Before Android 10, any app with the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission could access every photo, document, and download on your device. A flashlight app could read your camera roll. A wallpaper app could scan your Downloads folder. The file system was a free-for-all, and users had no idea.
Author: Nadia Malik
The Death of Android’s Dessert Names
Android 1.5 was Cupcake. Android 9 was Pie. Every version in between was a dessert — Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat, Lollipop, Marshmallow, Nougat, Oreo. The alphabetical sequence was a cultural phenomenon: tech blogs ran prediction articles for each letter, Google HQ got a new statue for each release, and the dessert names made Android feel playful and approachable.
Digital Wellbeing: One Year Later (And Beyond)
When Google launched Digital Wellbeing with Android 9 Pie in 2018, the pitch was simple: your phone should help you use it less. A dashboard showing screen time. App timers that lock you out after a daily limit. Wind Down mode that fades to grayscale at bedtime.
Android Go: Google’s Emerging Market Play
In 2018, the average selling price of an Android phone in India was under $150. In sub-Saharan Africa, it was under $80. These phones had 512 MB to 1 GB of RAM, 8–16 GB of storage, and often ran outdated Android versions that were slow, insecure, and filled with bloatware.