1 Android & Its Tools

Syllabus -:
• Introduction to Android, Open handset alliance, Android ecosystem
• Need of Android, Feature of Android
• Tools and Software required for developing an Android application
• Android Architecture

Introduction to Android
Android क्या हैं

The Android operating system is a mobile operating system developed by Google. It is

designed primarily for touchscreen devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android is based
on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, and it is part of the
wider Android Open Source Project (AOSP).

Key characteristics of the Android operating system include its open-source nature, which
allows developers to access and modify the source code. This has contributed to a diverse
ecosystem of apps and customizations created by developers and manufacturers
Android provides a user interface built around direct manipulation, using touch gestures that
correspond to real-world actions, such as swiping, tapping, pinching, and reverse pinching. The
operating system also supports multitasking and includes a notification system for keeping
users informed about updates and events.

Android was founded by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Chris White in October
2003. The initial goal was to create an advanced operating system for digital cameras, but the
team shifted their focus to smartphones due to the growing market.

In August 2005, Google acquired Android Inc., and Andy Rubin continued to lead the
Android project within Google.

The first commercially available Android device was the HTC Dream (also known as the T-
Mobile G1), released in October 2008.

The HTC Dream featured a touchscreen interface, a slide-out keyboard, and support for third-
party applications.

➔ Which is better ? Android or IOS

Android Versions -:

1. Android 1.0 - September 23, 2008

2. Android 1.1 - February 9, 2009

3. Android 1.5 (Cupcake) - April 27, 2009

4. Android 1.6 (Donut) - September 15, 2009

5. Android 2.0/2.1 (Eclair) - October 26, 2009

6. Android 2.2 (Froyo) - May 20, 2010

7. Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) - December 6, 2010

8. Android 3.0/3.1/3.2 (Honeycomb) - February 22, 2011

9. Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) - October 18, 2011

10. Android 4.1/4.2/4.3 (Jelly Bean) - July 9, 2012

11. Android 4.4 (KitKat) - October 31, 2013

12. Android 5.0/5.1 (Lollipop) - November 12, 2014

13. Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) - October 5, 2015

14. Android 7.0/7.1 (Nougat) - August 22, 2016

15. Android 8.0/8.1 (Oreo) - August 21, 2017

16. Android 9 (Pie) - August 6, 2018

17. Android 10 - September 3, 2019

18. Android 11 - September 8, 2020

19. Android 12 - October 4, 2021

 Open Handset Alliance

The Open Handset Alliance (OHA) is a consortium of mobile technology companies and
organizations that joined forces to develop and promote open standards for mobile devices. It
was founded in November 2007 with the goal of advancing the Android operating system, an
open-source platform for mobile devices. The key founding member of the Open Handset
Alliance was Google, and it played a central role in the development of Android.

❖ One of the primary objectives of the Open Handset Alliance was to foster the
development of an open-source mobile platform, which later became known as
Android. The open-source model allows developers to access and modify the Android
source code, encouraging innovation and collaboration.
❖ The OHA brought together a diverse group of mobile industry players, including
handset manufacturers, software companies, and mobile carriers. This collaboration
aimed to establish common standards and specifications for mobile devices to promote
interoperability.
❖ The flagship project of the Open Handset Alliance was the development of the Android
operating system. Google contributed the initial codebase for Android, and members of
the OHA actively participated in its development, shaping its features and capabilities.
 ❖ The OHA played a crucial role in building and expanding the Android ecosystem. By
creating a collaborative environment, member companies worked together to develop
applications, services, and devices that would run on the Android platform.
❖ The OHA embraced a diverse range of handset manufacturers, ensuring that Android
could be implemented on a variety of devices. This strategy led to the proliferation of
Android smartphones and tablets from different manufacturers, catering to various
market segments and consumer preferences.
❖ The formation of the Open Handset Alliance marked a significant shift in the mobile
industry. Android, as an open-source platform, provided an alternative to proprietary
operating systems, and its widespread adoption had a profound impact on the
smartphone market.

Android Ecosystem

Android ecosystem refers to the interdependence between the demand and supply of users,
equipment makers, and software developers. To become an android developer it is important
to understand the android ecosystem and its interdependencies. Android is a mobile OS that
is a modified version of the Linux kernel also it is open-source software. Android is
specifically designed for touchscreen mobile phones or smartphones.

Android ecosystem is all about the interdependence between android developers(Google),

Equipment Manufacturers, and users, as this is an ecosystem one cannot exist without the
other. It is created around the google-play-mobile application market place including
Orchestrate (Google) customers and applications.
The main block of the android ecosystem is:

1. Android User
2. Developer
3. Equipment Maker

1. Android User (Users buy handsets and software Application):

Android users have more space for customizability for their android devices. Android users are
smarter than other users and they are perceived to have greater levels of support. Android users
are also more likely to prefer saving their cost and love the openness of the platform also they
like to customize their device. Android users are fancier to prefer saving money and also
android user like customizing their android handset/device

2. Developers (sell Application):

Android Developers are the professional software developer in designing applications as well
as developing applications for Android. Some of the following tasks where an android
developer can play his role in the development of android apps:

3. Equipment Maker:
Android equipments are available in the market in a huge amount.

• Smartwatches: A smartwatch is a handheld, wearable device that closely relates a

wristwatch or other time device. In addition to telling time, many smartwatches are
wireless connectivity oriented such as Bluetooth capable. The traditional watch
becomes, in effect, a wireless Bluetooth technology extending the capabilities of the
wearer's smartphone to the watch.
• Smart TV: An Android TV box is a small computer that plugs into any TV and gives
the user the ability to stream content, locally and online. Apps can be downloaded from
the Google Play Store, installed, and do most anything a standard computer can do from
streaming videos to writing an email.
• Smart Speakers: Smark speakers are booming in the market now, Smark speakers like
Google Home, Alexa, We can control our android device via voice using these smart
speakers.
Need of Android

The Android operating system (OS) is designed to meet a variety of needs, both for end-users
and developers.

Here are some key needs that the Android OS addresses:

1. Open Source and Customization: Android is an open-source operating system, allowing

manufacturers and developers to modify and customize it according to their requirements. This
flexibility encourages innovation and differentiation among devices.

2. Compatibility Across Devices: Android is designed to run on a wide range of devices,

including smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, smart TVs, and other embedded systems. This
adaptability ensures that the OS can cater to diverse hardware configurations.

3. Developer-Friendly Environment: Android provides a comprehensive and accessible

software development kit (SDK) that allows developers to create a variety of applications. The
platform supports multiple programming languages, including Java and Kotlin, making it
appealing to a broad range of developers.

4. App Ecosystem: Android has a vast ecosystem of applications available through the Google
Play Store. This extensive library of apps caters to the diverse needs and preferences of users,
ranging from productivity tools to entertainment and gaming apps.

5. User Interface Customization: Android allows for extensive user interface customization,
both by device manufacturers (OEMs) and end-users. This enables a personalized experience,
as users can choose different themes, launchers, and widgets to suit their preferences.

6. Integration with Google Services: Android seamlessly integrates with various Google
services such as Gmail, Google Maps, Google Drive, and more. This integration enhances the
overall user experience and provides access to a suite of cloud-based services.

7. Security Features: Android incorporates robust security features to protect user data and
devices. This includes regular security updates, secure boot processes, app sandboxing, and
permissions management. Google Play Protect also helps in identifying and mitigating security
threats.
8. Multi-Tasking and Multitouch Support: Android supports multi-tasking, allowing users
to run multiple applications simultaneously. Additionally, the OS provides multitouch support,
enabling gestures and interactions using multiple fingers on touchscreens.

9. Connectivity Options: Android supports a wide range of connectivity options, including

Wi-Fi, mobile data, Bluetooth, NFC (Near Field Communication), and more. This facilitates
seamless communication between devices and enables the development of connected
ecosystems

10. Regular Updates and New Features: Google regularly releases updates to the Android
OS, introducing new features, performance improvements, and security enhancements. This
ensures that users and devices stay up-to-date with the latest advancements.

11. Global Accessibility: Android is a globally accessible platform, supporting multiple

languages and providing features like localization and internationalization. This allows users
around the world to use Android devices in their preferred languages.

12. Cost-Effective Solutions: Android's open-source nature and broad hardware compatibility
contribute to a wide range of devices available at various price points. This makes Android
devices accessible to a diverse user base with different budget constraints.

Features of Android

Android is a powerful operating system competing with Apple 4GS and supports great features.
Features Description
Android supports multiple connectivity technologies including
Connectivity GSM/EDGE, IDEN, CDMA, EV-DO, UMTS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LTE,
NFC, and WiMAX

SQLite, a lightweight relational database, is used for data storage

Storage purposes

Android supports various types of audio/video/still media formats like

Media support H.263, H.264, MPEG-4 SP, AMR, AMR-WB, AAC, HE-AAC, AAC
5.1, MP3, MIDI, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP and WebP

The web browser available in Android is based on the open-source

Web browser Blink (previously WebKit) layout engine, coupled with Chrome's V8
JavaScript engine supporting HTML5 and CSS3

SMS and MMS are available forms of messaging, it also includes

Messaging threaded text messaging and Android Cloud To Device Messaging
(C2DM) and now supports the enhanced version of C2DM, Android
Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) is also a part of Android Push
Messaging services

Multitasking of applications, with unique handling of memory

Multi-tasking allocation, is available, using this users can jump from one task to
another and at the same time various applications can run
simultaneously

Resizable Widgets are resizable, so users can expand them to show more content
widgets or shrink them to save space
 Android has native support for multi-touch which was initially made
Multi-touch available in handsets such as the HTC Hero

A technology that lets apps discover and pair directly, over a high-
Wi-Fi bandwidth peer-to-peer connection.

Android supports capturing a screenshot by pressing the power and

Screen capture home-screen buttons at the same time. This feature supports after
Android 4.0

A popular NFC-based technology that lets users instantly share, just by

Android Beam touching two NFC-enabled phones together

Android supports multiple languages, also supports the single direction

Multi-Language and bi-directional text

Tools & Software required for developing an Android Application

➢ Any operating system

➢ Android Studio / Eclipse
➢ SDK
➢ JDK
 Android Architecture

Android architecture contains different number of components to support any android device
needs. Android software contains an open-source Linux Kernel having collection of number
of C/C++ libraries which are exposed through an application framework services.

Among all the components Linux Kernel provides main functionality of operating system
functions to smartphones and Dalvik Virtual Machine (DVM) provide platform for running
an android application.

The main components of android architecture are following:-

• Applications
• Application Framework
• Android Runtime
• Platform Libraries
• Linux Kernel
Applications

Applications is the top layer of android architecture. The pre-installed applications like home,
contacts, camera, gallery etc and third party applications downloaded from the play store like
chat applications, games etc. will be installed on this layer only. It runs within the Android
run time with the help of the classes and services provided by the application framework.

Application framework

Application Framework provides several important classes which are used to create an
Android application. It provides a generic abstraction for hardware access and also helps in
managing the user interface with application resources. Generally, it provides the services
with the help of which we can create a particular class and make that class helpful for the
Applications creation.

• It includes different types of services activity manager, notification manager, view

system, package manager etc. which are helpful for the development of our
application according to the prerequisite.

Application runtime

Android Runtime environment is one of the most important part of Android. It contains
components like core libraries and the Dalvik virtual machine(DVM). Mainly, it provides the
base for the application framework and powers our application with the help of the core
libraries.

Like Java Virtual Machine (JVM), Dalvik Virtual Machine (DVM) is a register-based
virtual machine and specially designed and optimized for android to ensure that a device can
run multiple instances efficiently. It depends on the layer Linux kernel for threading and low-
level memory management. The core libraries enable us to implement android applications
using the standard JAVA or Kotlin programming languages.
 Platform libraries

The Platform Libraries includes various C/C++ core libraries and Java based
libraries such as Media, Graphics, Surface Manager, OpenGL etc. to provide a
support for android development.

• Media library provides support to play and record an audio and video formats.
• Surface manager responsible for managing access to the display subsystem.
• SGL and OpenGL both cross-language, cross-platform application program
interface (API) are used for 2D and 3D computer graphics.
• SQLite provides database support and FreeType provides font support.
• Web-Kit This open source web browser engine provides all the functionality
to display web content and to simplify page loading.
• SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is security technology to establish an encrypted
link between a web server and a web browser.

Linux Kernel

Linux Kernel is heart of the android architecture. It manages all the available
drivers such as display drivers, camera drivers, Bluetooth drivers, audio drivers,
memory drivers, etc. which are required during the runtime.

The Linux Kernel will provide an abstraction layer between the device hardware
and the other components of android architecture. It is responsible for
management of memory, power, devices etc.

The features of Linux kernel are:

• Security: The Linux kernel handles the security between the application and
the system.
• Memory Management: It efficiently handles the memory management
thereby providing the freedom to develop our apps.
• Process Management: It manages the process well, allocates resources to
processes whenever they need them.
• Network Stack: It effectively handles the network communication.
• Driver Model: It ensures that the application works properly on the device
and hardware manufacturers responsible for building their drivers into the
Linux build.
 Assignment #1

1. Define android operating system.

2. Describe major components of android platform.
3. List out any 6 android versions.
4. Define OHA.
5. Explain android ecosystem with the help of a diagram.
6. Explain any 8 android features.
7. Explain android architecture with the help of a diagram.
8. What is Dalvik virtual machine?
9. List out software and tools required to start android development.