It’s pretty easy to become perplexed while shopping for a new smartphone. Several smartphone operating systems, manufacturers, versions, and specs to choose from. How are you supposed to know what’s what if you don’t keep up with technology? The difference between Samsung and Android is a major source of misunderstanding. Many people wonder if Samsung phones and Android phones are the same. Yes, in some ways, but the answer is more complicated.
We’ll explain the differences between Samsung and Android smartphones in this article.
What Exactly Is Android?
The Android is a mobile operating system. It’s the operating system on which the phone runs apps and manages resources. Windows and macOS are certainly two operating systems you’re acquainted with. These are computer operating systems that function similarly.
Like desktop and laptop computers, smartphones can run on different operating systems. Apple’s iPhone, for example, runs only on iOS. These are the two most popular smartphone operating systems, along with Android.
Other smartphone operating systems exist, some of which are no longer developed and dead. Windows Mobile, BlackBerry OS, and Tizen are just a few examples.
Android doesn’t develop smartphones. Manufacturers instead rely on the Android operating system to run their devices.
Google Mobile Services (GMS), which delivers Google-licensed interfaces and apps such as Google Search and Google Chrome, is frequently integrated. On the other hand, Android and GMS aren’t inextricably tied; a phone may run Android yet employ proprietary interfaces and applications.
Android belongs to Google, and they develop it, but it is free and open-source for other developers to adapt. Soon, there will be more on it.
Android is undoubtedly a popular operating system on the planet. As of January 2022, according to GlobalStats’ Statcounter, Android has 69.74 percent of the mobile OS market share. Apple’s iOS is the second-most-popular mobile operating system globally with 29.49 percent, pales in comparison.
The official Google Play Store has over 2.6 million apps accessible, but you can also sideload apps from the web. This diversity makes mobile phones extremely powerful and configurable, making them vulnerable to viruses and other spyware.
Definition Of Android Skin
As the name suggests, smartphone manufacturers created Android skins to differentiate their products’ user interface from that of stock Android. Nearly all major Android smartphone manufacturers currently use skins to improve the user experience, albeit the extent of change varies by brand.
Skins typically alter the appearance of alerts, menus, the notification panel, the dialer, and other similar elements. The changes made by the skin are generally cosmetic, with the backend core of Android remaining unchanged.
Here’s a list of some of the most popular smartphone skins:
1. One User Interface (UI) from Samsung
2. HydrogenOS (Global) | OxygenOS (Global) (China)
3. SenseUI from HTC
4. MIUI (Microsoft Internet Explorer) for Xiaomi
5. HarmonyOS for�?(Huawei)
6. ColorOS for�?Oppo.
What Is The Difference Between Samsung Phone And Android?
We now know that Android is a type of operating system. What role does Samsung play in this?
Samsung is a multinational electronics firm that makes monitors, smart home gadgets, and televisions. It also sells and produces cell phones. Samsung distributes its smartphones under the Galaxy brand, which gets divided into product lines such as Galaxy Z (foldable devices) and Galaxy S (regular phones) (top tier, high-performance devices).
Even though Samsung has experimented with different mobile operating systems, all Samsung Galaxy devices use the Android Operating System.
In simple terms, Android is the operating system, and Samsung is the company that produces it.
Are All Android Phones The Same?
Samsung isn’t the only company that employs Android. Sony, Motorola, LG, and One Plus are among the phone companies that utilize android. However, just because all of these manufacturers utilize Android on their phones doesn’t imply the experience is the same.
That relates to Android’s open-source nature. “Stock Android” refers to Google’s original, unaltered Android experience. It used to be difficult to find a phone that ran on the stock Android operating system. It’s a little more common nowadays, especially with Google’s Pixel phones.
On the other hand, manufacturers are more likely to create their Android versions. These might range from minor cosmetic alterations to more significant functional adjustments.
Samsung, for example, has a software overlay known as One UI (formerly called Samsung Experience and TouchWiz). We can say, One UI is a layer that sits on top of Android and allows you to customize the look and feel of the system while also adding new functionality.
One UI is one of the greatest Android interfaces since it takes advantage of Google Mobile Services. Many of Samsung’s software improvements have been part of Android’s core experience.
What Does It Mean When Indicating That Android Is An Open Source?
When something is open source, the copyright owner allows you to use it for any purpose without requiring payment. As previously stated, Android’s basic code is on Linux, an open-source operating system.
Let’s look at the polar opposite; closed-source software to better comprehend this. Apple’s iOS is closed source, which implies that it may only be used with the consent of the copyright holder – in this case, Apple. The Apple Company may sue you for infringement of its intellectual property if you obtained the source code for iOS and released it on any device.
This constraint is not an issue with open-source software. Instead, the individual or corporation employing the program must only follow regulations governing the product’s license. In a nutshell, this means that their “new” software must be open source and that the code must be freely available to anybody who wants to use it.
It is the most popular operating system mainly because it is open-source. Because it’s free to use, it’s tremendously simple for businesses of all sizes to produce fantastic products without investing in their operating system. You may find Android in various manufacturers’ wide range of electrical devices.
You may be asking why Google is willing to give this thing out for free. The reason is straightforward: some components of Android that you utilize on your phone are not open source. As you may expect, these are some of the most important Android applications and services.
Do Samsung Phones Evolve As Android Advances?
Android is a constantly changing platform. Every year, a new edition is released. Android used to name its versions after sweet sweets (Nougat, Oreo, Pie), but it now uses some number terminology, such as Android 11 and Android 12.
Samsung’s One UI grows in tandem with Android. One UI delivers a new primary version for each major Android upgrade while they release incremental updates throughout that cycle.
Your Samsung phone will no longer get Android or One UI upgrades. Samsung usually provides substantial upgrades to its smartphones for a few years after release. Your phone will only receive important security updates for a while before stopping. You won’t get these updates simultaneously as the rest of the world. It is dependent on your location as well as your phone provider.
Are Samsung’s Android Phones The Best?
You should be able to tell the difference between Android and Samsung at this point. Let’s review:
1. The operating system is Android.
2. Samsung makes the gadget.
3. Samsung’s software sits on top of Android and is known as One UI.
So, should you buy an Android-powered Samsung phone? That’s a matter of personal choice, yet there’s a reason why Samsung sells the bulk of Android phones. According to Statcounter, Samsung had a 26.93 percent smartphone market share in 2021, second only to Apple.
There are Samsung phones to suit every price; if you can afford it, go for the Galaxy S series to have the greatest hardware, while the Galaxy A range is also good.
However, even if you prefer Android, you could decide that One UI isn’t for you. In that case, you should look at different brands. With its pure Android experience, Google’s Pixel might be right up your alley.
How To Determine Which Android Version You Have
The specific procedures to determine your Android version vary by device and manufacturer (phone manufacturers love to use skins to make their UI stand out), but the general processes are as follows:
1. Open your device’s Settings app. In recent Androids, you may access them via the notification panel. You may also look it up in the app’s menu.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the Settings menu and choose About phone. Depending on the Android skin, you can get an overview of your phone’s Android version.
3. For further information, such as Android security updates, Baseband version, Kernel version, and more, tap the Android version.
4. You may also get a great little easter egg by quickly tapping the Android version number. These one-of-a-kind easter eggs are compatible with Android 5.0 Lollipop or newer versions of Android.
It’s good to upgrade the Android version if it isn’t the most recent accessible for your phone. There are two major reasons to upgrade your Android besides the new features.
First, newer Android versions offer better security, and second, Google and other developers are gradually ceasing to support older Android versions, putting your phone’s security at risk.