Happy Birthday Android

This week Android turns 4, and while most kids that age have not yet learnt how to read or even count, Android is way ahead of the class and holding 75% of the smartphone operating system market, making it the world's biggest smartphone OS! No mean feat for a 4 year old!

How has it got there, avid iOS fans may be wondering? It's because Android cater to the everyday man. Not the showoffy, egomaniatical iPhone users, not the 'we are to business focused to have fun' Blackberry crowd, no, Android have placed themselves nicely in the middle of the market with its army of budget handsets, open source app market, and the ability to keep up with moving technological trends. But beware, with a birthday in November, their starsign is Scorpio and my my do they have a sting in their tail! Now that they've successfully settled into their niche, Android are on the attack!

The attack planning started in 2008, since then Android has been improving their operating system with numerous updates, listening to their consumers and adding new features and fixing bugs. Each update release is named in alphabetical order after a desert or sugary treat for example, Cupcake, Donut and Ice-Cream Sandwich (good luck finding a dessert beginning with 'X Android!).

Androids newest update
is Jelly Bean 

Androids latest offering JellyBean is fast and powerful, and with better hardware becoming available such as the Google Nexus or Samsung Galaxy which have better specs but yet are much cheaper than an iPhone,  it could becoming more appealing to even the most hardened of Apple fans, who might just get a bit sick and tired of having to sleep rough for a week outside an Apple shop just to get a handset that can't tell you where the nearest coffee shop is properly (referring to the terrible iOS 6 maps here). It would not be a surprise to see Google and Android increase their lead in this market even further in the next year.

The advantage of the open source app market (the Google Playstore) to Androids OS rankings is not always talked about, but does have an impact. The closed off iOS appstore makes it harder and harder for developers to create innovative and fresh applications, as they will likely be rejected, so they turn to the Android, to their laid-back, anything goes attitude. This will have a knock on effect, with Android having better applications being made for them (yes there will be lots of terrible ones in there too), and these apps will contribute to an all round better OS.

If you have read other parts of this blog you'll know I am the owner of www.logoquizanswers.com, the comprehensive answers and cheat website for the Logos Quiz app. We fully support Android, and actually are one of the only cheat websites to do this (the others almost all solely focus on iOS only).  Check out how much we love Android Logo Quizzes. This also brings up a good point again about the advantage of the Google Playstore. For every one brilliant app for iPhone, there will be 10 in the Playstore, giving the end user more choice, variety and ultimately a better end experience.

For those interested in the breakdown percentage of the OS market and how the other brands such as Apple and Blackberry are doing, here is a lovely pie-chart to sum it up for you. As you can see, Android is dominating by a long shot!

Good for you Android, and Happy Birthday!

And yes, I know how much I moaned about Google in my last post, this still stands, however they don't half make a good operating system! For reference only, I own and use an iPhone.