can find a section on www.dummies.com with more Android tips and Android 12 features (after the Android 12 operating system fully rolls out). While visiting dummies.com, type Android Smartphones For Seniors For Dummies in the search box to find the book’s Cheat Sheet. I also have a blog at https://mcollier.blogspot.com, where I post related articles.
In this book, I give you links and contact information for the tech support department for several major phone manufacturers, which should help with any immediate issue.
If you have specific questions, feel free to reach me by completing the contact form at my website (www.coolebaytools.com/contact) or on any of the social media platforms. I’d love to hear from you about the topics you want me to add to the next edition.
I also have a podcast, “Computer and Technology Radio,” which I host with Marc Cohen. You can find it on your favorite podcast platform.
Where to Go from Here
Start reading this book anywhere you want. An incredible index can help you find almost any topic you need to learn about. Go to the table of contents and pick a chapter that interests you, or read the book from the beginning.
Interesting and helpful nuggets of information for you abound everywhere in this book. I really hope you enjoy it.
Part 1
Your Phone in the Android Universe
IN THIS PART …
Meeting the Android OS
Setting up a Google Account
Choosing a smartphone and accessories
Starting up and connecting your phone
Minding privacy and security
Chapter 1
Why Android? What’s the Deal?
IN THIS CHAPTER
The smartphone is undoubtedly the most common yet powerful personal technology in your life. In the United States market, you have basically this choice: an Apple iPhone (iOS) or an Android-based phone.
The smartphone platform you choose is a matter of preference. Some people use both Apple and Android products, but in the end usually tend to favor one platform over the other.
Because the iPhone lives in a walled garden, Apple makes the decisions and takes the profits on the phone, accessories, services, and apps. Apple products and software work in sync; you have few choices to make.
Conversely, no matter the brand, all Android phones have similar genetics and are the same at their core. But you find a variety of options for accessories, phone brands, services, apps, and (most of all) prices.
The competition for dollars in the Android marketplace begets innovation, and I believe that opting to spend your dollars in that marketplace is a good choice. In this chapter, I offer foundational information to help make the Android experience even better.
A Little Android History
Android is the operating system on the majority of the world’s smartphones. It’s an open source operating system led by Google (according to https://source.android.com):
As an open source project, Android’s goal is to avoid any central point of failure in which one industry player can restrict or control the innovations of any other player.
Translation: If you come up with a device, you too can use the Android operating system to power it for free. (I’m not that smart.)
I believe that much of the magic of Android lies with Google Mobile Services (GMS) — the collection of apps and functionalities that make the Android ecosystem a useful environment.
As an Android user, you may wonder why you feel more comfortable using the operating system. The answer is a surprise to many: the Android mobile operating system is based on Linux (another open source operating system) and many Microsoft patents. The influence of these two giants in the software world accounts for the familiarity, and thus the comfort, you may feel when using an Android device. The nearby sidebar “The scope of Microsoft involvement” gives a quick look at the Android–Microsoft connection.
messages.google.com/web to connect the devices.
THE SCOPE OF MICROSOFT INVOLVEMENT
It is rumored that Microsoft makes as much as $24 per Android device sold, as payment for its patents used in the Android operating system. Even smartphone manufacturers cross-license Microsoft intellectual property (IP). Based on these patents, in 2013 Samsung paid Microsoft over a billion dollars in royalty payments. In 2014, it was estimated that Microsoft made $2 billion.
Microsoft has never revealed the depth of its patent licensing, but in 2014 the Chinese Ministry of Commerce completed an antitrust investigation. The regulators published their results on the Internet, stating that Microsoft owned 310 Android-implementing patents.
Note: The numbers in this sidebar may not be independently verified but have shown up in court documents over the years.
The Many Flavors (Versions) of Android
Throughout this book, I offer stories about the beginnings of, and evolution of, the Android platform. For now, you should know that the version of Android I’m using for this book is Android 11. Chapter 17 talks about Android 12, which is scheduled to release around the time this book publishes. I got hold of a beta (not-ready-for-prime-time) version so that I can see the similarities and differences in the new upgrade.
The Android mascot (Bugdroid) is a small, green robot, shown on the left in Figure 1-1. Bugdroid, who gets dressed up with each new version of Android, was designed in 2008 to be an internationally understood symbol — like airport signs — because Android was designed for everyone. Since the platform’s inception, Bugdroid appears in advertising and has undergone minor changes over the years. Today, the mascot’s green color is updated, and just the top of the head shows (on the right in Figure