In the current era of digitalization, android and smartphones are very useful in our daily lives. These two have more convenience in our life than harm.
Key Takeaways
- Android is an operating system designed by Google, whereas a smartphone is a mobile device with advanced computing capabilities.
- Android powers various smartphones from different manufacturers, while smartphones can run on different operating systems, such as iOS or Windows Mobile.
- Android offers more customization options and a wider range of devices, while smartphones encompass devices with diverse specifications, designs, and price points.
Android vs Smartphones
Android is an open-source, free, Linux-based operating system developed by google and is used to power a variety of smartphones. Smartphones are a type of phone that is operated on an operating system such as android. It is basically a minicomputer and allows advanced computing capabilities.
Android refers to one of the most popular mobile operating systems which is based on Linux Kernel and used in smartphones, tablets, and other touchscreen devices.
It was initially developed by Android Inc and financially backed by Google, the company later was brought by Google. The first publicly available smartphone with an Android operating system was HTC Dream.
Smartphones refer to portable devices that are the combination of computing functions and mobile telephone functions into a single device.
They are very different from the feature phones by their extensive mobile operating system and stronger capabilities in the hardware which helps to provide internet, wider software, and multimedia functionalities, alongside core functions like calling and texting.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Android | Smartphones |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Android is a mobile operating system. | Smartphones are mobile or cellular devices combining computing and telephonic functionalities. |
| Developers | Android Inc. | IBM |
| Invention | First invested in 2007. | First invented in 1992. |
| Users | 2.8 billion worldwide. | 6.4 billion worldwide. |
| Correlation | All android phones are smartphones. | Not all smartphones are not android phones. |
What is Android?
Android refers to a Linux-based open-source mobile operating system that is used in mobile devices like smartphones, tablets. It was first developed by Android Inc and financially backed by Google, which later brought Android Inc.
On 22nd October 2008 HTC Dream first used the Android operating system in the mobile device.
The user interface of Android is based on the DM (Direct manipulation) using touch inputs, like tapping, swiping, reverse pinching, and pinching.
Android devices allow its users to customize their home screens with shortcuts to widgets and applications. Widgets are used to access live content directly on the home screen of the device (weather information and emails).
Google releases the source code of the android under the Apache License which allows the software to be freely modified and distributed by device manufacturers and enthusiasts developers.
Most Android devices are shipped with a combination of proprietary and open-source software.
Android is considered the most popular operating system all over the world with almost 2.8 billion active users. In the early 2010s android became the most popular operating system for mobile developers.
All the pioneer mobile developers like LG, Samsung, HTC, and Motorola started to launch their smartphones with running android operating systems, and soon in 2014, the usage of android phones hit 1 billion.
Over the years Google has added multiple new features to the android which helps them to remain at the market still now.
What is Smartphones?
Smartphones are mobile or cellular devices with highly advanced features and are connected to cellular networks. Smartphones have Wi-Fi connectivity, touch screen display, accessibility to sophisticated applications.
Smartphones are significantly different from the old versions of mobile devices which didn’t have touch screens and couldn’t provide an internet connection.
The majority of the smartphones run on operating systems like android, iOS, BlackBerry OS, Bada (Samsung), and so on.
Smartphones have more storage space, more powerful CPUs, more RAM, larger screens, and greater connectivity options compared to regular cell phones.
Nowadays high-end smartphones are equipped with high-speed processors that allow users to browse the web, play 3D video games, text, and call much longer than ever.
Smartphones evolved from the convergence of the personal organizer and the cell phone, which were earlier in the 1990s, used as separate devices.
During the 90s the price of cell phones and calls started to fall a significant amount. By the end of 2000, handheld devices with calling, texting, and picturing facilities were popular among teenagers.
The first smartphone was introduced in 1992 by IBM which embodied PDA (personal digital assistants) and telephonic features.
The introduction of 4G connection in 2012 and later that the introduction of 5G connection increases data-carrying capacity tremendously, which increases smartphone users all over the world.
5G smartphones will be ten to a hundred times faster than 4G.
Main Differences Between Android and Smartphones
- Android refers to a mobile operating system that is the base of most smartphones and tablets, on the other hand, smartphones are portable cellular devices that are connected to cellular networks with highly advanced features.
- Android was first developed by Android Inc. and financially backed by Google, whereas smartphones were first developed by IBM.
- Android was invented much later than smartphones, android was first invented in 2007, whereas smartphones were invented in 1992.
- Currently, nearly 2.8 billion people are using android phones, while the users of smartphones are much higher, 6.4 billion, than android phones.
- All android phones are smartphones but all smartphones are not android phones. Smartphones can run other operating systems like iOS, Bada (Samsung), Blackberry OS, etc.
- https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=android+operating+system&oq=Android+op#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3Du9dHAWgQpPYJ
- https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=smartphones+&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DfqpA1tuq5u4J
Last Updated : 13 July, 2023
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
