---
title: "Is Android an OS or a platform?"  
description: "Is Android an OS or a platform?"  
author: "Kalin"  
published: 2022-04-14  
canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/96805/is-android-an-os-or-a-platform  
category: "troubleshooting"  
tags: ["troubleshooting", "android os", "android"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# Is Android an OS or a platform?

Is Android an OS or a [platform](https://www.mindstick.com/news/2353/launch-of-amazon-clinic-s-virtual-healthcare-platform-for-us-clients)?

## Answers

### Answer by Hitesh Vohra

- **[Android](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/94790/why-do-i-have-to-recreate-a-google-account-on-my-android-phone) OS** is a mobile operating system based on Linux that is largely used on smartphones and tablets.
- The Android platform consists of a Linux-based operating system, a graphical user interface (GUI), a web browser, and downloadable end-user apps. Although the first Android demonstrations used a generic QWERTY smartphone with a huge VGA screen, the operating system was designed to work on low-cost phones with traditional numeric keypads.
- The Apache v2 open source licence was used to release Android, which allows for many different variations of the OS to be developed for various devices like gaming consoles and digital cameras. Although Android is based on open source software, most Android smartphones come with a suite of proprietary apps preinstalled, including Google Maps, YouTube, Google Chrome, and Gmail.

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**Read More: [What is application Widgets in Android?](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/96787/what-is-application-widgets-in-android)**


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Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/96805/is-android-an-os-or-a-platform

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