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Android versions comparison

102

Android platform

The latest version of the platform is now Android 14.

Oreo Android 8 introduced an Android flavor for low-end devices the Go Edition. It aims devices with low RAM (1GB or less), slow internet connections and lower-end CPU. It comes with popular apps dedicated to this flavor: Gmail Go, Google Go, Maps Go...

There was previously two flavors of the platform. One targeted for small screens mainly mobile phones (all versions below 3.0), and one dedicated for tablets: Honeycomb Android 3.0. However not all Android tablets support this version (some tablets use the Android 2.x).

These two variants of the platform have been merged to a versatile and uniform platform since "Ice Cream Sandwich", which has been released in October 2011. It combines "Gingerbread" and "Honeycomb" versions in a cohesive platform for tablets and phones at the same time.

Android 5.0 aka Lollipop target to be even more versatile to target also smart watches, TV player, Car media center... device with only 512 of RAM can support this new version.

Note: The market share figures could be find in Android Studio's "Create New Project" wizard. They are based on API level, so the percentage might gather several versions of the Android platform.

Related comparisons:

mobile-os-comparison-developer-view

The following comparison chart lists the main differences between each version of the android platform using the changelog of each version. Do not hesitate to contribute or comment to make this comparison table as accurate as possible.

Link
Release dateKey user features addedKey developer features addedAPI LevelVersion name
Android 152024 Q3Android 15 (official) or Vanilla Ice Cream
Android 14Oct. 4th 2023
  • Privacy enhancements (Per image access rights)
  • Multiuser mode with guest mode minor changes
  • Battery life improvements
  • Phone can be used as a webcam on connected computer.
Apps build for Android 6 and below are blocked.34Upside Down Cake
Android 13Aug. 15th 2022
  • Notifications need must be allowed before first send
  • The notification panel show the number of active apps
  • Android Runtime (ART) improve memory management
  • Bluetooth LE Audio support
  • LC3 audio codec
  • MIDI 2.0 over USB support
33Tiramisu
Android 12LApr. 7th 2022
  • Foldable screen support
  • User interface adjustments for large screens
32Snow Cone v2
Android 122021 Oct 4
  • More customizable UI (Could adjust the whole UI depending on the selected wallpaper)
  • Security and privacy enhancements like a timeline to know what data your applications access
  • “Material You” design language
  • Android Private Compute Core
  • AV1 Image File Format support (AVIF)
31Snow Cone
Android 11Sep. 8th 2020
  • Screen recording
  • Better permissions settings
  • Messaging bubbles
  • Ethernet Tethering
  • 5G app support
  • Captive portal API
  • Shared datasets
  • Wireless debugging
30Red Velvet Cake
Android 10Sep. 3rd 2019
  • Better privacy support:
    • Require permissions to access location or files in background
    • Limit access to unique device identifiers
  • Access system settings directly from apps using floating panel
  • New audio/video codec support: AV1, HDR10+, Opus
  • WPA3 Wi-Fi support
  • Foldable phones support
  • Dark theme
  • Gesture navigation
  • MIDI API
  • Notification Bubbles
  • In apps Biometric authentication
29Queen Cake
Android 9Aug. 9th 2018
  • User interface updates:
    • Rounded corners across the UI
    • Quick settings menu change.
    • Notification bar, the clock has moved to the left.
    • The "dock" now has a semi-transparent background.
    • New transitions when switching between apps, or within apps
    • Volume slider updated
  • Richer messaging notifications: with full conversation, large images, smart replies
  • The power options now has a "screenshot" button
  • Biometric authentication can now be disabled only once
28Pie
Android 8.1Dec. 5th 2017
  • Show battery level in "Quick Settings" for devices connected via Bluetooth
  • Navigation buttons dim when not in use
  • UI updates to 'Power Off' and 'Restart'
  • Toast messages are now white in color with same existing transparency
  • Automatic light and dark themes
  • Emoji updates (ie: Hamburger move the cheese slice position)
  • Neural networks API for artificial intelligence
  • Shared memory API
  • WallpaperColors API
  • Programmatic Safe Browsing actions
  • Autofill framework updates
  • Go Edition: lightweight Android distribution for devices with less than 1 GB of RAM
27Oreo
Android 8.0Aug. 21st 2017
  • PIP: Picture-in-Picture with resizable windows
  • Android Instant apps
  • Improved notifications system
  • Improved system settings
  • Lock screen redesign
26Oreo
Android 7.1.2Apr. 4th 2017
  • Battery usage alerts
  • Nexus and Pixel specific improvements
25Nougat
Android 7.1.1Dec. 5th 2016
  • Long press on the app icon enable new launch actions
  • The default keyboard allows now to send GIFs directly
  • New set of emojis
25Nougat
Android 7.1Oct. 4th 2016
  • Daydream Virtual Reality mode
  • Night Light
  • Storage manager improvements
  • Performance improvements for Touch and Display managements
  • Option to enable fingerprint swipe down gesture
  • Seamless system updates
  • Shortcut manager APIs
  • Support Circular app icons
  • Keyboard image insertion
  • VR thread scheduling improvements
  • Enhanced wallpaper metadata
  • Multi-endpoint call support
  • Source type support for Visual Voicemail
  • Carrier config options to manage video telephony
  • open-source AOSP apps replaced with closed-source google apps
25Nougat
Android 7.0Aug. 22nd 2016
  • Unicode 9.0 emoji
  • Better multitasking
  • Multi-window mode (PIP, Freeform window)
  • Seamless system updates (with dual system partition)
  • Better performance and code size thanks to new JIT Compiler
  • Sustained Performance Mode (SPM) API
  • Vulkan 3D rendering API
  • Daydream virtual reality platform
24Nougat
Android 6.0.1Dec. 7th 2015 New emojis23Marshmallow
Android 6Oct. 5th 2015
  • USB Type-C support
  • Fingerprint Authentication support
  • Better battery life with "deep sleep"
  • Permissions dashboard
  • Android Pay
  • MIDI support
  • Google Now improvements
  • Custom Chrome Tabs for better in app browser support
  • App Permissions management update
23Marshmallow
Android 5.1.1Apr. 21st 2015
  • Speed improvement
  • Bug fixes
22Lollipop
Android 5.1Mar. 9th 2015
  • Multiple SIM cards support
  • Quick settings shortcuts to join Wi-Fi networks or control Bluetooth devices
  • Lock protection if lost or stolen
  • High Definition voice call
  • Stability and performance enhancements
22Lollipop
Android 5.0.2Dec. 19th 2014
  • Performance improvements and bug fixes
21Lollipop
Android 5.0.1Dec. 2nd 2014
  • bug fixes, fix issues with video playback and password failures
21Lollipop
Android 5.0Oct. 17th 2014
  • New design (Material design)
  • Speed improvement
  • Battery consumption improvement
  • Several new API
  • Tracking battery consumption app
21Lollipop
Android 4.4.4Jun. 23rd 2014
  • Fix Heartbleed / OpenSSL vulnerability
19KitKat
Android 4.4.3Apr. 14th 2014
  • Bug fixes
  • Enable Sprint Spark band 26 and band 41
19KitKat
Android 4.4.2Dec. 9th 2013
  • Bug fixes
  • Security enhancements
19KitKat
Android 4.4.1Dec. 5th 2013
  • Bug fixes
  • Enhance the camera on the Nexus 5
19KitKat
Android 4.4Oct. 31st 2013
  • Screen recording
  • New Translucent system UI
  • Enhanced notification access
  • System-wide settings for closed captioning
  • Performance improvements
  • Public API for SMS management.
  • Improved memory usage
  • Security enhancements (SELinux enforcing mode, new cryptographic algorithms, VPN per user...)
  • NFC Host Card Emulation (for wireless payment, loyalty programs...)
  • Printing Framework
  • Storage Access Framework
  • Hardware Sensor Batching
  • Full-screen immersive mode
  • GLES2.0 SurfaceFlinger
  • Chromium WebView
  • Audio tunneling to DSP
  • Audio monitoring
  • Wi-Fi certified Miracast
  • New Bluetooth profile
  • IR Blasters API
  • Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) support
  • Tools for analyzing memory use (procstats, on-device memory status and profiling)
19KitKat
Android 4.3Jul. 24th 2013
  • Dial pad auto-complete
  • Photo Sphere enhancements
  • Camera app UI updated
  • 4K resolution support
  • Ability to create restricted profiles for tablets
  • Hebrew and Arabic right-to-left (RTL) support
  • Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) support
  • Bluetooth Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) 1.3 support
  • Security and performance enhancements
  • OpenGL for Embedded Systems 3.0 graphics support
  • Logging and analyzing enhancements
  • Wi-Fi scanning API
  • Improved DRM (digital rights management) API
  • VP8 encoding
18Jelly Bean
Android 4.2.2Feb. 11th 2013
  • Allow toggling Wi-Fi and Bluetooth state in Quick Settings using long-press
  • Shows the percentage and estimated time remaining in the active download notifications
  • Wireless charging and low battery sounds changed
  • Gallery app updated for faster loading with new image transition
  • Performance enhancements and bug fixes (Bluetooth A2DP audio streaming fix...)
  • Secure USB debugging (allow debugging to authenticated computers only)
17Jelly Bean
Android 4.2.1Nov. 27th 2012
  • Fix missing december bug in the People app
  • Add support for Bluetooth gamepads and joysticks HID devices
17Jelly Bean
Android 4.2Nov. 13th 2012
  • Lockscreen widgets
  • 360 degree images with Photo Sphere
  • Gesture Typing, for faster typing
  • Wireless display with Miracast
  • Daydream to display information when idle or docked
  • Multi-user for tablets
  • vsync timing
  • Triple buffering
  • reduced touch latency
  • CPU input boost
  • Native RTL support - mirrors the display from manifest prop
  • External display support - Display Manager
  • Nested fragments
  • Renderscript Compute - run tasks on the GPU (supported devices)
  • Renderscript ScriptGroups, built-in intrinsics like blur,
  • FilterScript is a subset of Renderscript made for high performance image processing
17Jelly Bean
Android 4.1.2Oct. 9th 2012
  • Enable Home screen rotation
  • Fix bugs and enhance performances
16Jelly Bean
Android 4.1.1Jul. 23rd 2012
  • Fix a bug on screen orientation
16Jelly Bean
Android 4.1Jul. 9th 2012
  • Google Now ( youtu.be/... )
  • Voice Search
  • Speed enhancements
  • Camera app improvements
  • Accessibility: gesture mode, enable braille external keyboards...
  • app stack navigation to define a parent activity in manifest for deep navigation
  • MediaActionSound class to make sounds like when a camera takes a photo
  • NFC supports large payloads over bluetooth
  • WIFI/WIFI-Direct service discovery
  • Large, detailed, multi-action notifications
  • Input manager allows you to query input devices
16Jelly Bean
Android 4.0.4Mar. 28th 2012
  • stability improvements
  • better camera performance
  • smoother screen rotation
15Ice Cream Sandwich
Android 4.0.3Dec. 16th 2011
  • Social stream API in Contacts provider to show updates associated to your contacts
  • Video stabilization and QVGA video resolution API access
  • Accessibility API refinements for screen readers
  • Calendar provider updates
15Ice Cream Sandwich
Android 4.0.2Nov. 28th 2011 Minor fixes14Ice Cream Sandwich
Android 4.0.1Oct. 19th 2011
  • Facial recognition (Face Unlock)
  • UI use Hardware acceleration
  • Better voice recognition (dictating/Voice typing)
  • Web browser, allows up to 16 tabs
  • Updated launcher (customizable)
  • Android Beam app to exchange data through NFC
14Ice Cream Sandwich
Android 4.0Oct. 18th 2011
  • New lock screen actions
  • Improved text input and spell-checking
  • Control over network data
  • Email app supports EAS v14
  • WI-FI direct
  • BlueTooth Health Device Profile
  • ADB Backups
  • Low-level streaming multimedia (Khronos OpenMAX AL
  • Grid Layout
  • Spell checking service
  • Address Space Layout Randomization
  • VPN client API
  • Remote Device camera enable/disable
  • ZSL exposure, continuous focus, and image zoom
  • Flags to help control system ui elements like system bar from apps
14Ice Cream Sandwich
Android 3.2.6Feb. 15th 2012 Minor fixes13Honeycomb
Android 3.2.4Dec. 15th 2011 Added "Pay as you go" for tablets13Honeycomb
Android 3.2.2Sep. 30th 2011 Minor fixes13Honeycomb
Android 3.2.1Sep. 20th 2011
  • Android Market updates including easier automatic updates
  • Google Books updates
  • Wi-Fi improvements
  • Chinese handwriting prediction improved
13Honeycomb
Android 3.2Jul. 15th 2011
  • Optimizations for a wider range of tablets
  • Compatibility display mode (zoom for fixed-sized apps)
  • Media sync from SD card
  • Extended API for managing screens support
    • New resource qualifiers for screens support
    • New manifest attributes for screen-size compatibility
    • Screen compatibility mode which allows for phone apps to appear as if they were still on a phone
13Honeycomb
Android 3.1May 10th 2011
  • UI improvements
  • Open Accessory API
  • USB host API
  • Mice, joysticks, gamepads... support
  • Resizable Home screen widgets
  • MTP notifications
  • RTP API for audio
12Honeycomb
Android 3.0Feb. 22nd 2011
  • Multi core support
  • Better tablet support
  • Updated 3D UI
    • customizable homescreens
    • recent applications viewing
    • redone keyboard layout
  • Media/Picture transport protocol
  • Google Talk video chat
  • Google eBooks
  • "Private browsing"
  • System-wide Clipboard
  • HTTP Live streaming
  • contextual action bar
  • Fragments first introduced(support library now supports it as well)
  • Hardware-accelerated 2D graphics
  • Renderscript 3D graphics engine
  • Pluggable DRM framework
  • device administration
  • High performance Animation Framework
  • RTP streaming API
  • Forced rendering of layers
  • High performance WIFI lock
  • Vew network traffic stats
  • ADTS AAC and FLAC audio
  • LRU cache
11Honeycomb
Android 2.3.7Sep. 21st 2011
  • Google Wallet support for the Nexus S 4G
10Gingerbread
Android 2.3.6Sep. 2nd 2011
  • Voice search issue fixed
10Gingerbread
Android 2.3.5Jul. 25th 2011
  • Improved network performance for the Nexus S 4G
  • Fixed Bluetooth issues on the Samsung Galaxy S
  • Gmail app. improvements
10Gingerbread
Android 2.3.4May 10th 2011
  • Voice or video chat using Google Talk
  • Open Accessory API
10Gingerbread
Android 2.3.3Feb. 9th 2011
  • NFC API improvements (peer to peer communication...)
  • added unsecure bluetooth sockets
10Gingerbread
Android 2.3Dec. 6th 2010
  • Updated UI
  • Improved keyboard ease of use
  • Improved copy/paste
  • Improved power management
  • Social networking features
  • Near Field Communication support
  • Native VoIP/SIP support
  • Video call support
  • performance - concurrent garbage collection, faster event distribution, updated video drivers
  • NDK - Native Asset Manager, Native Activities + event handling, khronos api
  • audio effects api
  • VP8, WebM, AAC, AMR wideband
  • Multiple camera sensor support
  • strictmode debugging
  • media framework replaces OpenCore
9Gingerbread
Android 2.2May 20th 2010
  • Speed improvements
  • JIT implementation
  • USB Tethering
  • Applications installation to the expandable memory
  • Upload file support in the browser
  • Animated GIFs
8Froyo
Android 2.1Jan. 12th 2010
  • Updated UI
7Eclair
Android 2.0.1Dec. 3rd 2009 6Eclair
Android 2.0Oct. 26th 2009
  • HTML
  • Digital zoom
  • Microsoft Exchange support
  • Bluetooth 2.1
  • Live Wallpapers
  • Updated UI
5Eclair
Android 1.6Sep. 15th 2009
  • Gesture framework
  • Turn-by-turn navigation
4Donut
Android 1.5Apr. 30th 2009
  • Bluetooth A2DP, AVRCP support
  • Soft-keyboard with text-prediction
  • Record/watch videos
3Cupcake
Android 1.1Feb. 9th 2009
  • "Show" & "Hide" numeric keyboard, in caller application
  • Ability to save MMS attachments
2Banana bread
Android 1.0Sep. 23rd 2008
  • Public Release of Android
  • Download and updates via Android Market
  • Web Browser
  • Camera support
  • Gmail, Contacts and Google Agenda synchronization
  • Google Maps
  • YouTube application
1Apple pie
Android 0.9Aug. 22nd 2008 It is the first version to use Android 1.0's UI. It also adds many of the sounds and ringtones found in 1.0, albeit mostly in stereo as opposed to mono.Beta
Android m5-rc15the bug where incorrect handling of BMP images have been resolved.Bender
Android m5-rc14New touch-based ui The UI has been redesigned with updated icons, a new look and feel, and a menu in the bottom-right. The menu shows Contacts, Dialer, and an "All" button that shows all programs installed. It is also the first build to include the notification area, but sliding down from the top will show nothing but just the white background with no text. It now supports SD card images up to 128GB. Most of the issues from m3-rc20a have been resolved. The wallpaper settings is not final, so you will get an "Unsupported action" message instead.
Android m4-rc5
Android m3-rc37a
  • The emulator skin has been changed from QVGA-L (320x240) to HVGA-P (320x480) by default.
    		• Astro Boy
    Android m3-rc22a
  • Bug fixes.
    		• Astro Boy
    Android m3-rc20a
    • First available build of Android
    • New dock interface
    • New icons
    • Reverted back to the old status bar with ability to read notifications
    • Removed most of the apps. They later reintroduced in newer versions of Androids or a standalone app from Android Market (now known as Google Play)
    • New browser homepage
    		Astro Boy
    Android htc-29386.0.9.0.0
    Android htc-2065.0.8.0.0First known build of Android
    Embed
    Compare versions: Android 13 vs Android 12, Android 11, Android Lollipop vs Android 4.4 KitKat vs Android 4.3 vs 4.1 Jelly Bean vs 4.0.3, 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich vs 3.1 Honeycomb vs Android 2.3 Gingerbread vs Android 2.2 Froyo...
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    User reviews and comments

    • Emma on Dec. 21st 2022 12:42:03 PM

      Great Article. I was unaware of the minor adjustments Android does to improve usability. One of Android 13's most impressive additions is the ability for apps to shoot and preview HDR video material using the Camera2 APIs. Consult ValueCoders if you're looking for Android application development.

    • Gohar on Sep. 8th 2021 1:49:35 PM

      The comparison of the Android versions are represented in a good manner and style, however, can some share the feature and functions of various Android TV OS versions such as Android TV 9.0, Android TV 10, Android TV 11 and Android TV 12.

    • techavidus on Apr. 2nd 2021 8:51:34 AM

      Great comparison about Android versions

    • Yastovis on Mar. 11th 2021 5:51:07 PM

      That's a really good in-depth article about the different Android platforms available. Love, love, love that you included all the features included in every new version. It really helps developers when they build apps to know which new features are introduced (and obsolete). Check out how much it takes to develop an app and you'll know why being on top of which Android version you are developing for is part of the puzzle. inspirevisual.com/...

    • andrewstevenson on Jan. 25th 2021 5:35:11 PM

      I like your comparison, that was really interesting! I like to read authors who are not impartial. Sophia, I think that a lot of people heard about Flutter, but I do not agree with you. Yes, flutter is a cross-platform tool and it's very cool, you can read this webpage for more info madappgang.com/... but I also heard that it is hard to find a developer on flutter. You may develop an application, but after that, it will be hard to support it, fix bugs, etc. So this is a double-edged sword.

    • Toby on Aug. 20th 2020 7:31:46 PM

      More information “Quality Assurance Toolkit: Using Android Studio IDE” you can find here - steelkiwi.com/...

    • arthonsys on Jul. 17th 2019 1:57:24 PM

      Nice comparison factors with all informative metrics. I hope Android 9 Pie will amaze users through its features and functionality.

    • Pablopablo on Sep. 1st 2017 4:38:05 PM

      Very nice list. I didn't even know about 0.9 Android) By the way, I have nice review about last 8 Android Oreo. Check it here: cleveroad.com/...

    • PAULAB on Apr. 24th 2017 8:23:25 AM
      suggested on Android 1.1 to set Name to Android
    • Kamran Mehmood on Feb. 12th 2017 8:17:04 PM
      commented on Android 7.1

      Can we use new version on Samsung Galaxy S4 sgh-m919 UVUAMDL ?

    • MrGamix on Oct. 16th 2016 1:10:10 PM
      suggested on Android 7.1 to set Name to Android 7.1 Nougat
    • Rob Pacinelli on Aug. 19th 2016 10:59:02 PM

      How do I know which Android OS will work best with the MyMatrix TV android box? I tried looking for it on their site but couldn't find any info on it......MyMatrixTV.com

    • Seralo on Jun. 1st 2015 11:52:23 AM

      @Jeyanthan Rasalingam
      API: basically it is the features a developer can use for their app. For a full description:
      wikipedia.org/...
      API level is useful for developers to know which versions has the same global features set.
      It's also useful for market share as explained in the description (market share is based on the API level).

    • Karthik Raja on Nov. 18th 2013 7:08:57 AM

      easy to convey matter........

    • Fred on Oct. 13th 2013 8:58:21 AM
      commented on Android 4.1.2

      Je ne sais pas si c'est le cas sur tous les smartphones, mais sur le Samsung Xcover 2 ou GT-S7710, cette version est une vrai galère au niveau de la mémoire. Impossible de transférer les applications sur la micro SD. Du coup, on est vite saturé en mémoire. Inadmissible pour un smartphone comme celui-là. Il serait bien d'avoir une solution pour corriger ce problème.

    • Thunder13 on Sep. 27th 2013 7:39:23 PM
      commented on Android 4.1.2

      Bonjour. Depuis que j'ai cette nouvelle version (4.1.2) j'ai un petit souci. Quand j’écris un sms et que j'ai un mot qui n'éxiste pas sur mon téléphone il est impossible d'ajouter ce nouveau mot dans le dictionnaire interne de mon galaxy note GT-N7000. Y'a t'il une solution car cela est très gênent. merci d'avance

    • brecklundin on Jun. 10th 2013 1:27:30 PM
      commented on Android 4.2.2

      Dolphin has not supported Flash since about the time of Android 4.0.1 or 4.0.2, Or have they added it back? The Android devs had pretty horrid Flash support anyway. Felt like they just decided to give up trying to get their code right (was it beyond their skill level? who knows...but it's not there far as my last look.)

    • Firda-keLces Pengendbangedbiizajadii Personilkelimanyaa-Jrocks on Mar. 11th 2013 8:11:48 AM

      android is a software for tablet and phones, the platform is based on linux kernel. it can be modified by programmer and now it has many versions like gingerbread, ice cream sandwich, jelly bean, honeycomb, etc. Fachrunnisa Firdausi /IT 2E/ 214

    • surfette001 on Mar. 9th 2013 6:13:31 PM

      est-il possible de mettre à jour la version android de ma tablette qui tourne sous 4.1.1 ?

    • El Komander on Mar. 3rd 2013 2:23:41 AM

      Voted for this Comparison A++

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