Android Mobiles Club

Android Versions

1.0 (G1)
February 2008

• GPS and Bluetooth (but not stereo Bluetooth)
• Multitasking
• Tight integration with Google services like Gmail, Google Maps (with Street View), and Google Calendar
• Apps: Amazon MP3 Store; YouTube
• Android Market (about 35 apps at launch)
• No Microsoft Exchange Server; no camcorder

1.5 (Cupcake)
April 2009

• Universal search box (search had been limited to the Web)
• Revamped Android Market: Browsing categories (Apps, Games, Downloads) and filters (Top Free, Top Paid, Just In)
• Camera: Toggle between camera and video modes; integrated photo gallery and camera with bulk photo deleting
• SDK expands support for gestures, voice-to-text

1.6 (Donut)
September 2009

• Virtual onscreen keyboard
• Camcorder mode for recording (and watching) video
• Stereo Bluetooth
• Home screen widgets and folders
• Copy/paste and search within the browser
• Direct upload to YouTube and Picasa

2.0 (Eclair)
October 2009

• Multiple user accounts
• Exchange support; universal e-mail inbox
• Quick Contact pop-up widget to launch communications with friends in the address book
• Search saved SMS and MMS messages
• Camera improvements include support for flash and digital zoom
• Bluetooth 2.1
• Keyboard improvements: Adaptive dictionary that includes contact names in suggestions

2.1 (Eclair, second helping)
January 2010

• Live wallpaper; five home screens
• Speech-to-text added to any text field; microphone icon for voice dictation in e-mails, texts, and so on

2.2 (Froyo)
May 2010

• Speedier OS
• USB tethering and hot-spot support
• Android Market update: Batch and automatic updates; installing apps to the SD card
• Adobe Flash 10.1
• File uploading in the browser
• Improved Microsoft Exchange support: Security policies, global address lookup, calendar sync, remote wipe
• Bluetooth support for voice dialing and contact sharing

2.3 (Gingerbread)
December 2010

• Redesigned copy/paste
• WebM video compression support
• NFC (near-field communication) support
• Switch to front-facing camera from camera app
• Virtual keyboard shortcuts

3.0 (Honeycomb)
February 2011

• 3D graphics support
• Side-by-side browser tabs; private browsing
• Dual-pane modes for address book, e-mail
• Redesigned UI includes program thumbnails
• Video chatting with Google Talk
• Full-screen-mode photo gallery
• Bluetooth tethering

3.1-3.2.6 (Honeycomb)
May 2011-February 2012

• Support for peripherals like keyboards and game pads
• Resizable widgets
• "Pay as you go" support for 3G, 4G tablets
• Various bug fixes and enhancements
  

4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
October 2011

• Support for virtual buttons in addition to touch-sensitive buttons
• Create folders by dragging apps on top of each other
• A new app tray tab for thumbing through widgets
• Calendar app now supports pinch-to-zoom
• Gmail gets offline search, swiping between conversations
• Revamped Gmail user interface
• New Chrome browser syncs with your bookmarks, saves pages offline, supports 16 browser tabs
• More keyboard error correction, inline spell check
• Customizable lock screen, launcher
• Recent applications icon
• Roboto typeface
• New swipe/delete behavior
• Improved voice integration and copy and paste
• Face Unlock security feature
• Data Usage tracking
• Hide unwanted app icons
• Shut down apps that are using background data
• Native camera features include zero shutter lag, continuous focus, zoom while recording, taking a still photo while recording, panorama photos, time lapse settings 1080p recording
• Face detection in the camera
• Integrated photo editor
• New gallery layout, organized by location and person
• Phone app lets you swipe between favorite friends with integrated visual voice mail
• Speed up and slow down voice mails
• Quick message sends canned response text message when you decline a call
• Android Beam, an NFC feature for exchanging information between two phones by tapping them
• Wi-Fi Direct support

4.1 (Jelly Bean)
July 2012

• Faster, smoother performance with "Project Butter"
• Expandable notifications with greater interaction
• Voice search access by swiping up from bottom of the screen
• Voice actions engine replies to some queries
• Google Now
• Offline dictation
• Default Chrome browser
• Resizable app widgets (for some)
• Android Beam support for transferring larger files, like photo and video
• New filmstrip view of recent shots in the camera app
• Applications update in Google Play with just the changed code
• Sound search widget for music ID
• Higher-resolution contact photos
• Greater accessibility options
• Expanded language support, especially for Arabic and Hebrew
• Interface tweaks