The first commercially available smartphone running Android was the HTC Dream, also known as T-Mobile G1, announced on September 23, 2008.

Asus ZenFone 5Z, Essential Phone, Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3a, Pixel 3a XL, OnePlus 6, OnePlus 6T, OnePlus 7, OnePlus 7 Pro, Oppo Reno, Sony Xperia XZ3, Vivo X27, Vivo NEX S, Vivo NEX A, Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 5G, Xiaomi Mi 9, Tecno Spark 3 Pro, Huawei Mate 20 Pro, LG G8, Nokia 8. In October 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported that Android will serve as Google's future main laptop operating system, with the plan to fold ChromeOS into it by 2017. Additionally, Android has been installed and run on a variety of less-technical objects, including calculators, [482] single-board computers, [483] feature phones, [484] electronic dictionaries, [485] alarm clocks, [486] refrigerators, [487] landline telephones, [488] coffee machines, [489] bicycles, [490] and mirrors. Google introduced Project Treble, a major re-architect of the Android OS framework designed to make it easier, faster, and less costly for manufacturers to update devices to newer versions of Android.

Using the Android emulator that is part of the Android SDK, or third-party emulators, Android can also run non-natively on x86 architectures.

Ars Technica wrote that "Although Android is built on top of the Linux kernel, the platform has very little in common with the conventional desktop Linux stack". Google licenses their Google Mobile Services software, along with the Android trademarks, only to hardware manufacturers for devices that meet Google's compatibility standards specified in the Android Compatibility Program document. Android is a Linux distribution according to the Linux Foundation, [204] Google's open-source chief Chris DiBona, [205] and several journalists.

According to International Data Corporation, shipments of Android-powered tablets surpassed iPads in Q3 2012. Manufacturers express concern about improper functioning of devices running unofficial software and the support costs resulting from this. allows the internal storage of the device to be spanned with the SD card, treating it as an extension of the internal storage. Most manufacturers customize the look and features of their Android devices to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Both Apple and Microsoft have sued several manufacturers for patent infringement, with Apple's ongoing legal action against Samsung being a particularly high-profile case. For example, Samsung has worked with General Dynamics through their Open Kernel Labs acquisition to rebuild Jelly Bean on top of their hardened microvisor for the "Knox" project. Google marketed the platform to handset makers and carriers on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system.Moreover, modified firmware such as CyanogenMod sometimes offer features, such as tethering, for which carriers would otherwise charge a premium.

Nova wrote that "The Android operating system deals with software packages by sandboxing them; this does not allow applications to list the directory contents of other apps to keep the system safe. In April 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Google's use of the Java APIs was within the bounds of fair use, reversing the Federal Circuit Appeals Court ruling and remanding the case for further hearing. Furthermore, in a comment to TechCrunch, Ludwig stated that the wait time for security updates had been reduced from "six to nine weeks down to just a few days", with 78% of flagship devices in North America being up-to-date on security at the end of 2016. Google engineer Patrick Brady once stated in the company's developer conference that "Android is not Linux", [197] with Computerworld adding that "Let me make it simple for you, without Linux, there is no Android". In 2018, Norwegian security firm Promon has unearthed a serious Android security hole which can be exploited to steal login credentials, access messages, and track location, which could be found in all versions of Android, including Android 10.In June 2016, a United States federal court ruled in favor of Google, stating that its use of the APIs was fair use. The new policies enforcement started on January 6, 2019, 90 days after policy announcement on October 8, 2018. Android used to require an autofocus camera, which was relaxed to a fixed-focus camera [118] if present at all, since the camera was dropped as a requirement entirely when Android started to be used on set-top boxes.