EMZETT.Android
In short: Google’s mobile operating system, open source (AOSP) and used on most smartphones worldwide — more open than iOS, including the ability to sideload apps outside the Play Store.
In more detail: Apps are traditionally developed in Java or (recommended by Google since 2019) Kotlin, packaged as an APK. Because many manufacturers (Samsung, Xiaomi, etc.) ship their own Android variants with different hardware, device fragmentation on Android is considerably greater than in Apple’s more uniform iOS ecosystem.
In Depth
Android is based on a modified Linux kernel and traditionally runs apps in its own virtual machine (formerly Dalvik, today the Android Runtime/ART), which translates compiled bytecode into native machine code. By default, every app runs in its own sandbox with its own user ID, so apps can’t easily look into each other’s data.
Fragmentation is a central practical problem for developers: unlike iOS, where Apple rolls out updates to almost all supported devices at once, on Android the update pace depends on the respective manufacturer — some devices only get new Android versions months later, or never at all. Developers therefore often have to support several Android versions at once (defined via minSdkVersion and targetSdkVersion in the project).
The official development environment is Android Studio (based on IntelliJ), the build system is Gradle. A minimal app structure consists of a manifest that declares permissions and components:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />History and origin
Android was originally founded in 2003 as a standalone startup intending to develop operating systems for digital cameras, before the focus quickly shifted to smartphones. Google acquired the company as early as 2005, long before the first Android device (the HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1) came to market in 2008 — as a direct response to Apple’s iPhone, unveiled a year earlier. Up to Android 10 (2019), versions internally carried dessert-themed codenames in alphabetical order (Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, … Pie) — a tradition Google later dropped for marketing reasons, even though the internal API level numbering (currently well over 30) is still counted up continuously today.
Play Store, security and sideloading
Unlike iOS, Android users can also install APKs outside the official Play Store (“sideloading”) — practical for alternative app stores or self-developed apps, but a bigger entry point for malware, which is why Google offers a built-in malware check called Play Protect, which also scans sideloaded apps. Newer Android versions have also gradually made the permission system more granular: instead of blanket-approving all requested permissions at install time as in the past, Android today asks situationally at runtime (e.g. only at the first camera access), and users can revoke individual permissions again at any time.
Distinction from iOS in practice
For developers, Android’s open architecture means more freedom (e.g. access to the file system, background processes, changing default apps), but also more responsibility — a poorly optimised background program can drain the battery considerably more on Android than a comparable iOS counterpart, because Apple traditionally restricts background activity more strictly. For users, the difference shows up most clearly with updates: Google’s own Pixel devices get new versions immediately, while many other manufacturers patch their customised Android variants with a noticeable delay, or stop support entirely after a few years.