! Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! How Android Differs Depending on the Hardware Manufacturer Written by Aaron Peters Published November 2017. Read the original article here: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/android-differs-hardware- manufacturer/ This ebook is the intellectual property of MakeUseOf. It must only be published in its original form. Using parts or republishing altered parts of this ebook is prohibited without permission from MakeUseOf.com. Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Table of contents Android’s Development Cycle 4 Google Releases AOSP 6 Stock Android 7 Manufacturers Adjust AOSP for Hardware 13 Manufacturers Customize AOSP’s Features 14 Common Customizations Made by Android Manufacturers 15 Samsung 16 Amazon 22 HTC 25 LG 31 Xiaomi 35 Motorola 42 Google 47 Variety is the Spice of Android 50 Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Android devices come in a wonderful variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and capabilities. They can differ from one to another in terms of operating system-level features, pre-installed apps, and innovative interface experiments. Why is there such a difference? The Android Open Source Project gives device manufacturers a lot of leeway in creating unique features that will draw customers. Compare this to iOS, where Apple controls the hardware and platform (although this has its own advantages). In this guide we’ll take a look at how new versions of Android are released, how manufacturers use them in their devices, and some of the most intriguing changes they’ve baked into their products. Android’s Development Cycle Many refer to Android as a “version” or “fork” of Linux. It is correct to say it’s a Linux-based OS, as it uses the Linux kernel. But Android differs because it doesn’t use the same set of GNU utilities that are so common on other distributions. It’s not as though an Android user can simply “drop into a terminal” and expect to be productive. In fact, Android devices don’t provide access to a standard terminal at all, unless you install a separate app for it. Instead, it uses the Linux kernel as its base and adds a runtime to execute apps along with other libraries to it. Apps and system services use these resources, and the result is the Android we all know. This hierarchy is shown in the below image from the Android Developers portal. Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Image Credit: Google Android is similar to Windows in that, once a particular version has been through development and testing, it’s “released.” Its source code is pushed to the repositories of Android’s developer portal, where manufacturers can freely download and use it. Let’s take a closer look at how Android receives its ongoing enhancements. Google Releases AOSP “Stock” Android is the Android that results from its development in the open, collaborative environment Google has established. As Google coordinates the development of Android, it will make regular releases to the Android Open Sourse Project (AOSP). The output of this project is the source code for the complete mobile operating system we know as Android. It’s important to know what “operating system” means in this context. It refers to a combination of underlying platforms (the kernel, basic software libraries, etc.) as well as some applications. Together these are what the industry refers to “stock Android,” and it has become very much in vogue for devices to ship with something close to it. Manufacturers, including Google, need to create images for their own devices. Now, “stock” Android doesn’t necessarily mean “official” Android. Google’s new “Certified Android”initiative is trying to ensure that device manufacturers are following security guidelines and pre-loading certain Google’s apps. This goes beyond “stock Android” as it requires review and approval by Google. At the other end of the spectrum, because Android’s source code is available for anyone, third parties can compile it for devices of their choosing without Google’s blessing. There are two examples of this you might already be familiar with. The first is devices made by Amazon, which we’ll get to in a later section. These use Android as their underlying operating system, while at the same time using their own app store and main launcher interface. Another example is the many custom ROMs the community creates. When you see a new one come out described as “based on Android Nougat,” it means the project used that release as their starting point. Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Stock Android One easy way to see what stock Android (including Google’s apps) looks like is to use an emulator like the ones we have examined in the past. But Genymotion is a commercial product, and BlueStacks only runs on Windows (Anbox, on the other hand, is Linux-only). For a free and cross-platform option, you can download and install Android Studio and run the included SDK Manager. It allows you to download the programming resources for each release of Android (as shown in the below image), including a “system image” for each. Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Installing Android Studio is as easy as downloading the install package and doing as follows: • On Windows, run the .EXE installer. • On Mac, do likewise with the .DMG. • On Linux, unpack the .ZIP file and run through the installer (check out our guide on creating your own Android App for detailed instructions for these steps). Once complete, one of Android Studio’s tools is the “Android Virtual Device” manager. Look for the toolbar button labeled (“AVD Manager”) as shown below: Once it appears, you can click “Create Virtual Device…” to quickly create a virtual device in two steps. First, select a device profile. Don’t spend too much time thinking about it, as it only provides parameters such as screen size and resolution: Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Then choose which version of Android it should run: Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Click Finish, when the virtual device is created, launch it with the play button in the AVD Manager: Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Once the virtual device is running, you can see the standard layout and collection of apps each version of Android provides. Comparing two versions, 5.1 (Lollipop, shown below at left) and 7.1 (Nougat, at right) side-by-side, you can see they provide many of the same apps. (Aside from Google’s apps, which, as discussed, require an additional review and agreement.) These include Contacts, Phone (which includes the dialer), Camera, Browser (on older versions), Chrome (on newer versions), and some accessories like Clock and Gallery. This set of applications enables you to enjoy the basic benefits of your smartphone. Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! But it represents a pretty barebones experience. This is why most manufacturers will do some measure of customization work. As mentioned, AOSP includes the work of Google as well as other contributors. Once released, manufacturers can download the source code and make their adjustments to it, as described in the following sections. Manufacturers Adjust AOSP for Hardware When manufacturers are ready to begin work on a new device, they’ll begin with a copy of the source code from the AOSP project. Among the first things they’re likely to add are any drivers required to operate special hardware on their device. You can see an example of this in the Note 5’s S-Pen. This is a device that talks to the phone, even when there is no physical contact. So Samsung created a driver that accepts input from this accessory. Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! The hardware may require some additional software as well. The S-Pen, for instance, accepts multiple configuration options. Manufacturers will create these components (like Settings screens, as shown in the above image) and add them to the Android codebase from AOSP. However, once all the hardware is accounted for, their work isn’t necessarily done. Manufacturers Customize AOSP’s Features Lastly, a manufacturer will also make additions to create a unique experience for their customers. This can include installing default themes and pre-loading particular applications right out of the box. Like the items mentioned in the last section (drivers, config screens, etc.), they can’t be uninstalled. You may notice these hiding among your Library in the Google Play app. They may have a note saying they can’t be uninstalled. Otherwise they may have a button like “Deactivate” (as shown in the below image) or “Uninstall Updates” in place of the usual “Uninstall.” It is this category where manufacturers will really differentiate themselves. In the following sections, we’ll take a look at some of the leading manufacturers and the customizations they’ve made to their recent flagship devices. Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Common Customizations Made by Android Manufacturers In the sections below, we’ll be looking at two to six of the most useful and unique features of each phone. These are all pre-installed on the device, and many are exclusive. What we won’t be examining here is anything strictly hardware-related. So if you’re looking for which phone has a better camera or the latest Snapdragon processor, you’ll need to do some additional research. But if you want to see what software tweaks and modifications leading device makers are baking into their products, read on. Copyright © 2017 MakeUseOf. All Rights Reserved ®. ! Samsung As a leading manufacturer of electronics and other goods, Samsung has the scale to really invest in developing features to set their devices apart.