Android OS

Android OS is a mobile OS meant for open-source devices. Some variants are actually closed-source. To create a build, you must have git to clone the repository. After that, all you must do is make what modifications you want, and then make sure it's compatible with your device. Then, you pit it on your device.

Android Open Source
Just like the MediaWiki software used to run this site, the Android open source project allows for device makers and software vendors to build and create new versions of Android. Currently, the Kindle Fire runs on an overly modified version of Android. The clean design of Android allows for device makers to smoothly put builds of Android on their devices. Google has a compatibility specification that allows for device makers to allow only certain features of Android to run on their devices, and features device makers make themselves only on some devices.

Git allows you to clone the Android source repository so you can get the Android source code and put it on your device, and also add new features. Building the code also will give you the ability to go into the compiler and let you edit the code, and also program new features, add new looks, and also will let you take Google Play off the list and set up your own store, such as open source devices allowing music only under a certain license. Other device makers who have major agreements with record and publishing companies. They can also start their own app stores, and can make agreements with the companies selling the most popular apps. This allows for Android to still exist on the device but the overlay of revenue to go not to Google but to the device maker/software developer. Profits can also be made by selling the software by itself under a closed source model.

The Android Open Source Project also has instructions on how to build the original Android source model to modify and put on your device. Before making a device, if you're putting Android on it, you will need to check the Android Compatibility part of the Android Open Source Project.

Android & What It Does
Those of you who aren't experienced with things like Android, Android is a mobile device software that runs on your phone, tablet, or any other devices you may have.

The Android architecture runs on a system that is open source, which means anyone in the world has access to it and can modify it so it can run on their needs. Over time, though, the people who make the modified versions eventually won't be able to have their versions on other devices, because theirs is no longer a real version of Android. This is known as forking, because you fork a project to a new standard, and it only fits your needs. The original Android will always be open source, while independent companies make different versions of modified Android. After a while, after many releases, these companies have made Android into something it's not, and eventually very few base Android components are left, and then all of them are gone, and Android is no longer in existence, as everything was rewritten to the companies' needs.

In the picture on the right, the original Android software for 4.1, Jelly Bean, is shown to demonstrate Google's original. Now compare that to the Kindle Fire, where all the components are not in existence. 4.1 on the Galaxy Nexus is the cleanest version of the software. Also, the Nexus 7 Tablet is clean, but the apps aren't good. They're basically the phone apps, but with more empty space.

Other than apps, the Nexus 7 tablet has other features. The dashboard, for instance, has little clips of information, such as when your train leaves, what time you have to go to work, etc. Then, you can pull up a Google search with your voice using very Siri-like technology. The tablet also has the famous Internet browser called Google Chrome.