Android Free Tutorial
- tekslate
- Dec 23, 2014
- 3 min read
Android is a mobile operating system that is based on a modified version of Linux. It was originally developed by a startup of the same name, Android, Inc. In 2005, as part of its strategy to enter the mobile space, Google purchased Android and took over its development work (as well as its development team).
Google wanted Android to be open and free; hence, most of the Android code was released under the open-source Apache License, which means that anyone who wants to use Android can do so by downloading the full Android source code. Moreover, vendors (typically hardware manufacturers) can add their own proprietary extensions to Android and customize Android to differentiate their products from others. This simple development model makes Android very attractive and has thus piqued the interest of many vendors. This has been especially true for companies affected by the phenomenon of Apple’s iPhone, a hugely successful product that revolutionized the smartphone industry. Such companies include Motorola and Sony Ericsson, which for many years have been developing their own mobile operating systems. When the iPhone was launched, many of these manufacturers had to scramble to find new ways of revitalizing their products. These manufacturers see Android as a solution — they will continue to design their own hardware and use Android as the operating system that powers it.
It offers a unified approach to application development.
Developers need only develop for Android, and their applications should be able to run on numerous different devices, as long as the devices are powered using Android. In the world of smart phones, applications are the most important part of the success chain.
Device manufacturers therefore see Android as their best hope to challenge the onslaught of the iPhone, which already commands a large base of applications.
Android is a combination of three components
A free, open-source operating system for mobile devices.
An open-source development platform for creating mobile applications.
Devices, particularly mobile phones, that run the Android operating system and the applications created for it.
Native Android Applications
Android phones will normally come with a suite of generic preinstalled applications that are part of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), including, but not necessarily limited to:
§ An e-mail client
§ An SMS management application
§ A full PIM (personal information management) suite including a calendar and contacts list A WebKit-based web browser
§ A music player and picture gallery
§ A camera and video recording application A calculator
§ The home screen An alarm clock
In many cases Android devices will also ship with the following proprietary Google mobile applications
The Android Market client for downloading third-party Android applications
A fully-featured mobile Google Maps application including StreetView, driving directions and turn-by-turn navigation, satellite view, and traffic conditions
The Gmail mail client
The Google Talk instant-messaging client The YouTube video player.
§ The true appeal of Android as a development environment lies in the APIs it provides.
§ No licensing, distribution, or development fees or release approval processes Wi-Fi hardware access
§ GSM, EDGE, and 3G networks for telephony or data transfer, enabling you to make or receive calls or SMS messages, or to send and retrieve data across mobile networks
§ Comprehensive APIs for location-based services such as GPS
§ Full multimedia hardware control, including playback and recording with the camera and microphone
§ APIs for using sensor hardware, including accelerometers and the compass Libraries for using Bluetooth for peer-to-peer data transfer
§ IPC message passing Shared data stores
§ Background applications and processes
§ Home-screen Widgets, Live Folders, and LiveWallpaper
§ The ability to integrate application search results into the system search An integrated open-source HTML5WebKit-based browser
§ Full support for applications that integrate map controls as part of their user interface
§ Mobile-optimized hardware-accelerated graphics, including a path-based 2D graphics library and support for 3D graphics using OpenGL ES 2.0
§ Media libraries for playing and recording a variety of audio/video or still image formats Localization through a dynamic resource framework
§ An application framework that encourages reuse of application components and the replacement of native applications
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