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Android

Android is the world's most widely used mobile operating system, built on a Linux kernel and optimized for touchscreen devices while remaining installable on traditional hardware. This content covers the Android interface, its Linux foundation, and how its core components behave across different device types.

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About this video

Android is the most widely used operating system for smartphones and mobile devices, and its foundation is the Linux kernel — the same core technology that powers desktop distributions like Red Hat, Ubuntu, Debian, and Fedora. What distinguishes Android from those systems is its user-facing layer, which has been purpose-built for touchscreen interaction and mobile hardware. Despite this mobile focus, Android is not exclusively tied to phones or tablets and can be installed and run on a standard laptop or desktop computer. When running on non-mobile hardware, Android retains all of its standard interface elements: a top status bar displaying the time and providing access to system settings such as Wi-Fi, an application dock along the bottom, and on-screen navigation buttons designed originally for touchscreen use. Application behavior remains consistent as well — apps can be opened, pinned to the dock, and closed using the same controls found on a mobile device. The visual layout may appear slightly different on a larger screen, but the underlying system and its functionality are identical regardless of the hardware it runs on.

What you'll learn

What's covered

Android OS Overview

Aligned to

CompTIA Tech+
3.1 Explain the purpose of operating systems.
3.2 Compare and contrast components of an operating system.
CompTIA A+ Core 2
1.8 Explain common OS types and their purposes.
3.4 Given a scenario, troubleshoot common mobile OS and application issues.
CompTIA A+ Core 1
1.3 Given a scenario, set up and configure accessories and ports of mobile devices.
Cisco CCST IT
4.3 Assist users in resolving mobile device issues

Key terms

Android
A mobile operating system used by vendors such as Samsung Galaxy, based on the Linux kernel.
Linux Kernel
The core component of Linux-based operating systems that manages hardware resources and system processes; serves as the foundation of the Android OS.
Status Bar
The strip displayed across the top of the Android interface showing system information such as time, Wi-Fi connectivity, and settings access.
Application Launcher
The area along the bottom of the Android interface that displays and provides quick access to installed applications.
Navigation Controls
On-screen buttons in Android used to perform actions such as closing or switching between applications.

Topics

Android Mobile Operating Systems Linux Kernel Operating Systems Android Interface Mobile Devices

Transcript

Android

One of the most popular, if not the most popular, operating system for phones and mobile devices is Android.

The core of Android is still that Linux kernel, so in some ways it's very similar to Red Hat, or to Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, any of those Linux-based systems. It's just that it creates a separate user front end to this, to make it really specific to mobile devices. It's really designed more for mobile devices. Even though Android is built for mobile devices, I could still install this on a laptop or desktop, because the core of it is still the same.

Android Running on a Desktop

So what does this look like? Well, that's what I've done here. This is running in a virtual environment, but this is the same as what I would see if I set it up on a laptop or desktop.

Across the top here we have the time, we've got a gear for the different settings on here, so I could open that up, I could connect this to Wi-Fi on here. So I've got some details across the top.

Across the bottom here I've got my applications, so I could open up something like my calculator. Similar to other Linux systems, I can right-click on here and I can pin this, so if I close out of the calculator it stays here on the bottom because it's pinned now.

And then I also have some buttons down here, and that's because this is really designed for mobile devices. So if I want to close an application, I could close the application using the buttons down here.

So that is an example of Android, although this looks a little different than a mobile device, and that's just because it's installed like it would be as if it were on a laptop or desktop.

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