The journey of Samsung and Android

When it comes to operative systems, I guess most of us don’t know much. Some of us have no idea about what that is whatsoever. Others, (probably these others are millennials, gen z or late gen x) know there’s iPhone and there’s not iPhone (which we usually call Android without thinking if it really is Android). This is because the interfaces are truly different and non-compatible, it’s easy to visually difference one from the other. There’s also an eternal debate on which operating system is better.
Does Samsung Use Android
Now, when it comes to differentiating those devices that use Android and those who do not, it is a tiny bit more complicated. This is because the interfaces and devices are more similar.

A lot of people actually wonder, does Samsung use Android? And the answer is a little more complex than you’d think.

Yes and no. Samsung does use Android for some of its phones and uses Tizen Operative System for others.
1. The beginning there was Bada

When Samsung first launched its smartphones, what they did was develop an operative system called Bada. Bada OS is based on Linux and is now discontinued.

In June 2012, Samsung announced it had some particular intentions for the operative system. They wanted to merge it into the Tizen project. In the meanwhile, they would continue with the Bada operating system, though, in parallel with Google Android OS and Microsoft Windows Phone.
All the devices running under the Bada operative system were under the Wave name. If you’re old enough you might remember them being in the market. There was a total of five models: Samsung S8500, Samsung S8530 (Wave II), Samsung S8600 (Wave 3), Samsung S5380 (Wave M), and Samsung S7250 (Wave Y).

In 2013 Samsung announces Bada wouldn’t be developed anymore, instead, Tizen was going to be their go-to operative system for all phones that didn’t belong to the Galaxy line.

2.The Tizen Operative System

Tizen is also backed by the Linux Foundation. However, those who have truly developed it and used it on their smartphones are Samsung Electronics.

When Samsung merged the previous operative system into Tizen, it began using it more and more in its smartphones and smart TVs. 

The Tizen operative system, later on, began to be used in other stuff such as smartwatches. Samsung actually even announced a smart connect audio in 2016 (The Samsung Connect Audio), which offered diagnostics, Wi-Fi, and other car-related functions.

Finally, the same year they launched the smart connect audio, Samsung announced they would have the system supported by partnering with Microsoft and using .NET Core.

Samsung smartphones that worked (or work) under the Tizen operative system are the Samsung Zs, such as Samsung Z1, Z2, Z3, and Samsung Z4 which came out in 2017 and was the last one of its line so far. Other compatible devices are cameras like the Samsung NX200 and smartwatches like the Samsung Galaxy watch.

3. Adopting Android

In 2007, both Samsung and Google belonged to a group that was called the Open handset alliance. This consortium came together to try and develop a truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. Later on, the next year, Android began to update its operative system using dessert names in alphabetical order, such as Éclair and Froyo. At this time, there was an obvious whimsy in the interface design. Android kept on attempting to show device developers the Android interfaces, but the real success began when companies began to personalize the Android operative system, making it different from the original.

When it comes to Samsung, they first adopted the operative system in 2009, with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy. Ths phone ran on the Android Operative System version of “Candybar” and was, in some countries, later updated to “Donut”.

Almost all the following phones were using Samsung’s customization of Android, instead of the original.

In May 2013, at a Google developer conference, Samsung announced the launching of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Smartphone, that instead of using the Samsung adaptation ran on what they called “Stock Android”. Both companies promised this will make updates much faster.

Ever since then, Samsung has continued to use Android as an operative system in all the Galaxy Models, and there’s been quite a few. The latest one being the Samsung Galaxy Fold unveiled on February 2019.

4. Tizen and Android. Why is Samsung doing this?

So, you might have noticed from the timelines that Samsung didn’t stop using its own Operative System once they adopted Android.

First of all, only one of the lines of Samsung (Samsung Galaxy) uses Android, you could say this is the high-end line.

Other lines are lower in prices and have only been released in a limited amount of countries. Devices such as the Samsung Z4 and the Samsung Metro XL are relatively cheap options mostly sold in developed countries.

5. So, in Conclusion, does Samsung use Android?

Again, yes and no. If you asked me if all Apple phones used iOS the answer would be quite easy because Apple only works under one operative system, and it always has, and all its devices do.

On the other, more complicated hand, Samsung has always had operative systems other than Android, but it has also almost always had Android. In the past, it was Bada and now it is Tizen. The Tizen Operative System is rather used as a backup by the company. All of Samsung’s more expensive phones are running on Android, so if something were to happen to the operative system they wouldn’t want to not have an operative system. Think about the Huawei issue with Google in 2019, if something similar to where to happen with Samsung, the galaxy users would still have a good operative system to rely on.