What Are Android Phones?

The ever increasing range of mobile technology gadgets can understandably leave people feeling confused. If you're feeling a little baffled by talk of platforms such as Android, then this article should hopefully help clear things up.

In the past, most people chose phones based on which manufacturer produced them, and the software on such phones was also peculiar to the phone brand. Apple's iPhone is a current example of this, where the same company are producing the hardware and software. Android is slightly different, as the Android operating system is used on phones and other mobile devices created by lots of different manufacturers.

Operating System

To understand how Android works, consider your PC. If you have a laptop, desktop or tablet PC, the actual machine will be manufactured by a specific company, whose name will no doubt be displayed on the casing somewhere. The operating system running on the machine is distinct from this. The operating system together with the applications are software, while the machine itself is hardware. (Again, Apple products confusingly comprise both hardware and software designed and manufactured by the same company, but this is less common than the alternative).

This is the concept to understand with Android. While your PC may be running an operating system such as Windows, Mac OS or Linux, its hardware may have been created by any of a number of manufacturers. Android phones are basically any phones running the Android operating system. There are lots of manufacturers producing hardware with Android running on it, including HTC, Motorola, LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

The Android Platform

The Android platform is therefore installed on a range of devices with different hardware specifications, designs and user controls. Although primarily a smartphone platform, Android is also used on other mobile devices such as tablet and netbook PCs.

Devices with Android installed include all of the standard features a smartphone or mobile gadget is expected to have, including Internet access, email, GPS and the ability to use mobile phone services such as making and receiving calls and text messaging. Over and above these standard features, Android devices also have lots of other optional applications.

Applications

Applications, or "apps", are key to smartphone platforms such as Android. Users are able to download and install additional applications for a wide variety of purposes such as entertainment, gaming, organisation and productivity among many others. These are accessed through marketplaces, specifically the Android Market, now Google Play (the other platforms have their own app stores).

Android Vs Other Platforms

From the user's point of view, Android functions in much the same way as rival platforms such as Apple iPhone. However, there is a fairly major philosophical difference between the platforms. Android is open source, which means that the source code used to create it is visible to anyone who wants to see it.

While this may not seem relevant to you as a user, open source software is increasingly being used by people who are not necessarily developers. The principle of open source software is that consumers essentially have a right to access the source code. Because open source code is more visible, it is often worked on by a greater number of developers, which can cause an increase in quality and reliability.

Openness and Accessibility

This open idea has also been applied to the Android Market/ Google Play store. While the Apple App Store has a number of restrictions on the apps that developers can sell, with the content rigorously vetted, Google Play has very few restrictions. The downside to this is that there are potentially more poor quality apps on the store, but the plus side is that it is less restricted.

Like the Web, it is up to the users to distinguish between those apps that are worthwhile on Google Play, rather than having the content vetted and censored on their behalf. Which option you prefer as a user is really a matter for personal choice.

Because Android is freely available, it is also being used on phones across the market range. There are far more affordable, lower cost smartphones with Android on them compared to the other smartphone platforms such as iPhone and Blackberry. Android is therefore a more accessible system than most of its competitors, and can be acquired on devices that are small and large in scale, with various types of hardware interface including touchscreens, buttons and keyboards.

See also Android Things: Android Marketplaces and Directories