History Platform / Android

While Google does produce their own phones under the "Google Pixel" line (and prior to that, collaborated with various other manufacturers on the "Nexus" devices) the most popular Android manufacturer by far is Samsung, whose "Galaxy" phones often go toe-to-toe with Apple's iPhone in sales, features and popularity. Other popular manufacturers currently include, but are not limited to, BBK ([=OnePlus=], Oppo, Vivo, Realme, [=iQOO=]), Xiaomi, ASUS, Sony, Nokia, Motorola, Huawei, and Transsion (Infinix, Tecno, Itel).

[[https://www.android.com Android]] is a free, open-source, [[Platform/{{UNIX}} Linux]]-based operating system developed largely by Creator/{{Google}}. The first commercially released Android-based device, the HTC Dream, was released in September 2008. While it's primarily intended for smartphones, it's been used in just anything you can think of - including tablets, cameras, laptops, cars, house appliances, game consoles, [=MP3=] players, and even dumbphones. It is the most widely used operating system in the world, beating out even UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows. Odds are pretty decent that you're reading this page on Android (specifically Samsung's iteration).

And Android's openness is a weakness as often as it is a strength. App piracy and hacking is a widespread problem, for one thing, which leads to Android being a less profitable (and harder to develop for) platform than iOS, despite the latter having a much smaller overall market share. And long-term support for devices is usually rather dire - device manufacturers (including Google) usually provide about three years of updates with maybe an extra year of security updates over that if you're really lucky, and some manufacturers provide effectively no support or updates at all once a device hits store shelves. And outside of Google's own Pixel phones, these updates can take a very long time to come out - by the time a phone gets updated to the latest major Android release, the next one might be just around the corner. Plus, while manufacturers may be discouraged from forking Android, they are freely allowed to add their own custom skins and launchers. These can vary wildly in quality - though moreso in Android's early days - which has sometimes harmed Android's overall brand and reputation. Razor-thin profit margins also incentivize vendors to preload apps that push ads incessantly, to the point that even hardcore Android fans might be reluctant to recommend Android for their own less tech-oriented family who can't disable the ads.

The FandomRivalry between iOS and Android is a highly intense one, and sometimes - subtly or not - affects how people view each other. Android users are often characterized as obnoxious, lame cheapskates, and "green texts" - meaning messages on an iPhone that are sent with SMS instead of the blue-colored messages of Apple's proprietary, iOS-only iMessage system - are looked down upon so much that [[https://www.comparemymobile.com/features/tech-me-out/ a study found that]] on the dating app Tinder, using iPhone over Android makes you 75% more likely to get a date. Of course, Android users sometimes tend to stereotype iPhone users as hipster sheep who only care about mindlessly buying whatever new product Apple has. It's safe to say that both stereotypes have little basis in reality. This overall thought process has a basis both in general classism (since Android tends to be associated more with cheap devices, even if there are plenty of four-digit flagships there too) and arguably, to some extent, media. Since Apple hands out Apple devices for free to any production that requires them (hence the EveryoneOwnsAMac trope), but forbids them being used by any villains, it means that Androids are associated with evil characters so often that it can be a spoiler for the observant.

Regardless of any controversies or weird user stereotypes, Android remains a hugely prolific, popular operating system, and its dominance is unlikely to change anytime soon. A popular fork of it, [=LineageOS=], can be downloaded [[https://lineageos.org/ here]] and used on many different platforms - including x86 desktops and laptops. On supported devices released more than 2 years ago (the mandatory update period as defined by Google), [=LineageOS=] might be the only way to keep up with OS security or even OS upgrades (most devices only get one official Android version upgrade from their vendor, if at all). Windows 11 also includes support for Android applications, with the Amazon Appstore being accessible through the Microsoft Store.

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