Technology

Android Evolution Timeline 2008–2026: From HTC Dream to Android 17 & Gemini AI

Android launched commercially in 2008 on the T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream) with Android 1.0. Over 18 years it added on-screen keyboards, Material Design, runtime per…

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ANDROID 1.0

Android Arrives on the T-Mobile G1

The T-Mobile G1, also known as the HTC Dream, shipped with Android 1.0, the first Android smartphone, alongside the Android Market. It had a physical keyboard, a trackba…

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CUPCAKE TO ECLAIR

Dessert Names and the On-Screen Keyboard

Android 1.5 Cupcake added an on-screen keyboard, home-screen widgets and video capture, and began the public dessert-naming tradition. Donut broadened screen and device…

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ICE CREAM SANDWICH

Phone and Tablet Android Reunite

Android 3.x Honeycomb was a tablet-only branch. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, launched with the Galaxy Nexus, reunited phones and tablets into one platform with the Ho…

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JELLY BEAN

Google Now and Project Butter

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean introduced Google Now, which surfaced contextual, predictive cards for weather, commute time and appointments. Project Butter targeted smoother an…

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LOLLIPOP

Material Design Lands on Android

Android 5.0 Lollipop brought Material Design, previewed at Google I/O 2014, with cards, elevation, motion and layers. It also replaced Dalvik with the ART runtime. The s…

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MARSHMALLOW

Ask for Permission When It's Needed

Android 6.0 Marshmallow introduced runtime permissions, so apps request sensitive access when needed rather than all at install time. Doze cut background battery use, an…

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ANDROID 10

Numbers Take Over From Desserts

Android Q became Android 10, moving public branding to numbers for global clarity. Android 10 also brought a full gesture navigation system, granular privacy and locatio…

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ANDROID 12

Your Wallpaper Becomes the Design System

Android 12 introduced Material You: the system extracts colours from your wallpaper and applies them across the lock screen, notifications, widgets and apps. Google Tens…

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GEMINI NANO

On-Device Generative AI on the Pixel 8 Pro

Android 14 added Health Connect, Ultra HDR and lock-screen customisation. In December 2023, Gemini Nano began running on the Pixel 8 Pro, powering Recorder summarisation…

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ANDROID 17 & GEMINI INTELLI…

From Operating System to Intelligence System

Google introduced Gemini Intelligence in May 2026 and released Android 17 on 16 June 2026, describing the shift from an operating system to an intelligence system. AppFu…

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