The problem with Android phones and tablets is that, being produced by different houses and there are many models available (which is a good thing), they often mount completely different versions. While the iPhone is the one and its iOS system updates on all iPhones (unless they are old models), Android, whose development is managed by Google, is updated to the latest version only on some models and not on all. Furthermore, being Android open source, some manufacturers customize the system and, although two phones of different brands are based on the same version, they can appear very different, even with more or less functions. Google, unlike Microsoft for PCs, allows Android device manufacturers to change almost anything they want.
The result is that each phone model has a different version of Android and also with the same version, the manufacturer's firmware makes it different from the others.
READ ALSO: How Android is updated (even without installing new versions)
To find out which Android version our smartphone or tablet has, you need to go into the phone settings and tap where it says Info on the phone or Info on the tablet and this should be the same for each model. The Android version isn't the only element that distinguishes one version from the other, the kernel version and the " Android security patch level " are also important. Traditionally, this information is used to determine if the device has the latest security patches.
In Android 6.0, Google added the date of the latest security patch installed, to make things easier to read.
The build number is basically the firmware version given by the phone manufacturer for that particular model.
In fact, Android must be adapted, as software, to the type of phone in which it is installed and its version is indicated by the build number.
NOTE : Repeatedly tapping the build number field on most Android phones activates the developer menu.
On some smartphones, the software is assigned a different abbreviation that also includes the build number in addition to the release date.
What is missing is the name of the Android version, what Google uses to distinguish the various versions from each other.
For example, the latest version currently available is Android 10 which has no codename.
Here are the names of each Android version released to date:
- Android 10
- Android 9 Pie
- Android 8 Oreo
- Android 7 Nougat
- Android 6 Marshmallow
- Android 5 Lollipop
- Android 4.4: Kit Kat
- Android 4.1 - 4.3.1: Jelly Bean
- Android 4.0 - 4.0.4: Ice Cream Sandwich
- Android 3.0 - 3.2.6: Honeycomb (it was a tablet-only version)
- Android 2.3 - 2.3.7: Gingerbread
- Android 2.2 - 2.2.3: Froyo
- Android 2.0 - 2.1: Eclair
- Android 1.6: Donut
- Android 1.5: Cupcake
In this Wikipedia page you can see photos and synthetic characteristics of each version.
Note : tapping on " Android version " several times opens the hidden game which is different depending on the version.
From the Phone info screen, you can also check if there is a new update to download .
This can lead to a new version of Android or only to new phone software / firmware, without version changes.
As already explained by answering the question: "Why Android does not update"> All the others have to wait for the manufacturer to change the version of Android to adapt it to the models of smartphones or tablets sold.
Fortunately, the most efficient manufacturers such as Asus, Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, OnePlus etc., even if they do not update the system in full, bring updates to internal applications, which are then integral parts of the system.
For example, the phone is, in Android, an application and so are the messages, emails and the Google Play Services app system, used by Google to update its internal services and add functions to the phone without having to intervene with a new one Android version.
The exact version of Android is therefore not always such important information and even if you buy a phone with the previous version, it may be very well (but beware of phones on sale with very old versions with 4.0 or even the 4.2).
