major Android update) * Oxygen OS 3.1.x (based on Android 6.0.1 "Marshmallow") (minor maintenance update) * Oxygen OS 3.2.x (based on Android 6.0.1 "Marshmallow") (major Android update) * Oxygen OS 4.x.x (based on Android 7.x "Nougat") (major Android update) * Oxygen OS 5.x.x (based on Android 8.x "Oreo") (major Android update) * Oxygen OS 9.x.x (based on Android 9.0 "Pie") (major Android update) * Oxygen OS 10.x.x (based on Android 10.0 "10") (major Android update) * Oxygen OS 11.x.x (based on Android 11.0 "11") (major Android update) * Oxygen OS 12.x.x (based on Android 12.0 "12") (major Android update)

Pixel UI (Pixel Launcher)

Google Pixel UI or Pixel Launcher is developed by Google and based on the open-source Android system. Unlike

phones, where Google shipped with stock Android, the UI that came with first-generation

phones was slightly modified. As part of the Google Pixel software, the Pixel UI and its home launcher are closed-source and proprietary, so it is only available on Pixel family devices. However, third-party mods allow non-Pixel smartphones to install Pixel Launcher with

Google Now Google Now was a feature of Google Search of the Google app for Android and iOS. Google Now proactively delivered information to users to predict (based on search habits and other factors) information they may need in the form of informational ...

feed integration. :Current Google Pixel Launcher version list * Pixel Launcher – "7.1.1" (based on Android 7.x "Nougat") (Initial release) * Pixel Launcher – "8.1.0" (based on Android 8.x "Oreo") (Minor UI update) * Pixel Launcher – "9.0" (based on Android 9.0 "Pie") (Minor UI update) * Pixel Launcher – "10.0" (based on Android 10.0 "10") (Moderate UI update that support themes) * Pixel Launcher – "11.0" (based on Android 11.0 "11") (Minor UI update) * Pixel Launcher – "12.0" (based on Android 12.0 "12") (Major UI update)

realme UI

realme UI is a mobile operating system developed by Realme which is based on OPPO ColorOS, which itself is based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). The UI mostly resemble its predecessor, but with a custom UI on top of ColorOS to match Realme's target audience. :Current realme UI version list * realme UI 1.0 - Based on ColorOS 7.0 - Android 10 - Initial Release * realme UI 2.0 - Based on ColorOS 11.0 - Android 11 * realme UI 3.0 - Based on ColorOS 12.0 - Android 12

=realme UI R edition

= realme UI R edition is a custom Android skin that Realme developed for their lower-end device line with "C" and Narzo series, the Android based line of is based on

Android Go Android Go, officially Android (Go Edition), is a stripped-down version of the Android operating system, designed for low-end and ultra-budget smartphones (but is also used by some tablets). However, it is intended for smartphones with less th ...

, hence the overall experience is tune down to allowed for smoother experience on budget Realme devices.

Red Magic OS

Red Magic OS is a mobile operating system developed by

and

Nubia Nubia () ( Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), o ...

for their Red Magic devices. :Current Red Magic OS version list * Red Magic OS 1.x - based on Android 8 "Oreo", initial release * Red Magic OS 2.x - based on Android 9 "Pie", redesigned UI * Red Magic OS 3.x - based on Android 10, redesigned UI * Red Magic OS 4.x - based on Android 11, redesigned UI * Red Magic OS 5.x - based on Android 12, redesigned UI

Replicant OS

Replicant is a custom mobile operating system based on the Android with all proprietary drivers and bloated closed-source software removed.

TCL UI

TCL UI is a custom user interface developed by

TCL Technology TCL Technology (originally an abbreviation for Telephone Communication Limited) is a Chinese electronics company headquartered in Huizhou, Guangdong Province. It designs, develops, manufactures, and sells consumer products including televisio ...

for their in-house smartphone series. The OS is based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). :Current TCL UI version list * TCL UI 1.x - Based on Android 9 "Pie" and Android 10 - Initial Release * TCL UI 2.x - Based on Android 10 - Minor UI upgrade * TCL UI 3.x - Based on Android 11 - Minor UI upgrade * TCL UI 4.x - Based on Android 12 - Minor UI upgrade

VOS

VOS is a custom Android UI developed by BQ Aquaris and Vsmart. :Current VOS version list: * VOS 1.x - based on Android "Nougat" 7.1, "Oreo" 8 * VOS 2.x - based on Android "Pie" 9 * VOS 3.x - based on Android 10 * VOS 4.x - based on Android 11

XOS

XOS (formerly known as XUI) is an Android-based operating system developed by

mobile phone manufacturer Infinix Mobile, a subsidiary of Transsion Holdings, exclusively for their smartphones. XOS allows for a wide range of user customization without requiring rooting the mobile device. The operating system comes with utility applications that allow users to protect their privacy, improve speed, enhance their experience, etc. XOS comes with features like XTheme, Scan to Recharge, Split Screen and XManager. :Current XOS version list: * XUI 1.x - based on Android "Lollipop" 5, initial release * XOS 2.x - based on Android "Marshmallow" 6 and "Nougat" 7 * XOS 3.x - based on Android "Nougat" 7 and "Oreo" 8 * XOS 4.x - based on Android "Oreo" 8 * XOS 5.x - based on Android "Pie" 9 * XOS 6.x - based on Android 10 * XOS 7.x - based on Android 10 * XOS 7.6.x - based on Android 11 * XOS 10.x - based on Android 11, redesigned UI * XOS 10.6.x - based on Android 12, latest update

Xperia UI

Sony Xperia UI (formerly known as Sony Ericsson Timescape UI) was the front-end UI developed by Sony Mobile (formerly Sony Ericsson) in 2010 for their Android-based Sony Xperia series. Sony Xperia UI mostly consisted of Sony's own applications such as Sony Music (formerly known as Walkman Music player), Albums and Video Player. During its time as Timescape UI, the UI differed from the standard Android UIinstead of traditional apps dock on the bottom part, they were located at the four corners of the home screen, while the middle of the screen consisted of the widget. However, recent UI developments more closely resemble those of stock Android. :Current Xperia UI version list: * Timescape version 1 – based on Android "Eclair" 2.0/2.1, initial release * Timescape version 2 – based on Android "Gingerbread" 2.3.x, redesigned UI * Xperia UI version 3 – based on Android "Gingerbread" and "Ice Cream Sandwich" 2.3.x and 4.0.x, redesigned UI * Xperia UI version 4 – based on Android "Jelly Bean" 4.2.x – 4.3.x, redesigned UI * Xperia UI version 5 – based on Android "KitKat" 4.4.x, redesigned UI * Xperia UI version 6 – based on Android "Lollipop" 5.0.x – 5.1.x, redesigned UI * Xperia UI version 7 – based on Android "Marshmallow" 6.0.x, redesigned UI * Xperia UI version 8 – based on Android "Nougat" 7.x, redesigned UI * Xperia UI version 9 – based on Android "Oreo" 8.x, redesigned UI

ZenUI

ZenUI is a front-end touch interface developed by ASUS with partners, featuring a full

. ZenUI is used by ASUS for its

Android phone This is a list of devices that run on the Android operating system. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T TW102 U V X Y Z See also * Template:Android devices * List of Android TV devic ...

s and tablet computers, and is not available for licensing by external parties. ZenUI also comes preloaded with ASUS-made apps like ZenLink (PC Link, Share Link, Party Link & Remote Link). :Current ZenUI version list: *ZenUI 1.0 – based on Android "Jelly Bean" and "KitKat" 4.3.x and 4.4.x, initial release *ZenUI 2.0 – based on Android "Lollipop" 5.0.x – 5.1.x, redesigned UI *ZenUI 3.0 – based on Android "Marshmallow" 6.0.x, redesigned UI *ZenUI 4.0 – based on Android "Nougat" 7.x, redesigned UI *ZenUI 5.0 – based on Android "Oreo" 8.x, redesigned UI *ZenUI 6.0 – based on Android "Pie" 9.0, redesigned UI *ZenUI 7.0 – based on Android 10, redesigned UI *ZenUI 8.0 – based on Android 11, redesigned UI

ZUI

ZUI is a custom operating system originally developed by

Lenovo Lenovo Group Limited, often shortened to Lenovo ( , ), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, business solutions, and related ser ...

subsidiary ZUK Mobile for their smartphones. However, after the shutting down of ZUK Mobile, Lenovo took over as the main developer of ZUI. The operating system is based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). :Current ZUI version list: * ZUI 1.x - Initial Release * ZUI 2.x * ZUI 3.x * ZUI 4.x * ZUI 4.x * ZUI 10.x (Based on Android 9 "Pie") * ZUI 11.x (Based on Android 9 "Pie" and Android 10) * ZUI 12.x (Based on Android 11) * ZUI 13.x (Based on Android 11)

Wear OS

Wear OS (also known simply as Wear and formerly Android Wear) is a version of Google's Android operating system designed for

es and other wearables. By pairing with mobile phones running Android version 6.0 or newer, or

version 10.0 or newer with limited support from Google's pairing application, Wear OS integrates

Google Assistant Google Assistant is a virtual assistant software application developed by Google that is primarily available on mobile and home automation devices. Based on artificial intelligence, Google Assistant can engage in two-way conversations, unlike t ...

technology and mobile notifications into a smartwatch form factor. In May 2021 at

Google I/O Google I/O (or simply I/O) is an annual developer conference held by Google in Mountain View, California. "I/O" stands for Input/Output, as well as the slogan "Innovation in the Open". The event's format is similar to Google Developer Day. ...

, Google announced a major update to the platform, internally known as Wear OS 3.0. It incorporates a new visual design inspired by Android 12, and Fitbit exercise tracking features. Google also announced a partnership with

, who is collaborating with Google to unify its

-based smartwatch platform with Wear OS, and has committed to using Wear OS on its future smartwatch products. The underlying codebase was also upgraded to

. Wear OS 3.0 will be available to Wear OS devices running

Qualcomm Snapdragon Snapdragon is a suite of system on a chip (SoC) semiconductor products for mobile devices designed and marketed by Qualcomm Technologies Inc. The Snapdragon's central processing unit (CPU) uses the ARM architecture. A single SoC may include ...

Wear 4100

system on chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memo ...

, and will be an opt-in upgrade requiring a factory reset to install. :Current Wear OS version list: * Android Wear 4.4w (Based on Android 4.4 "KitKat") - (Initially release) * Android Wear 1.0 - 1.3 (Based on Android 5.0 "Lollipop) - (Minor update) * Android Wear 1.4 (Based on Android 6.0 "Marshmallow) - (Minor update) * Android Wear 2.0 - 2.6 (7.1.1W2) (Based on Android 7.1 "Nougat") - (Minor update) * Android Wear 2.6 (7.1.1W3, 8.0.0 W1) - 2.9 (7.1.1W6, 8.0.0W4) (Baded on Android 8.0 "Oreo") - (Minor update) * Wear OS 1.0 (Based on Android 8.0 "Oreo") - (Renamed and Minor update) * Wear OS 2.0 (Based on Android 8.0 "Oreo") - (Minor update) * Wear OS 2.2 (Based on Android 9.0 "Pie") - (Minor update) * Wear OS 3.0 (Based on Android 11) - (Major UI and system update)

One UI Watch

One UI Watch is the user interface Samsung developed for their Wear OS based smartwatch, officially announced after both Google and Samsung confirmed they would unify their respective wearable operating systems (Google Wear OS 2.0 and Samsung Tizen) into Wear OS 3.0. :Current One UI Watch version list: * One UI Watch 3.0 (Based on Wear OS 3.0 - Android 11)(Initially release)

ChromeOS

ChromeOS is an operating system designed by Google that is based on the

and uses the

Google Chrome Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, ...

web browser as its principal user interface. As a result, ChromeOS primarily supports

web application A web application (or web app) is application software that is accessed using a web browser. Web applications are delivered on the World Wide Web to users with an active network connection. History In earlier computing models like client-serve ...

s. Google announced the project in July 2009, conceiving it as an operating system in which both applications and user data reside in the

cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may co ...

: hence ChromeOS primarily runs

s. Due to increase of popularity with 2-in-1 PCs, most recent Chromebooks are introduced with touch screen capability, with Android applications starting to become available for the operating system in 2014. And in 2016, access to Android apps in the entire

was introduced on supported ChromeOS devices. With the support of Android applications, there are Chromebook devices that are positioned as tablet based instead of notebooks. ChromeOS is only available pre-installed on hardware from Google manufacturing partners. An

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 ...

equivalent,

ChromiumOS ChromiumOS is a free and open-source operating system designed for running web applications and browsing the World Wide Web. It is the open-source version of ChromeOS, a Linux-based operating system made by Google. Like ChromeOS, ChromiumOS ...

, can be compiled from downloaded

source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the ...

. Early on, Google provided design goals for ChromeOS, but has not otherwise released a technical description.

Sailfish OS

Sailfish OS is from

. It is open source with

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general ...

(GPL) for middleware stack core which comes from MER. Sailfish due to Jolla's business model and due to alliances with various partners and due to intentional design of OS internals, is capable to adopt in several layers third-party software including Jolla software e.g. Jolla's UI is

(closed source), so such components can be proprietary with many kinds of licences. However, user can replace them with open source components like e.g. NEMO UI instead Jolla's UI. After Nokia abandoned in 2011 the

project, most of the MeeGo team left Nokia, and established Jolla as a company to use MeeGo and Mer business opportunities. The MER standard allows it to be launched on any hardware with kernel compatible with MER. In 2012, Linux Sailfish OS based on MeeGo and using middleware of MER core stack distribution was launched for public use. The first device, the Jolla smartphone, was unveiled on May 20, 2013. In 2015, Jolla Tablet was launched and the BRICS countries declared it an officially supported OS there. Jolla started licensing Sailfish OS 2.0 for third parties. Some devices sold are updateable to Sailfish 2.0 with no limits. Nemo Mobile is a community-driven OS, similar to Sailfish but attempting to replace its proprietary components, such as the user interface. Each Sailfish OS version release is named after a Finnish lake:

Tizen

Tizen (based on the

) is a mobile operating system hosted by

, together with support from the Tizen Association, guided by a Technical Steering Group composed of

and Samsung. Tizen is an operating system for devices including smartphones, tablets, In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) devices, however currently it mainly focuses on wearable and smart TVs. It is an open source system (however the SDK was closed-source and proprietary) that aims to offer a consistent user experience across devices. Tizen's main components are the Linux kernel and the

WebKit WebKit is a browser engine developed by Apple and primarily used in its Safari web browser, as well as on the iOS and iPadOS version of any web browser. WebKit is also used by the BlackBerry Browser, PlayStation consoles beginning from the PS3, ...

runtime. According to Intel, Tizen "combines the best of LiMo and MeeGo."

apps are emphasized, with MeeGo encouraging its members to transition to Tizen, stating that the "future belongs to HTML5-based applications, outside of a relatively small percentage of apps, and we are firmly convinced that our investment needs to shift toward HTML5." Tizen will be targeted at a variety of platforms such as handsets, touch pc, smart TVs and in-vehicle entertainment. On May 17, 2013, Tizen released version 2.1, code-named Nectarine. While Tizen itself was open source, most of the UX and UI layer that was developed by Samsung was mainly closed-source and proprietary, such as the TouchWiz UI on the Samsung Z's series smartphone and One UI for their Galaxy Watch wearable lines.

KaiOS

KaiOS is from Kai. It is based on Firefox OS/Boot to Gecko. Unlike most mobile operating systems which focus on smartphones, KaiOS was developed mainly for feature phones, giving these access to more advanced technologies usually found on smartphones, such as app stores and Wi-Fi/4G capabilities. It is a mix of closed-source and open-source components. FirefoxOS/B2G was released under the permissive MPL 2.0. It does not redistribute itself under the same license, so KaiOS is now presumably proprietary (but still mostly

, publishing its source code). KaiOS is not entirely proprietary, as it uses the copyleft

GPL The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general u ...

Linux kernel also used in Android.

Smart Feature OS

Smart Feature OS is a custom version of KaiOS that was developed and solely used by

HMD Global HMD Global Oy, branded as HMD and Nokia Mobile, is a Finnish mobile phone manufacturer. The company is made up of the mobile phone business that Nokia sold to Microsoft in 2014, then bought back in 2016. HMD began marketing Nokia-branded smar ...

for their KaiOS line of Nokia feature phone, the main differences between stock KaiOS and Smart Feature OS is mainly on the atheistic such as the icon and some UI element, including custom Nokia ringtone and notification tone.

Fully open-source, entirely permissive licenses

Fuchsia

Fuchsia is a capability-based, real-time operating system (RTOS) currently being developed by Google. It was first discovered as a mysterious code post on GitHub in August 2016, without any official announcement. In contrast to prior Google-developed operating systems such as ChromeOS and Android, which are based on Linux kernels, Fuchsia is based on a new microkernel called "Zircon", derived from "Little Kernel", a small operating system intended for embedded systems. This allows it to remove

and the copyleft

under which the Linux kernel is licensed; Fuchsia is licensed under the

permissive {{about, , the 1970 British film, Permissive (film), the grammatical mode, Permissive mood, the flavor of software license, permissive free software licence A permissive cell or host is one that allows a virus to circumvent its defenses and replic ...

BSD 3-clause, Apache 2.0, and

MIT license The MIT License is a permissive free software license originating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the late 1980s. As a permissive license, it puts only very limited restriction on reuse and has, therefore, high license co ...

s. Upon inspection, media outlets noted that the code post on GitHub suggested Fuchsia's capability to run on universal devices, from embedded systems to smartphones, tablets and personal computers. In May 2017, Fuchsia was updated with a user interface, along with a developer writing that the project was not a for experimental, prompting media speculation about Google's intentions with the operating system, including the possibility of it replacing Android.

LiteOS

LiteOS is a lightweight open source real-time operating system which is part of Huawei's "1+2+1" Internet of Things solution, which is similar to Google Android Things and Samsung Tizen. It is released under the

BSD 3-clause license. Huawei LiteOS features lightweight, low-power, fast-response, multi-sensor collaboration, multi-protocol interconnect connectivity, enabling IoT terminals to quickly access the network. Huawei LiteOS will make intelligent hardware development easier. Thereby accelerating the realization of the interconnection of all things. Currently LiteOS are introduce to the consumer market with the Huawei Watch GT series and their sub-brand Honor Magic Watch series.

OpenHarmony

OpenHarmony is an open-source version of HarmonyOS developed and donated by Huawei to the OpenAtom Foundation. It supports devices running a mini system with memory as small as 128 KB, or running a standard system with memory greater than 128 MB. The open source HarmonyOS is based on the Huawei LiteOS kernel. OpenHarmony LiteOS Cortex-A brings small-sized, low-power, and high-performance experience and builds a unified and open ecosystem for developers. In addition, it provides rich kernel mechanisms, more comprehensive Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), and a unified driver framework, Hardware Driver Foundation (HDF), which offers unified access for device developers and friendly development experience for application developers.

Fully open-source, mixed copyleft and permissive licenses

Fedora Mobility

Fedora Mobility is under developing mobile operating system by the Fedora Project that are porting Fedora to run on portable devices such as phones and tablets.

LuneOS

LuneOS is a modern reimplementation of the Palm/HP

interface.

Manjaro ARM

Manjaro ARM is a mobile operating system with Plasma Mobile desktop environment that is running and default operating system on the PinePhone, an ARM-based smartphone released by Pine64.

Mobian

A mobile

Debian Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of De ...

focused for PinePhone and soon

Librem Librem is a line of computers manufactured by Purism, SPC featuring free (libre) software. The laptop line is designed to protect privacy and freedom by providing no non-free (proprietary) software in the operating system or kernel, avoiding t ...

Plasma mobile

Plasma Mobile is a Plasma variant for smartphones. Plasma Mobile runs on Wayland and it is compatible with Ubuntu Touch applications,

applications, and eventually Android applications via KDE's Shashlik project also sponsored by Blue Systems, or Anbox. It is under the copyleft

GPLv2 The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general ...

license. The Necuno phone uses Plasma Mobile. It is entirely open-source and thus does not have a cellular modem, so it must make calls by

VOIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet ...

, like a pocket computer.

PostmarketOS

PostmarketOS is based on the

Alpine Linux Alpine Linux is a Linux distribution designed to be small, simple and secure. Alpine Linux uses musl, BusyBox and OpenRC instead of the more commonly used glibc, GNU Core Utilities and systemd respectively.

Linux distribution. It is intended to run on older phone hardware. it is in

alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , w ...

PureOS

PureOS is a Debian GNU/Linux derivative using only

free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...

meeting the

Debian Free Software Guidelines The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) is a set of guidelines that the Debian Project uses to determine whether a software license is a free software license, which in turn is used to determine whether a piece of software can be included in De ...

, mainly the

. PureOS is endorsed by

Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed under copyleft ...

as one of the freedom-respecting operating systems. It is developed by Purism, and was already in use on Purism's laptops before it was used on the Librem 5 smartphone. Purism, in partnership with

GNOME A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

and

KDE KDE is an international free software community that develops free and open-source software. As a central development hub, it provides tools and resources that allow collaborative work on this kind of software. Well-known products include the ...

, aims to separate the

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...

from the baseband processor and include hardware

kill switch A kill switch, also known as an emergency stop (E-stop), emergency off (EMO) and as an emergency power off (EPO), is a safety mechanism used to shut off machinery in an emergency, when it cannot be shut down in the usual manner. Unlike a normal ...

es for the phone's

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...

, camera, microphone, and baseband processor, and provide both GNOME and

KDE Plasma Mobile Plasma Mobile is a Plasma variant for smartphones. It is currently available for the Pinephone, and supported devices for postmarketOS such as the OnePlus 6. It is shipped by several Linux distributions, such as postmarketOS and Manjaro. ...

as options for the desktop environment.

Ubuntu Touch

Ubuntu Touch is an open-source (

) mobile version of the

Ubuntu Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in three editions: ''Desktop'', '' Server'', and ''Core'' for Internet of things devices and robots. All th ...

operating system originally developed in 2013 by Canonical Ltd. and continued by the non-profit UBports Foundation in 2017. Ubuntu Touch can run on a pure GNU/Linux base on phones with the required drivers, such as the Librem 5 and the PinePhone. To enable hardware that was originally shipped with Android, Ubuntu Touch makes use of the Android Linux kernel, using Android drivers and services via an

LXC Linux Containers (LXC) is an operating-system-level virtualization method for running multiple isolated Linux systems (containers) on a control host using a single Linux kernel. The Linux kernel provides the cgroups functionality that allows li ...

container, but does not use any of the Java-like code of Android. As of February 2022, Ubuntu Touch is available on 78 phones and tablets. The UBports Installer serves as an easy-to-use tool to allow inexperienced users to install the operating system on third-party devices without damaging their hardware.

Closed source

iOS

iOS (formerly named iPhone OS) was created by

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

It has the second largest installed base worldwide on smartphones, but the largest profits, due to aggressive price competition between Android-based manufacturers. It is closed-source and proprietary, and is built on the open source Darwin operating system. The iPhone,

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile device, mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a Touchscreen, touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch ...

, and second and third-generation

Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

all use

, which is derived from

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

. Native third-party applications were not officially supported until the release of iPhone OS 2.0 on July 11, 2008. Before this, " jailbreaking" allowed third-party applications to be installed. In recent years, the jailbreaking scene has changed drastically due to Apple's continued efforts to secure their operating system and prevent unauthorized modifications. Currently, jailbreaks of recent iterations of iOS are only semi-untethered, which requires a device to be re-jailbroken at every boot, and exploits for jailbreaks are becoming increasingly hard to find and use. Currently all iOS devices are developed by Apple and manufactured by

Foxconn Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., trading as Hon Hai Technology Group in China and Taiwan and Foxconn internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer established in 1974 with headquarters in Tucheng, Ne ...

or another of Apple's partners.

iPadOS

iPadOS is a tablet operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. specifically for their iPad line of tablet computers. It was announced at the company's 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), as a derivation from iOS but with a greater emphasis put on multitasking. It was released on September 24, 2019.

watchOS

watchOS is the operating system of the Apple Watch, developed by Apple Inc. It is based on the iOS operating system and has many similar features. It was released on April 24, 2015, along with the Apple Watch, the only device that runs watchOS. It is currently the most widely used wearable operating system. Its features focus on convenience, such as being able to place phone calls and send texts, and health, such as fitness and heart rate tracking. The most current version of the watchOS operating system is watchOS 8.

bridgeOS

bridgeOS bridgeOS is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. for use exclusively with its hardware. bridgeOS runs on the T series Apple silicon processors and operates the OLED touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is th ...

is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. for use exclusively with its hardware. bridgeOS runs on the T series

Apple silicon Apple silicon is a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by Apple Inc., mainly using the ARM architecture. It is the basis of most new Mac computers as well as iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV, a ...

processors and operates the

OLED An organic light-emitting diode (OLED or organic LED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound that emits light ...

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 ...

strip called the " Touch Bar" as well as multiple other functions, including managing the encrypted data in their Secure Enclave and acting as a gatekeeper and

video codec A video codec is software or hardware that compresses and decompresses digital video. In the context of video compression, ''codec'' is a portmanteau of ''encoder'' and ''decoder'', while a device that only compresses is typically called an '' ...

to the device's cameras. bridgeOS is a heavily modified version of Apple's

Kindle firmware

Kindle firmware is a mobile operating system specifically designed for

Amazon Kindle Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines and other digital media via wireless networking to the Kindle Store. T ...

e-reader An e-reader, also called an e-book reader or e-book device, is a mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and periodicals. Any device that can display text on a screen may act as an e-read ...

s. It is based on a custom Linux kernel, however. It is entirely closed-source and proprietary.

HarmonyOS

HarmonyOS is a distributed operating system developed by Huawei that was specifically designed for smartphones, tablets, TVs, smartwatches, smart devices of Huawei brand and its ecosystem. It is based on a proprietary multi-kernel and Linux kernel subsystem. Released officially for smartphones on June 2, 2021, from its initial launch on August 9, 2019, for smart screen TVs.

Nintendo Switch system software

The

Nintendo Switch system software The Nintendo Switch system software (also known by its codename Horizon) is an updatable firmware and operating system used by the Nintendo Switch video game console. It is based on a proprietary microkernel. The UI includes a HOME screen, cons ...

(also known by its codename Horizon) is an updatable firmware and operating system used by the Nintendo Switch hybrid video game console/tablet and Nintendo Switch Lite handheld game console. It is based on a proprietary microkernel. The UI includes a HOME screen, consisting of the top bar, the screenshot viewer ("Album"), and shortcuts to the Nintendo eShop, News, and Settings.

PlayStation Vita system software

The

PlayStation Vita system software The PlayStation Vita system software is the official firmware and operating system for the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV video game consoles. It uses the LiveArea as its graphical shell. The system is built on a Unix-base which is der ...

is the official firmware and operating system for the

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international terri ...

and

PlayStation TV The PlayStation TV (abbreviated to PS TV), known in Japan and other parts of Asia as the PlayStation Vita TV or PS Vita TV, is a microconsole, and a non-handheld variant of the PlayStation Vita handheld game console. It was released in Japan on ...

video game consoles. It uses the LiveArea as its graphical shell. The PlayStation Vita system software has one optional add-on component, the PlayStation Mobile Runtime Package. The system is built on a Unix-base which is derived from FreeBSD and NetBSD. Due to it capabilities on browsing the internet and multimedia capabilities, it is treat as an gaming tablet or tablet replacement by community and reviewer/publisher.

Intel Management Engine

The

Intel Management Engine The Intel Management Engine (ME), also known as the Intel Manageability Engine, is an autonomous subsystem that has been incorporated in virtually all of Intel's processor chipsets since 2008. It is located in the Platform Controller Hub of m ...

(ME), also known as the Intel Manageability Engine, is an autonomous subsystem that has been incorporated in virtually all of

processor Processor may refer to: Computing Hardware * Processor (computing) ** Central processing unit (CPU), the hardware within a computer that executes a program *** Microprocessor, a central processing unit contained on a single integrated circuit ...

chipset In a computer system, a chipset is a set of electronic components in one or more integrated circuits known as a "Data Flow Management System" that manages the data flow between the processor, memory and peripherals. It is usually found on the m ...

s since 2008. It is located in the

Platform Controller Hub The Platform Controller Hub (PCH) is a family of Intel's single-chip chipsets, first introduced in 2009. It is the successor to the Intel Hub Architecture, which used two chips - a northbridge and southbridge, and first appeared in the Intel ...

of modern Intel

motherboards A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expan ...

. While not an actual operating system or even a mobile one, the firmware which installed in the microprocessor was in fact based on the

Minix 3 Minix 3 is a small, Unix-like operating system. It is published under a BSD-3-Clause license and is a successor project to the earlier versions, Minix 1 and 2. The project's main goal is for the system to be fault-tolerant by detecting and rep ...

operating system, starting with Intel ME 11. Due to it was install on the mobile (Laptop) version of Intel chips, hence it can considered as a mobile operating system that running on the subsystem of the microprocessor of a mobile devices.

Windows 10

Windows 10 (not to be confused with

—see below) is a personal computer operating system developed and released by Microsoft as part of the

Windows NT Windows NT is a proprietary graphical operating system produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released on July 27, 1993. It is a processor-independent, multiprocessing and multi-user operating system. The first version of W ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

of operating systems. It was released on July 29, 2015, and many editions and versions have been released since then. Just like its predecessors, it was designed to run across multiple Microsoft product such as PCs and Tablets. The Windows user interface was revised to handle transitions between a mouse-oriented interface and a touchscreen-optimized interface based on available input devices‍—‌particularly on 2-in-1 PCs. Windows 10 also introduces the universal apps, expanding on Metro-style apps, these apps can be designed to run across multiple Microsoft product families with nearly identical code‍—‌including PCs, tablets, smartphones, embedded systems, Xbox One, Surface Hub and Mixed Reality.

Windows 11

Windows 11 is a major version of the

operating system developed by Microsoft that was announced on June 24, 2021, and is the successor to

, which was released n 2015. Windows 11 was released on October 5, 2021, as a free upgrade via

Windows Update Windows Update is a Microsoft service for the Windows 9x and Windows NT families of operating system, which automates downloading and installing Microsoft Windows software updates over the Internet. The service delivers software updates for Wind ...

for eligible devices running Windows 10. Microsoft promoted that Windows 11 would have improved performance and ease of use over Windows 10; it features major changes to the Windows

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

influenced by the canceled Windows 10X, including a redesigned

Start menu The Start menu is a graphical user interface element used in Microsoft Windows since Windows 95 and in other operating systems. It provides a central launching point for computer programs and performing other tasks in the Windows shell. It is ...

, the replacement of its "live tiles" with a separate "Widgets" panel on the

taskbar A taskbar is an element of a graphical user interface which has various purposes. It typically shows which programs are currently running. The specific design and layout of the taskbar varies between individual operating systems, but generally ...

, the ability to create tiled sets of windows that can be minimized and restored from the

as a group, and new gaming technologies inherited from

Xbox Series X and Series S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...

such as Auto HDR and DirectStorage on compatible hardware.

Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated IE or MSIE) is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft which was used in the Windows line of operating systems (i ...

is fully replaced by the Blink layout engine-based

Microsoft Edge Microsoft Edge is a proprietary, cross-platform web browser created by Microsoft. It was first released in 2015 as part of Windows 10 and Xbox One and later ported to other platforms as a fork of Google's Chromium open-source project: Androi ...

, while

Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams is a proprietary business communication platform developed by Microsoft, as part of the Microsoft 365 family of products. Teams primarily competes with the similar service Slack, offering workspace chat and videoconferenci ...

is integrated into the Windows shell. Microsoft also announced plans to offer support for Android apps to run on Windows 11, with support for

and manually-installed packages. Similar to Windows 10, it was designed to run across multiple Microsoft product such as PCs and Tablets. The Windows user interface was further revised to combine the UI element of both mouse-oriented interface and a touchscreen-optimized interface based into a hybrid UI that combined touch and traditional desktop UI.

Minor proprietary operating systems

Other than the major mobile operating systems from the major tech companies, some companies such as Huami (Amazfit), Huawei, realme, TCL, and Xiaomi have developed their own proprietary RTOSes specifically for their own smartbands and smartwatches that are designed to be power efficient and low battery consumption and are not based on Android or Linux Kernel. *Proprietary Amazfit OS Operating System that is primarily designed for their Bip series, however, Huami is currently developing the operating system to run on other company smartwatches as well. (Not to be confused with the Android-based Amazfit OS as both of them sharing the name yet both are based on different operating system, for their Android-based Amazfit OS, kindly refer to the Android section) *Huawei/Honor Band Operating System Huawei Band Operating system is an operating system specifically designed and developed by Huawei for their fitness tracker, including smartband series from Honor. (Not to be confused with another RTOS (LiteOS) which was also developed by Huawei.) *Lenovo RTOS Proprietary OS develop by Lenovo for their fitness tracker and smartwatch. *realme Wearable Operating System A proprietary operating system design to run on realme smartband and smartwatch. *TCL Wearable Real Time Operating System A proprietary RTOS powering TCL and Alcatel brand smartband and smartwatch. *Xiaomi Mi Band Operating System Proprietary RTOS that is develop by Huami for Xiaomi Mi Band series. (Not to be confused with Xiaomi MIUI for smartwatch which is based on Wear OS)

Discontinued software platforms

Open source

CyanogenMod

CyanogenMod was a custom mobile operating system based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). It was a custom ROM that was co-developed by the CyanogenMod community. The OS did not include any proprietary apps unless the user installed them. Due to its open source nature, CyanogenMod allowed Android users who could no longer obtain update support from their manufacturer to continue updating their OS version to the latest one based on official releases from Google AOSP and heavy theme customization. The last version of the OS was CyanogenMod 13 which was based on Android Asus On December 24, 2016, CyanogenMod announced on their blog that they would no longer be releasing any CyanogenMod updates. All development moved to

=Cyanogen OS

= Cyanogen OS was based on

and maintained by Cyanogen Inc; however, it included proprietary apps and it was only available for commercial uses.

Firefox OS

Firefox OS (formerly known as "Boot to Gecko" and shortly "B2G") is from

. It was an open source mobile operating system released under the

Mozilla Public License The Mozilla Public License (MPL) is a free and open-source weak copyleft license for most Mozilla Foundation software such as Firefox and Thunderbird The MPL license is developed and maintained by Mozilla, which seeks to balance the concer ...

built on the Android Linux kernel and used Android drivers, but did not use any Java-like code of Android. According to

Ars Technica ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sc ...

, "Mozilla says that B2G is motivated by a desire to demonstrate that the standards-based open Web has the potential to be a competitive alternative to the existing single-vendor application development stacks offered by the dominant mobile operating systems." In September 2016, Mozilla announced that work on Firefox OS has ceased, and all B2G-related code would be removed from mozilla-central.

MeeGo/Maemo/Moblin

was from non-profit organization The Linux Foundation. It is open source and GPL. At the 2010

Mobile World Congress MWC Barcelona (formerly but still commonly referred to as Mobile World Congress) is an annual trade show organised by GSMA, dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry. The event is held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain at the ...

in Barcelona, Nokia and

both unveiled ''MeeGo'', a mobile operating system that combined

and Maemo to create an open-sourced experience for users across all devices. In 2011 Nokia announced that it would no longer pursue MeeGo in favor of Windows Phone. Nokia announced the

on June 21, 2011, at the Nokia Connection event in Singapore. LG announced its support for the platform.

was a platform developed by Nokia for smartphones and

Internet tablet A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...

s. It is open source and GPL, based on Debian GNU/Linux and draws much of its

graphical user interface The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inst ...

(GUI),

frameworks A framework is a generic term commonly referring to an essential supporting structure which other things are built on top of. Framework may refer to: Computing * Application framework, used to implement the structure of an application for an op ...

, and

libraries A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

from the GNOME project. It uses the Matchbox window manager and the

GTK GTK (formerly GIMP ToolKit and GTK+) is a free and open-source cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, allowing both free and propri ...

-based

Hildon Hildon is an application framework originally developed for mobile devices ( PDAs, mobile phones, etc.) running the Linux operating system as well as the Symbian operating system. The Symbian variant of Hildon was discontinued with the cancellat ...

as its GUI and

application framework In computer programming, an application framework consists of a software framework used by software developers to implement the standard structure of application software. Application frameworks became popular with the rise of graphical user inter ...

webOS

webOS was developed by Palm. webOS is an open source mobile operating system running on the Linux kernel, initially developed by Palm, which launched with the

. After being acquired by HP, two phones (the Veer and the Pre 3) and a tablet (the

) running webOS were introduced in 2011. On August 18, 2011, HP announced that webOS hardware would be discontinued, but would continue to support and update webOS software and develop the webOS ecosystem. HP released webOS as open source under the name Open webOS, and plans to update it with additional features. On February 25, 2013, HP announced the sale of webOS to

, who used the operating system for its "smart" or Internet-connected TVs. However, HP retained patents underlying WebOS and cloud-based services such as the App Catalog.

Closed source

Bada

Bada platform (stylized as bada; Korean: 바다) was an operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. It was developed by Samsung Electronics. Its name is derived from "바다 (bada)", meaning "ocean" or "sea" in Korean. It ranges from mid- to high-end smartphones. To foster adoption of Bada OS, since 2011 Samsung reportedly has considered releasing the source code under an open-source license, and expanding device support to include Smart TVs. Samsung announced in June 2012 intentions to merge Bada into the Tizen project, but would meanwhile use its own Bada operating system, in parallel with Google Android OS and Microsoft Windows Phone, for its smartphones. All Bada-powered devices are branded under the Wave name, but not all of Samsung's Android-powered devices are branded under the name Galaxy. On February 25, 2013, Samsung announced that it will stop developing Bada, moving development to

instead. Bug reporting was finally terminated in April 2014.

BlackBerry OS

In 1999,

Research In Motion BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it was originally known as Research In Motion (RIM). As RIM, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablets ...

released its first BlackBerry devices, providing secure real-time push-email communications on wireless devices. Services such as BlackBerry Messenger provide the integration of all communications into a single inbox. In September 2012, RIM announced that the 200 millionth BlackBerry smartphone was shipped. As of September 2014, there were around 46 million active BlackBerry service subscribers. In the early 2010s, RIM has undergone a platform transition, changing its company name to

and making new devices on a new platform named "

BlackBerry 10

BlackBerry 10 (based on the

QNX QNX ( or ) is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market. QNX was one of the first commercially successful microkernel operating systems. The product was originally developed in the early 19 ...

OS) is from

. As a smartphone OS, it is closed-source and proprietary, and only runs on phones and tablets manufactured by BlackBerry. One of the dominant platforms in the world in the late 2000s, its global market share was reduced significantly by the mid-2010s. In late 2016, BlackBerry announced that it will continue to support the OS, with a promise to release 10.3.3. Therefore, BlackBerry 10 would not receive any major updates as BlackBerry and its partners would focus more on their Android base development.

Nintendo 3DS system software

The

Nintendo 3DS system software The Nintendo 3DS system software is the updatable operating system used by the Nintendo 3DS. The Nintendo Switch system software is believed to have evolved from the Nintendo 3DS system software. Technology OS The Nintendo 3DS firmw ...

is the updatable operating system used by the Nintendo 3DS.

Symbian

Symbian platform was developed by Nokia for some models of smartphones. It is proprietary software, it was however used by Ericsson (SonyEricsson), Sending and Benq. The operating system was discontinued in 2012, although a slimmed-down version for basic phones was still developed until July 2014. Microsoft officially shelved the platform in favor of Windows Phone after its acquisition of Nokia.

Palm OS

Palm OS/Garnet OS was from Access Co. It is closed-source and proprietary.

was introduced by Palm in January 2009, as the successor to Palm OS with Web 2.0 technologies,

open architecture Open architecture is a type of computer architecture or software architecture intended to make adding, upgrading, and swapping components with other computers easy. For example, the IBM PC, Amiga 500 and Apple IIe have an open architecture supp ...

and multitasking abilities.

Microsoft

=Windows Mobile

= Windows Mobile is a family of proprietary operating systems from Microsoft aimed at business and enterprise users, based on

and originally developed for

Pocket PC A Pocket PC (P/PC, PPC) is a class of personal digital assistant (PDA) that runs the Windows Mobile or Windows Embedded Compact operating system that has some of the abilities of modern desktop PCs. The name was introduced by Microsoft in 2000 ...

( PDA) devices. In 2010 it was replaced with the consumer-focused

. Versions of Windows Mobile came in multiple editions, like "Pocket PC Premium", "Pocket PC Professional", "Pocket PC Phone", and "Smartphone" (

Windows Mobile 2003 Windows Mobile 2003, originally codenamed "Ozone", was a member of the Windows Mobile family of mobile operating systems, released on June 23, 2003. It was the first Microsoft mobile OS to be called "Windows Mobile" and was based on Windows CE 4. ...

) or "Professional", "Standard", and "Classic" ( Windows Mobile 6.0). Some editions were touchscreen-only and some were keyboard-only, although there were cases where device vendors managed to graft support for one onto an edition targeted at the other. Cellular phone features were also only supported by some editions. Microsoft started work on a version of Windows Mobile that would combine all features together, but it was aborted, and instead they focused on developing the non-backward-compatible, touchscreen-only Windows Phone 7.

=Windows Phone

= Windows Phone is a proprietary mobile operating system developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to

and

Zune Zune is a discontinued line of digital media products and services marketed by Microsoft from November 2006 until its discontinuation in June 2012. Zune consisted of a line of portable media players, digital media player software for Windows ...

. Windows Phone features a new touchscreen-oriented user interface derived from Metro design language. Windows Phone was replaced by

in 2015.

=Windows 10 Mobile

= Windows 10 Mobile (formerly called

) is from Microsoft. It is closed-source and proprietary. Unveiled on February 15, 2010, Windows Phone includes a user interface inspired by Microsoft's

Metro Design Language Microsoft Design Language (or MDL), previously known as Metro, is a design language created by Microsoft. This design language is focused on typography and simplified icons, absence of clutter, increased content to chrome ratio ("content ...

. It is integrated with Microsoft services such as

OneDrive Microsoft OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) is a file hosting service operated by Microsoft. First launched in August 2007, it enables registered users to share and synchronize their files. OneDrive also works as the storage backend of the web ver ...

and Office,

Xbox Music Groove Music (formerly Xbox Music or Zune Music Pass) is a discontinued audio player software application included with Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. The app is also associated with a now-discontinued music streaming service, Groo ...

, Xbox Video,

Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox system on November 15, 2002. An ...

games, and

Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a variety ...

, but also integrates with many other non-Microsoft services such as

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

and Google accounts. Windows Phone devices were made primarily by

Microsoft Mobile Microsoft Mobile was a subsidiary of Microsoft involved in the development and manufacturing of mobile phones. Based in Espoo, Finland, it was established in 2014 following the acquisition of Nokia's Devices and Services division by Microso ...

/ Nokia, and also by HTC and Samsung. On January 21, 2015, Microsoft announced that the Windows Phone brand will be phased out and replaced with

, bringing tighter integration and unification with its PC counterpart

, and provide a platform for smartphones and tablets with screen sizes under 8 inches. On October 8, 2017, Microsoft officially announced that they would no longer push any major updates to Windows 10 Mobile, instead it would put it in maintenance mode, where Microsoft would push bug fixes and general improvements only, therefore Windows 10 Mobile would not receive any new feature updates. On January 18, 2019, Microsoft announced that support for

would end on December 10, 2019, with no further security updates released after then, and that Windows 10 Mobile users should migrate to

or Android phones. Current Windows 10 Mobile version list: * Windows 10 Mobile – Version 1511 (November Update "Threshold") – major UI update * Windows 10 Mobile – Version 1607 (Anniversary Update "Redstone 1") * Windows 10 Mobile – Version 1703 (Creators Update "Redstone 2") * Windows 10 Mobile – Version 1709 (Fall Creators Update)

Market share

Usage

In 2006, Android and iOS did not exist and only 64 million smartphones were sold. In 2018 Q1, 383.5 million smartphones were sold and global market share was 85.9% for Android and 14.1% for iOS. Other OS smartphones were 0,131 million, counting the 0.03% of the total. According to

StatCounter StatCounter is a web traffic analysis website started in 1999. Access to basic services is free to use and advanced services can cost between and US$119 a month. StatCounter is based in Dublin, Ireland. The statistics from StatCounter are use ...

web use statistics (a proxy for all use), smartphones (alone without tablets) have majority use globally, with desktop computers used much less (and Android, in particular, more popular than Windows). Use varies however by continent with smartphones way more popular in the biggest continents, i.e. Asia, and the desktop still more popular in some, though not in North America. The desktop is still popular in many countries (while overall down to 44.9% in the first quarter of 2017), smartphones are more popular even in many developed countries (or about to be in more). A few countries on any continent are desktop-minority; European countries (and some in South America, and a few, e.g. Haiti, in North America; and most in Asia and Africa) are smartphone-majority, Poland and Turkey highest with 57.68% and 62.33%, respectively. In Ireland, smartphone use at 45.55% outnumbers desktop use and mobile as a whole gains majority when including the tablet share at 9.12%. Spain is also slightly desktop-minority. The range of measured mobile web use varies a lot by country, and a StatCounter press release recognizes "India amongst world leaders in use of mobile to surf the internet" (of the big countries) where the share is around (or over) 80% and desktop is at 19.56%, with Russia trailing with 17.8% mobile use (and desktop the rest). Smartphones (alone, without tablets), first gained majority in December 2016 (desktop-majority was lost the month before), and it wasn't a Christmas-time fluke, as while close to majority after smartphone majority happened again in March 2017. In the week from November 7–13, 2016, smartphones alone (without tablets) overtook desktop, for the first time (for a short period; non-full-month). Mobile-majority applies to countries such as Paraguay in South America, Poland in Europe and Turkey; and most of Asia and Africa. Some of the world is still desktop-majority, with e.g. in the United States at 54.89% (but no not on all days). However, in some

territories of the United States Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...

, such as

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, desktop is way under majority, with Windows under 30% overtaken by Android. On October 22, 2016 (and subsequent weekends), mobile showed majority. Since October 27, the desktop hasn't shown majority, not even on weekdays. And smartphones alone have showed majority since December 23 to the end of the year, with the share topping at 58.22% on Christmas Day. To the "mobile"-majority share then of smartphones, tablets could be added giving a 63.22% majority. While an unusually high top, a similarly high also happened on Monday April 17, 2017, with then only smartphones share slightly lower and tablet share slightly higher, with them combined at 62.88%. , the world has turned desktop-minority; at about 49% desktop use for the previous month, but mobile wasn't ranked higher, tablet share had to be added to it to exceed desktop share. By now, mobile (smartphones) have full majority, outnumbering desktop/laptop computers by a safe margin (and no longer counting tablets with desktops makes them most popular).

By operating system

Notes: # Windows includes all versions. # BlackBerry includes all versions. # Other includes all other smartphone OSes but not feature phone OSes. World Wide Smartphone Sales

Mobile_OS_market_share_from_IDC_till_2016_Q3

References

External links

Android

Apple
{{Authority control Mobile phones Operating systems Software wars