1page.title=Android, the world's most popular mobile platform
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9<p>Android powers hundreds of millions of mobile devices in more than 190
10countries around the world. It's the largest installed base of any mobile platform
11and growing fast&mdash;every day another million users power up their
12Android devices for the first time and start looking for apps, games,
13and other digital content. </p>
14
15<div style="width:330px">
16<p>Android gives you a world-class platform for creating apps and games for
17Android users everywhere, as well as an open marketplace for distributing
18to them instantly.</p>
19</div>
20</div>
21
22<img src="{@docRoot}images/about/growth-chart.png" alt="" height="400" width="681"
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24<div style="position:relative;left: 450px;width: 250px;top: -20px;color: #777;">
25  <em>Android growth in device activations</em></div>
26
27
28<h3>Global partnerships and large installed base</h3>
29
30<p>Building on the contributions of the open-source Linux community and more
31than 300 hardware, software, and carrier partners, Android has rapidly become
32the fastest-growing mobile OS.</p>
33
34<blockquote>Every day more than 1 million new Android devices are activated worldwide.</blockquote>
35
36<p>Android’s openness has made it a favorite for consumers and developers alike,
37driving strong growth in app consumption. Android users download more than
381.5 billion apps and games from Google Play each month. </p>
39
40<p>With its partners, Android is continuously pushing the boundaries of hardware and software
41forward to bring new capabilities to users and developers. For developers,
42Android innovation lets you build powerful, differentiated applications
43that use the latest mobile technologies.</p>
44
45<!-- <h3>Rapid innovation</h3>
46
47<p>Android is continuously pushing the boundaries of hardware and software
48forward, to bring new capabilities to users and developers. For developers, the
49rapid evolution of Android technology lets you stay in front with powerful,
50differentiated applications.</p>
51
52<p>Android gives you access to the latest technologies and innovations across a
53multitude of device form-factors, chipset architectures, and price points. From
54multicore processing and high-performance graphics to state-of-the-art sensors,
55vibrant touchscreens, and emerging mobile technologies such as Near Field
56Communication (NFC), Wi-Fi P2P, and face tracking.</p> -->
57
58<h3>Powerful development framework</h3>
59
60<blockquote>Easily optimize a single binary for phones, tablets, and other devices.</blockquote>
61
62<p>Android gives you everything you need to build best-in-class app experiences.
63It gives you a single application model that lets you deploy
64your apps broadly to hundreds of millions of users across a wide range of
65devices&mdash;from phones to tablets and beyond.</p>
66
67<p>Android also gives you tools for creating apps that look great and take
68advantage of the hardware capabilities available on each device. It
69automatically adapts your UI to look its best on each device, while giving you
70as much control as you want over your UI on different device
71types. </p>
72
73<p>For example, you can create a single app binary that's optimized for
74both phone and tablet form factors. You declare your UI in lightweight sets of XML
75resources, one set for parts of the UI that are common to all form factors and
76other sets for optimzations specific to phones or tablets.
77At runtime, Android applies the correct resource sets based on its screen size,
78density, locale,
79and so on.</p>
80
81
82<p>To help you develop efficiently, the <a href="{@docRoot}tools/index.html">Android
83    Developer Tools</a>
84offer a full Java IDE with advanced features for developing, debugging, and
85packaging Android apps. Using the IDE, you can develop on any available Android
86device or create virtual devices that emulate any hardware configuration.</p>
87
88<blockquote>1.5 billion downloads a month and growing. Get your apps in front
89of millions of users at Google's scale.</blockquote>
90
91<h3>Open marketplace for distributing your apps</h3>
92
93<p>Google Play is the premier marketplace for selling and distributing Android apps.
94When you publish an app on Google Play, you reach the huge installed base of
95Android.</p>
96
97<div style="float:left;margin-right:24px;margin-top:12px;">
98<img src="{@docRoot}images/gp-device.png">
99</div>
100
101<p>As an open marketplace, Google Play puts you in control of how you sell your
102products. You can publish whenever you want, as often as you want, and to the
103customers you want. You can distribute broadly to all markets and
104devices or focus on specific segments, devices, or ranges of hardware
105capabilities.</p>
106
107<p>You can monetize in the way that works best for your business&mdash;priced or
108free, with in-app products or subscriptions&mdash;for highest engagement and
109revenues. You also have complete control of the pricing for your apps
110and in-app products and can set or change prices in any supported currency at
111any time.<p>
112
113<p>Beyond growing your customer base, Google Play helps you build visibility and
114engagement across your apps and brand. As your apps rise in popularity, Google
115Play gives them higher placement in weekly "top" charts and rankings, and for
116the best apps promotional slots in curated collections.
117</p>
118
119<p>Preinstalled on hundreds of millions of Android devices around the world,
120Google Play can be a growth engine for your business.</p>
121
122<p><a class="landing-page-link" href="{@docRoot}about/start.html">GET STARTED</a></p>
123
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131   <div style="padding:0 0 0 29px;">
132        <h4>Developer Story: Robot Invader</h4>
133          <img alt="" class="screenshot thumbnail" style="-webkit-border-radius: 5px;
134            -moz-border-radius: 5px;
135            border-radius: 5px height:78px;
136            width: 78px;
137            float: left;
138            margin: 17px 20px 9px 0;" src=
139            "//g0.gstatic.com/android/market/com.robotinvader.knightmare/hi-256-0-9e08d83bc8d01649e167131d197ada1cd1783fb0">
140          <div style="width:700px;">
141          <p style="margin-top:26px;margin-bottom:12px;">Robot Invader chose
142              Android as the launch platform for their first game,
143              <a data-g-event="Developers Page" data-g-label="Case Study Link" href=
144              "//play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.robotinvader.knightmare"><em>Wind-up
145              Knight</em></a>.
146           </p>
147           <p>
148              Hear from the developers themselves how Android helped them reach more
149              than 100 devices with a single app binary, then iterate rapidly to ensure
150              a great experience for users.
151           </p>
152           </div>
153           <iframe style="float:left;
154             margin-right:24px;
155             margin-top:14px;" width="700" height="394" src=
156             "http://www.youtube.com/embed/hTtlLiUTowY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
157   </div>
158</div>