A living history from 1.0 to 16 – Computerworld

Android version 10

Google released Android 10 — the first Android version to shed its letter and be known simply by a number, with no dessert-themed moniker attached — in September of 2019. Most noticeably, the software brought about a totally reimagined interface for Android gestures, this time doing away with the tappable Back button altogether and relying on a completely swipe-driven approach to system navigation.

Android 10 packed plenty of other quietly important improvements, including an updated permissions system with more granular control over location data along with a new system-wide dark theme, a new distraction-limiting Focus Mode, and a new on-demand live captioning system for any actively playing media.

Android version 11

Android 11, launched at the start of September 2020, was a pretty substantial Android update both under the hood and on the surface. The version’s most significant changes revolve around privacy: The update built upon the expanded permissions system introduced in Android 10 and added in the option to grant apps location, camera, and microphone permissions only on a limited, single-use basis.

Android 11 also made it more difficult for apps to request the ability to detect your location in the background, and it introduced a feature that automatically revokes permissions from any apps you haven’t opened lately. On the interface level, Android 11 included a refined approach to conversation-related notifications along with a new streamlined media player, a new Notification History section, a native screen-recording feature, and a system-level menu of connected-device controls.

Android version 12

Google officially launched the final version of Android 12 in October 2021, alongside the launch of its Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones.

In a twist from the previous several Android versions, the most significant progressions with Android 12 were mostly on the surface. Android 12 featured the biggest reimagining of Android’s interface since 2014’s Android 5.0 (Lollipop) version, with an updated design standard known as Material You — which revolves around the idea of you customizing the appearance of your device with dynamically generated themes based on your current wallpaper colors. Those themes automatically change anytime your wallpaper changes, and they extend throughout the entire operating system interface and even into the interfaces of apps that support the standard.

Surface-level elements aside, Android 12 brought a (long overdue) renewed focus to Android’s widget system along with a host of important foundational enhancements in the areas of performance, security, and privacy. The update provided more powerful and accessible controls over how different apps are using your data and how much information you allow apps to access, for instance, and it included a new isolated section of the operating system that allows AI features to operate entirely on a device, without any potential for network access or data exposure.

Android version 13

Android 13, launched in August 2022, was simultaneously one of the most ambitious updates in Android history and one of the most subtle version changes to date.

On tablets and foldable phones, Android 13 introduced a slew of significant interface updates and additions aimed at improving the large-screen Android experience — including an enhanced split-screen mode for multitasking and a ChromeOS-like taskbar for easy app access from anywhere.

On regular phones, Android 13 brought about far less noticeable changes — mostly just some enhancements to the system clipboard interface, a new native QR code scanning function within the Android Quick Settings area, and a smattering of under-the-hood improvements.

Android version 14

Following a full eight months of out-in-the-open refinement, Google’s 14th Android version landed at the start of October 2023, in the midst of the company’s Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro launch event.

Like the version before it, Android 14 didn’t look like much on the surface. That’s in part because of the trend of Google moving more and more toward a development cycle that revolves around smaller ongoing updates to individual system-level elements year-round — something that’s actually a significant advantage for Android users, even if it does have an awkward effect on people’s perception of progress.

But despite the subtle nature of its first impression, Android 14 delivered a fair amount of noteworthy new goodies. The software introduced a new system for dragging and dropping text between apps, for instance, as well as a number of new improvements to privacy and security — including a new settings-integrated dashboard for managing health and fitness data and a more info-rich and context-requiring system for seeing exactly why apps want access to your location. And it brought about a new set of native customization options for the Android lock screen.

Android version 15

Google technically released Android 15 in September 2024, but in an unusual twist, that was only the launch of the software’s raw source code. The new Android version didn’t show up even on the company’s own Pixel devices until just over a month later, in mid-October.

With Google increasingly offering Android enhancements outside of the formal operating system context, some of the more interesting updates in recent months are not connected directly to Android 15 itself. For instance, the Android Circle to Search system and new theft protection features have shown up throughout 2024 for devices running even older Android versions.

As for Android 15 itself, though, the update introduces a number of noteworthy new features — including a system-level Private Space option that lets you keep sensitive apps out of sight and accessible only with authentication. The software also further enhances the multitasking systems introduced in Android 13 with the new option to keep the large-screen-exclusive Android taskbar present at all times and the new ability to launch specific pairs of apps together into a side-by-side split-screen with a single tap.

Beyond that, Android 15 includes a redesigned system volume panel, a new option to automatically reenable a device’s Bluetooth radio a day after it’s been disabled, and a Pixel-specific Adaptive Vibration feature that intelligently adjusts a phone’s vibration intensity based on the environment.

Add in a new charging-time connected-device-control screen saver, a space-saving app archiving option for infrequently used apps, and a long-under-development predictive back visual that lets you see a peek at where you’re headed before you get there — and this small-seeming update is actually shaping up to be a pretty hefty update progression.

Android version 16

In a marked change from recent Android upgrade cycles, Google decided to go with two new Android versions per year as of 2025 — starting with Android 16 in the spring and then following that with another release in the fall. (It’s not entirely clear yet if the second annual update will get its own full number or act as an extension of the Android 16 moniker, but Google says it’ll be a “major” release.)

True to that promise, Android 16 catapulted into the world in early June, just before the start of summer. Somewhat confusingly, while Google has shown off or in some cases been quietly developing a slew of new features that add up to create Android’s most dramatic reinvention in ages — including a bold new design language, a smart new system for multitasking, and an ambitious desktop mode that lets you plug your phone into a monitor and use it like a computer — most of those elements aren’t included in the initial Android 16 release and will instead show up later this year.

Aside from serving as a foundation for those advances, Android 16 marks the start of Live Updates — a new type of notification designed to support persistent, ongoing alerts, similar to what Apple does with iOS’s Live Activities.

It also adds in a more advanced standard of hearing aid support that should make a meaningful difference for anyone relying on such devices. And, perhaps most significantly, it debuts a new Advanced Protection security supermode that provides a simple new single-switch way to activate a whole slew of advisable Android security settings in one fell swoop.

Combined with a sprawling series of other new security strengtheners, that makes protection seem like the true centerpiece of Android 16 — for now, at least, before the rest of Google’s still-bubbling-beneath-the-surface surprises arrive.

This article was originally published in November 2017 and most recently updated in June 2025.