Applications are usually developed in the Java language using the Android Software Development Kit, but other development tools are available, including a Native Development Kit for applications or extensions in C or C++, Google App Inventor, a visual environment for novice programmers and various cross platform mobile web applications frameworks.
Applications can be acquired by end-users either through a store such as Google Play or the Amazon Appstore, or by downloading and installing the application's APK file from a third-party site.
Google Play
Google Play is an online software store developed by Google for Android devices. An application program ("app") called "Play Store" is preinstalled on most Android devices and allows users to browse and download apps published by third-party developers, hosted on Google Play. As of October 2011, there were more than 500,000 apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from the Play Store as of December 2011 exceeded 10 billion. The operating system itself is installed on 130 million total devices.
Only devices that comply with Google's compatibility requirements are allowed to preinstall and access the Play Store. The app filters the list of available applications to those that are compatible with the user's device, and developers may restrict their applications to particular carriers or countries for business reasons.
Google has participated in the Play Store by offering many free applications themselves, including Google Voice, Google Goggles, Gesture Search, Google Translate, Google Shopper, Listen and My Tracks. In August 2010, Google launched "Voice Actions for Android", which allows users to search, write messages, and initiate calls by voice.
Security
Android applications run in a sandbox, an isolated area of the operating system that does not have access to the rest of the system's resources, unless access permissions are granted by the user when the application is installed. Before installing an application, the Play Store displays all required permissions. A game may need to enable vibration, for example, but should not need to read messages or access the phonebook. After reviewing these permissions, the user can decide whether to install the application. The sandboxing and permissions system weakens the impact of vulnerabilities and bugs in applications, but developer confusion and limited documentation has resulted in applications routinely requesting unnecessary permissions, reducing its effectiveness. The complexity of inter-application communication implies Android has a large attack surface.
Several security firms have released antivirus software for Android devices, in particular, AVG Technologies, Avast!, F-Secure, Kaspersky, McAfee and Symantec. This software is ineffective as sandboxing also applies to such applications, limiting their ability to scan the deeper system for threats.
Privacy
Android smartphones have the ability to report the location of Wi-Fi access points, encountered as phone users move around, to build databases containing the physical locations of hundreds of millions of such access points. These databases form electronic maps to locate smartphones, allowing them to run apps like Foursquare, Latitude, Places, and to deliver location-based ads.
Third party monitoring software such as TaintDroid, an academic research-funded project, can, in some cases, detect when personal information is being sent from applications to remote servers.
In March 2012 it was revealed that Android Apps can copy photos without explicit user permission, Google responded they "originally designed the Android photos file system similar to those of other computing platforms like Windows and Mac OS. we're taking another look at this and considering adding a permission for apps to access images. We've always had policies in place to remove any apps [on Google Play] that improperly access your data."
Android software development is the process by which new applications are created for the Android operating system. Applications are usually developed in the Java programming language using the Android Software Development Kit, but other development tools are available. As of April 2011 more than 200,000 applications have been developed for Android, with over 3 billion downloads. The Android platform has also grown to become a favorite among mobile developers. A June 2011 research indicated that over 67% of mobile developers used the platform, at the time of publication.
The Android Developer Challenge was a competition for the most innovative application for Android. Google offered prizes totaling 10 million US dollars, distributed between ADC I and ADC II. ADC I accepted submissions from 2 January to 14 April 2008. The 50 most promising entries, announced on 12 May 2008, each received a $25,000 award to further development. It ended in early September with the announcement of ten teams that received $275,000 each, and ten teams that received $100,000 each. ADC II was announced on 27 May 2009. The first round of the ADC II closed on 6 October 2009. The first-round winners of ADC II comprising the top 200 applications were announced on 5 November 2009. Voting for the second round also opened on the same day and ended on November 25. Google announced the top winners of ADC II on November 30, with SweetDreams, What the Doodle!? and WaveSecure being nominated the overall winners of the challenge.
Source : Android's Applications
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