{{tag>Android}}

====== Android Operating System ======

This page is about the Android operating system. For Android programming, see [[programming:android:android_programming|Android Programming]].

For hardware that can run Android, see [[hardware:home#mobile_phones|Hardware > Mobile Phones]]. Note that some single-board computers like [[https://www.devdungeon.com/wiki/doku.php?id=hardware:single_board_computers:raspberry_pi|Raspberry Pi]] can also run Android and a version called [[https://developer.android.com/things|Android Things]].

There are multiple versions of Android available, including:

  * Your phone's factory Android system
  * LineageOS - Formerly Cyanogen, LineageOS is a more freedom and security focused Android distribution without Google apps. For a reference, see the [[hardware:mobile_devices:nexus_5x|Nexus 5X Phone]] page.
  * Maru OS - an Android distribution that touts an X11 desktop system when you attach an HDMI monitor

Instead of using Google Play Store to download apps, you can use [[https://f-droid.org/en/|F-Droid]] as a package manager.

Here are a few apps I'd recommend:

  * [[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.termux/|Termux]]
  * [[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/me.zhanghai.android.files/|Material Theme Files Browser]]
  * [[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.kunzisoft.keepass.libre/|KeePassDX]]
  * [[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.xabber.android/|Xabber XMPP Client]]
  * [[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.sourceforge.opencamera/|Open Camera]]
  * [[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.benny.openlauncher/|OpenLauncher]]
  * [[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.fsck.k9/|K-9 mail]]
  * [[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.videolan.vlc/|VLC player]]


===== Topics =====

  * Put an Android phone into usb debug mode by going to Settings | System | About and tapping Build Number 7 times.
  * How to use adb to install and run APK packages
  * How to use adb and fastboot to flash a custom recovery rom (e.g. TeamWin TWRP)
  * How to transfer files (adb, ftp, sftp, bluetooth)
  * How to use termux to script Python, Node, Ruby, etc
  * How to run Python on Android (and script/make home buttons for actions)
  * How to download and install APKs (Download packages and source from F-Droid)
  * For programming topics like how to build apps or get apps into the play store, see  [[programming:android:android_programming|Android Programming]].
  * For how to install Android operating systems and supported hardware, see [[hardware:mobile_devices:mobile_devices|Mobile Devices]]