Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android is developed by a consortium of developers known as the Open Handset Alliance, with the main contributor and commercial marketer being Google.
Initially developed by Android Inc., which Google bought in 2005, Android was unveiled in 2007, with the first commercial Android device launched in September 2008. The current stable version is Android 10, released on September 3, 2019. The core Android source code is known as Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which is primarily licensed under the Apache License. This has allowed variants of Android to be developed on a range of other electronics, such as game consoles, digital cameras, PCs and others, each with a specialized user interface. Some well known derivatives include Android TV for televisions and Wear OS for wearables, both developed by Google.
Android Application
An Android app is a software application running on the Android platform. Because the Android platform is built for mobile devices, a typical Android app is designed for a smartphone or a tablet PC running on the Android OS.
Although an Android app can be made available by developers through their websites, most Android apps are uploaded and published on the Android Market, an online store dedicated to these applications. The Android Market features both free and priced apps.