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'''[[wikipedia:Android (operating system)|Android]]''' is a mobile operating system developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. It was originally developed in secret before launching in 2008 as a competitor against Apple's [[iOS emulators|iPhone]]. While other mobile operating systems have been made throughout the years, none have emerged in terms of market share nearly as much as Android.
Android is like a Linux distribution in that it uses the Linux kernel to facilitate communication with the hardware and manage processes on the system. Unfortunately, the similarities end there, as Android uses an entirely different toolset from standard Linux distributions and no support is given for running it on PCs. (Software development on Android is also nothing like Linux development as apps are compiled into architecture-specific <code>APK</code>s via Java which, like IPA files on [[iOS emulators|iOS]], are specially designed Zip files. They may be occasionally coupled with <code>OBB</code> files, see [[Copy_protection#Bypassing_Copy_Protection]] section for information about APK+DATA and copy protection situation on Android). While Android can technically run Linux binaries, doing so requires superuser privileges that Android does not provide by default. For many devices, you can expect to see a custom ROM that has an integrated su binary (or a means to install it easily, such as a custom recovery), but not all devices have one.
However, the Linux kernel is flexible enough that it can be emulated well, unlike iOS, older cell phone models, and older Japanese Galapagos mobile phones. While Android natively supports mice<ref group=N>If you have an Android device, you can confirm this by connecting a Bluetooth or USB mouse via a USB adapter.</ref>, most apps expect users to have a touchscreen, so Android emulators will usually default to emulating touchscreen presses like [[Nintendo DS emulators|DS emulation]] (though it can be less than ideal in many cases). The host's keyboard may often emulate the button controller add-ons, and some emulators support [[Xbox 360 emulators|Xbox 360]] controllers with some more tweaks.
