API 5 · ECLAIR
Android 2.0 Eclair
New browser with HTML5
The story
Android 2.0 arrived a year and a half after 1.0, with the platform still fighting for legitimacy against a rapidly improving iPhone.
The problem
Android was seen as a geek's phone: poor browser, no Exchange, no enterprise story.
Eclair added a modern browser with HTML5, Exchange support, account sync, live wallpapers and Google Maps Navigation. It made Android a serious choice for business users.
Android became a phone a company would buy.
What shipped
- New browser with HTML5
- Bluetooth 2.1
- Live wallpapers
- Google Maps Navigation
- Exchange support
Platform internals
What changed underneath the APIs. These are the changes this site's architecture modules explain in depth.
- First multi-core-friendly scheduling and graphics work
What developers had to deal with
- Account manager, sync adapters
- New camera APIs
- Live wallpaper API
Permissions introduced here
ACCOUNT_MANAGERunknown
Where this sits
Release 5 of 37 API levels, by date
- Headline features
- 5
- Architecture changes
- 1
- Developer changes
- 3
- Sources cited
- 2
Kernel
This release shipped on Linux kernel versions 2.6.29. Kernel versions vary by device.