Remembering when a fledgling mobile OS took its first steps

I remember the day well because I was there. New York City, Tuesday, September 23, 2008. Executives from HTC, Google, T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom took the stage to share Android 1.0, a brand new mobile operating system, and the G1, the first smartphone to run the platform to introduce. It was clear that those involved had a vision for Android.

Company representatives spent a lot of time talking about how open the new platform was and were keen to encourage third-party vendors to develop apps for Android. They said, “We want to bring a variety of new devices, applications and services to the world so that people can use the mobile internet.”

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, then co-CEOs of Google, appeared on inline skates. Brin, a self-proclaimed geek, demonstrated the first app he wrote for Android that calculated the time the G1 was in the air when tossed up and down. The two were visibly enthusiastic about the new platform and spoke of its potential.

But how was Android 1.0 actually? What were its functions? Which functions were missing? The platform was surprisingly complete and incomplete at the same time. On the day of its anniversary, we remember the first steps of Android into the world.

Android 1.0: A familiar – yet different – experience

In autumn 2008, numerous mobile operating systems competed. Apple’s iOS was only a year old at the time and lagged behind the industry leaders BlackBerry OS and Symbian in terms of magnitude. Windows Mobile and Palm OS were also in the mix. Google and its Android developers picked some Android elements from the established platforms, but also introduced a number of new ideas that are still a part of Android.

Android 1.0 had three home screen panels. The central panel was the main home screen, which contained the pre-installed apps and widgets. If you want, you can swipe left or right to add more apps / widgets to the other screens – something you can still do with Android today. The implementation of widgets in Android was pretty new at the time. The platforms at the time, such as the touch-oriented Windows Mobile, contained widgets, but they were not as customizable or as diverse as on Android.

Android 1.0 contained an app drawer. It was accessed by tapping an actual, visible tab that appeared at the bottom of the home screen. However, the basic functionality is the same as it is today. Android 1.0’s settings menu was designed to resemble modern Android, but the quick settings menu didn’t exist yet. iOS 2, which ran the 2008 iPhones, didn’t have an app drawer, but Windows Phones and BlackBerry devices had the equivalents of it.

The platform was hardware oriented. People who have used Android since the early days will remember all of the buttons used to control the operating system. Important buttons like the back, home and menu buttons were needed to perform some navigation and secondary actions. There wasn’t even a software keyboard; the G1 required you to use the QWERTY physical keyboard for any type of text entry. Now, of course, the platform is fully touchable and gestures perform the same actions. Of all the platforms available in 2008, only the iPhone was fully touch-enabled. BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows all relied heavily on physical buttons.

Android 1.0’s handling of notifications was an early success for the platform and something we still rely on today. The way notifications were briefly displayed in the status bar later influenced other mobile platforms to follow suit.

Safety? A comprehensible pattern could be set on the lock screen, which Android still allows today.

Apple launched the App Store with iOS 2 in July 2008, just before Android debuted. At the time, centralized app stores on the device were a rarity. Most of the day’s apps were available directly from the manufacturer or from sketchy online retailers. Fortunately, Google followed Apple’s model.

The first apps from Android 1.0 were rudimentary but functional. Google’s own Gmail, Calendar, Calculator, Maps, and YouTube were among the earliest available. Third-party apps were available from the Android Market, the original version of the Google Play Store. Android Market 1.0 was a crazy base. There were hardly any apps and it was mostly a text-based experience with few pictures or graphics.

Crucially, Gmail of the day supported push, IMAP / POP, and SMTP, which gave it an edge over email on some platforms. YouTube, on the other hand, was torture because the 3G networks of the time simply weren’t able to handle video. The browser wasn’t even called Chrome. It was WebKit-based, but initially had no Flash support.

The camera app wasn’t impressive at all. For example, every time you took a picture, you would be presented with a pop-up asking if you would like to save, set, share, or delete the photo. Every time. More specifically, the camera app had no real functions and couldn’t record videos.

Google Maps was the show stopper. Although Google Maps was available for other platforms like BlackBerry OS, Maps for Android was a big step forward. It included Street View, the ability to see an actual view of your potential target. It also supports panning so you can spot landmarks before you start your journey.

Clear the stage for the future of Android

There’s no question that Android 1.0 was powerful from the start. It gathered a number of ideas under a single banner and made bold promises as it stepped out the gate. But it was far from certain. At that time only T-Mobile offered the G1 in the USA. The G1 only reached other markets in early 2009. Android devices generally weren’t going to sell in bulk until Verizon Wireless debuted the Motorola Droid in the fall of 2009 – a year after the platform was launched. And by then we were on Android 2.0.

But those early days were important in building the foundation of Android. Google was quick to talk about future versions of the platform, including Cupcake and Donut, which the company promised to add features and fix bugs over time. This helped to increase anticipation and promote acceptance. Additionally, Android quickly fell into favor with the developer and modding community because it was open in ways that BlackBerry OS, iOS, PalmOS, and Symbian just weren’t.

It’s been a long road, but on the eve of Android 12‘s release, we wouldn’t have wished otherwise.