Mobile operating system

A mobile operating system is an operating system used for smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. Unlike the operating systems on laptops, which were originally designed for desktop computers, mobile operating systems include special features that make them work well on smaller, handheld devices. These features often include built-in wireless connections and a special tray for a SIM card that helps the device connect to phone and internet services.

In 2024, about 1.22 billion smartphones were sold around the world, which is a 7% increase from the year before. This shows how popular these devices have become. The most used mobile operating system is Android, which had more sales than even the desktop operating system Microsoft Windows. Since 2017, mobile operating systems have been the most used type of operating system overall.

Mobile devices like smartphones actually have two operating systems. The one you see and use is the main system, but there is also a second, lower-level system that helps manage the device's hardware, like the wireless radio. Researchers have found that these lower-level systems can sometimes have security issues, which means they might be open to attacks from untrustworthy sources.

Timeline

See also: History of tablet computers

Mobile operating system milestones mirror the development of mobile phones, PDAs, and smartphones:

Pre-1990

• 1990–2010 – Mobile phones use embedded systems to control operation.

1993–1999

• 1993
  • April – PenPoint OS by GO Corp. become available on the AT&T EO Personal Communicator.
  • August – Apple launches Newton OS running on their Newton series of portable computers.
• 1994
  • March – Magic Cap OS by General Magic is first introduced on the Sony Magic Link PDA.
  • August – The first smartphone, the IBM Simon, has a touchscreen, email, and PDA features.
• 1996
  • March – The Palm Pilot 1000 personal digital assistant is introduced with the Palm OS mobile operating system.
  • August – Nokia releases the Nokia 9000 Communicator running an integrated system based on the PEN/GEOS 3.0 OS from Geoworks.
• 1997 – EPOC32 first appears on the Psion Series 5 PDA. Release 6 of EPOC32 will later be renamed to Symbian OS.
• 1998 – Symbian Ltd. is formed as a joint venture by Psion, Ericsson, Motorola, and Nokia, Psion's EPOC32 OS becomes Symbian's EPOC operating system, and is later renamed to Symbian OS. Symbian's OS was used by those companies and several other major mobile phone brands, but especially Nokia.
• 1999
  • June – Qualcomm's pdQ becomes the first smartphone with Palm OS.
  • October – Nokia S40 Platform is officially introduced along with the Nokia 7110, the first phone with T9 predictive text input and a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) browser for accessing specially formatted Internet data.

2000s

• 2000 – The Ericsson R380 is released with EPOC32 Release 5, marking the first use on a phone of what's to become known as Symbian OS (as of Release 6).
• 2001
  • June – Nokia's Symbian Series 80 platform is first released on the Nokia 9210 Communicator This is the first phone running an OS branded as Symbian, and the first phone using that OS that allows user installation of additional software.
  • September – Qualcomm's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) platform on their REX real-time operating system (RTOS) is first released on the Kyocera QCP-3035.
• 2002
  • March
    • BlackBerry releases its first smartphone, running Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME).
    • UIQ is first released, at v2.0, on Symbian OS, and becomes available later in the year on the Sony Ericsson P800, the successor to the Ericsson R380.
  • June
    • Microsoft's first Windows CE (Pocket PC) smartphones are introduced.
    • Nokia's Symbian Series 60 (S60) platform is released with the Nokia 7650, Nokia's first phone with a camera and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). S60 would form the basis of the OS on most of Nokia's smartphones until 2011, when they adopted Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. S60 was also used on some phones from Samsung and others, and later by Sony Ericsson after the consolidation of some Symbian UI variants in 2008.
  • October – The Danger Hiptop (T-Mobile Sidekick in U.S.) is first released by Danger, Inc., running DangerOS.
• 2003 – Motorola introduces first Linux-based cellphone Motorola A760 base on Linux MontaVista distribution.
• 2005
  • May – Microsoft announces Windows Mobile 5.0.
  • November – Nokia introduces Maemo OS on the first, small Internet tablet, the N770, with a 4.13" screen.
• 2007
  • January – Apple's iPhone with iOS (named "iPhone OS" for its first three releases) is introduced as a "widescreen iPod", "mobile phone", and "Internet communicator".
  • February – Microsoft announces Windows Mobile 6.0.
  • May – Palm announces the Palm Foleo, a "Mobile Companion" device similar to a subnotebook computer, running a modified Linux kernel and relying on a companion Palm Treo smartphone to send and retrieve mail, as well as provide data connectivity when away from WiFi. Palm canceled Foleo development on September 4, 2007, after facing public criticism.
  • June – World's very first iPhone is released in the United States.
  • November – Open Handset Alliance (OHA) is established, led by Google with 34 members (HTC, Sony, Dell, Intel, Motorola, Samsung, LG, etc.)
• 2008
  • February – LiMo Foundation announces the first phones running the LiMo mobile Linux distribution, from Motorola, NEC, Panasonic Mobile, and Samsung, released later in the year. The LiMo Foundation later became the Tizen Association and LiMo was subsumed by Tizen.
  • June – Nokia becomes the sole owner of Symbian Ltd. The Symbian Foundation was then formed to co-ordinate the future development of the Symbian platform among the corporations using it, in a manner similar to the Open Handset Alliance with Android. Nokia remained the major contributor to Symbian's code.
  • July – Apple releases iPhone OS 2 with the iPhone 3G, making available Apple's App Store.
  • October – OHA releases Android 1.0 (based on Linux kernel) with the HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1) as the first Android phone.
  • November – Symbian^1, the Symbian Foundation's touch-specific S60-based platform (equivalent to S60 5th edition) is first released on Nokia's first touchscreen Symbian phone, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, with a resistive screen and a stylus. Symbian^1 being derived from S60 meant that support for UIQ disappeared and no further devices using UIQ were released.
• 2009
  • January
    • Intel announces Moblin 2, specifically created for netbooks that run the company's Atom processor. In April 2009 Intel turned Moblin over to the Linux Foundation.
    • Palm introduces webOS with the Palm Pre (released in June). The new OS is not backward-compatible with their previous Palm OS.
  • February
    • Palm announces that no further devices with Palm OS are going to be released by the company. (The last was the Palm Centro, released October 14, 2007.)
    • Microsoft announces Windows Mobile 6.5, an "unwanted stopgap" update to Windows Mobile 6.1 intended to bridge the gap between version 6.1 and the then yet-to-be released Windows Mobile 7 (later canceled in favor of Windows Phone 7). The first devices running it appeared in late October 2009.
  • May – DangerOS 5.0 becomes available, based on NetBSD.
  • June – Apple releases iPhone OS 3 with the iPhone 3GS.
  • November – Nokia releases the Nokia N900, its first and only smartphone running the Maemo OS intended for "handheld computers...with voice capability", while stating that they remain focused on Symbian S60 as their smartphone OS. (Nokia had previously released three Mobile Internet devices running Maemo, without cellular network connectivity.)

2010s

2010

• February
  • MeeGo is announced, a mobile Linux distribution merging Maemo from Nokia and Moblin from Intel and Linux Foundation, to be hosted by Linux Foundation. MeeGo is not backward-compatible with any previous operating system.
  • Samsung introduces the Bada OS and shows the first Bada smartphone, the Samsung S8500. It was later released in May 2010.
• April
  • Apple releases the iPad (first generation) with iPhone OS 3.2. This is the first version of the OS to support tablet computers. For its next major version (4.0) iPhone OS will be renamed iOS.
  • HP acquires Palm in order to use webOS in multiple new products, including smartphones, tablets, and printers, later stating their intent to use it as the universal platform for all their devices.
• May – Microsoft Kin phone line with KIN OS (based on Windows CE and a "close cousin" to Windows Phone) become available.
• June – Apple releases iOS 4, renamed from iPhone OS, with the iPhone 4.
• July – Microsoft Kin phones and KIN OS are discontinued.
• September
  • Apple releases a variant of iOS powering the new 2nd generation Apple TV.
  • Symbian^3 is first released on the Nokia N8. This would be Nokia's last flagship device running Symbian (though not their last Symbian phone), before switching to Windows Phone 7 for future flagship phones.
  • The Danger Hiptop line and DangerOS are discontinued as a result of Microsoft's acquisition of Danger, Inc. in 2008.
• November
  • Nokia assumes full control over Symbian as the Symbian Foundation disintegrates.
  • Windows Phone OS is released on Windows Phone 7 phones by HTC, LG, Samsung, and Dell. The new OS is not backward-compatible with the prior Windows Mobile OS.

2011

• February
  • Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), the first version to officially support tablet computers, is released on the Motorola Xoom.
  • Nokia abandons the Symbian OS and announces that it would use Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 as its primary smartphone platform, while Symbian would be gradually wound down.
• April – BlackBerry Tablet OS, based on QNX Neutrino is released on the BlackBerry PlayBook.
• July
  • Mozilla announces their Boot to Gecko project (later named Firefox OS) to develop an OS for handheld devices emphasizing standards-based Web technologies, similar to webOS.
  • webOS 3.0, the first version to support tablet computers, is released on the HP TouchPad.
• August – HP announces that webOS device development and production lines would be halted. The last HP webOS version, 3.0.5, is released on January 12, 2012.
• September
  • MeeGo is introduced with the limited-release Nokia N9, Nokia's first and only consumer device to use the OS. (A small number of the Nokia N950, a MeeGo phone available only to developers, were released in mid-2011.)
  • After Nokia's abandonment of MeeGo, Intel and the Linux Foundation announce a partnership with Samsung to launch Tizen, shifting their focus from MeeGo (Intel and Linux Foundation) and Bada (Samsung) during 2011 and 2012.
• October
  • Apple releases iOS 5 with the iPhone 4S, integrating the Siri voice assistant.
  • The Mer project is announced, based on an ultra-portable core for building products, composed of Linux, HTML5, QML, and JavaScript, which is derived from the MeeGo codebase.
• November – Fire OS, a fork of the Android operating system, is released by Amazon.com on the Kindle Fire tablet.

2012

• May – Nokia releases the Nokia 808 PureView, later confirmed (in January 2013) to be the last Symbian smartphone. This phone was followed by a single last Symbian software update, "Nokia Belle, Feature Pack 2", later in 2012.
• July
  • Finnish start-up Jolla, formed by former Nokia employees, announces that MeeGo's community-driven successor Mer would be the basis of their new Sailfish smartphone OS.
  • Mozilla announces that the project formerly named Boot to Gecko (which is built atop an Android Linux kernel using Android drivers and services; however it uses no Java-like code of Android) is now Firefox OS (since discontinued) and has several handset OEMs on board.
• August – Samsung announces they will not ship further phones using their Bada OS, instead focusing on Windows Phone 8 and Android.
• September – Apple releases iOS 6 with the iPhone 5.

2013

• January – BlackBerry releases their new operating system for smartphones, BlackBerry 10, with their Q10 and Z10 smartphones. BlackBerry 10 is not backward-compatible with the BlackBerry OS used on their previous smartphones.
• February – HP sells webOS to LG.
• September – Apple releases iOS 7 with the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C.
• October
  • Canonical announces Ubuntu Touch, a version of the Linux distribution expressly designed for smartphones. The OS is built on the Android Linux kernel, using Android drivers and services, but does not use any of the Java-like code of Android.
  • Google releases Android KitKat 4.4.
• November – Jolla releases Sailfish OS on the Jolla smartphone.

2014

• February
  • Microsoft releases Windows Phone 8.1
  • Nokia introduces their Nokia X platform OS as an Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean fork on the Nokia X family of smartphones. Similar to Amazon.com's Fire OS, it replaces Google's apps and services with ones from Nokia (such as HERE Maps, Nokia Xpress and MixRadio, and Nokia's own app store) and Microsoft (such as Skype and Outlook), with a user interface that mimics the Windows Phone UI. After the acquisition of Nokia's devices unit, Microsoft announced in July 2014 that no more Nokia X smartphones would be introduced, marking the end of the platform just a few months later.
• August – The Samsung SM-Z9005 Z is the first phone released running Tizen, with v2.2.1 of the OS.
• September
  • Apple releases iOS 8 with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
  • BlackBerry releases BlackBerry 10 version 10.3 with integration with the Amazon Appstore
• November – Google releases Android 5.0 "Lollipop"

2015

• February – Google releases Android 5.1 "Lollipop".
• April
  • LG releases the LG Watch Urbane LTE smartwatch running "LG Wearable Platform OS" based on webOS. This is a version of their Android Wear OS-based LG Watch Urbane, with added LTE connectivity.
  • watchOS, based on iOS, is released by Apple with the Apple Watch.
• September
  • Apple releases iOS 9 with the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, iPad Pro, and iPad Mini 4, plus watchOS 2. tvOS 9 is also made distinct from iOS, with its own App Store, launching with Apple TV 4th generation.
  • Google releases Android 6.0 "Marshmallow".
• October – BlackBerry announces that there are no plans to release new APIs and software development kits for BlackBerry 10, and future updates would focus on security and privacy enhancements only.
• November – Microsoft releases Windows 10 Mobile.

2016

• February – Microsoft releases the Lumia 650, their last Windows 10 Mobile phone before discontinuing all mobile hardware production the following year.
• July – The BlackBerry Classic, the last device to date running a BlackBerry OS is discontinued. While BlackBerry Limited claimed to still be committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, they have since only shipped Android devices after releasing the BlackBerry Priv, their first Android smartphone in November 2015.
• August
  • Google posts the Fuchsia source code on GitHub.
  • Google releases Android 7.0 "Nougat".
• September – Apple releases iOS 10 with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, and watchOS 3 with the Apple Watch Series 1 and 2.
• November
  • Tizen releases Tizen 3.0.
  • BlackBerry releases BlackBerry 10 version 10.3.3.

2017

• April
  • Development of Ubuntu Touch is transferred from Canonical Ltd. to the UBports Foundation
  • Samsung officially launches Android-based Samsung Experience custom firmware starting with version 8.1 on Samsung Galaxy S8.
• May
  • Samsung announces Tizen 4.0 at Tizen Developer Conference 2017.
• August
  • Google releases Android 8.0 "Oreo".
• September
  • Apple releases iOS 11 with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus and iPhone X, and watchOS 4 with the Apple Watch Series 3.
• October
  • Microsoft announces that Windows 10 Mobile development is going into maintenance mode only, ending the release of any new features or functionality due to lack of market penetration and resultant lack of interest from app developers, and releases the final major update to it, the "Fall Creators Update."
  • Cherry Mobile release Cherry OS based on Android

2018

• February
  • Samsung releases Samsung Experience 9.0 based on Android "Oreo" 8.0 globally to Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+.
• March
  • Google and partners officially launches Android Go (based on Android "Oreo" 8.1 but tailored for low-end devices) with Nokia 1, Alcatel 1X, ZTE Tempo Go, General Mobile 8 Go, Micromax Bharat Go and Lava Z50.
  • Google releases Android "9" as a developer preview.
• April
  • Microsoft release Windows 10 Version 1803 "April 2018 Update".
• May
  • Huawei release LiteOS version 2.1.
• August
  • Google releases Android 9.0 "Pie".
  • UBPorts released Ubuntu Touch OTA-14, upgrading the OS based on the Canonical's long-term support version of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus".
  • Xiaomi officially introduces MIUI for POCO for their Poco series smartphone.
  • Samsung officially introduces Tizen 4.0 with the release of Samsung Galaxy Watch series.
• September
  • Apple releases iOS 12 with the iPhone XS and XS Max, and watchOS 5 with Apple Watch Series 4.
  • Huawei releases EMUI 9.0.
• October
  • Microsoft releases Windows 10 Version 1809 "October 2018 Update".
• November
  • Samsung announces the One UI as the latest version of the Samsung Experience UI.
  • Amazon released Fire OS 6 to supported Fire HD devices.

2019

• January
  • Microsoft announces that support for Windows 10 Mobile would end on December 10, 2019, and that Windows 10 Mobile users should migrate to iOS or Android phones.
• June
  • Apple announces iOS 13, watchOS 6, and iPadOS as a distinct variant of iOS.
• August
  • Huawei officially announces HarmonyOS
• September
  • Apple releases iOS 13 with the iPhone 11 series, watchOS 6 with Apple Watch Series 5, and iPadOS with the 7th generation iPad.
  • Google releases Android (/wiki/Android_10).
  • The Librem 5, the first phone running PureOS, is released.
• October
  • Samsung announces the One UI 2.0 as the latest version of their Galaxy Smartphone and Smartwatch UI .
• November
  • Microsoft releases the Windows 10 November 10, 2019 Update.

Current software platforms

See also: Comparison of mobile operating systems, List of iPhone models, and List of Windows phones

These operating systems often run on special systems that help manage the phone's hardware.

Android

Main articles: Android (operating system), Android version history, and List of custom Android distributions

Android is a mobile operating system made by Open Handset Alliance. It is free to use, but many apps and tools added to phones are private and only for that phone. Android is very popular for phones and some computers, but not for regular desktop computers. Android works on both phones and tablets.

Many phone makers add their own designs to Android, and there are many different versions of Android available.

Wear OS

Main article: Wear OS

Wear OS is a version of Android made for smartwatches. It works with phones using Android or iOS. Wear OS includes helpful tools and notifications for smartwatches.

In May 2021, Google updated Wear OS with new designs and exercise tracking.

ChromeOS

Main article: ChromeOS

ChromeOS is an operating system made by Google. It uses the Google Chrome web browser. ChromeOS works best with web applications.

ChromeOS is available only on computers made by Google partners. There is also an open-source version called ChromiumOS.

Sailfish OS

Main article: Sailfish OS

Sailfish OS is made by Jolla. It is free to use and works on many different devices. Some parts of Sailfish OS are private, but users can choose to use free parts instead.

SteamOS

Main article: SteamOS

SteamOS is made by Valve. It is used on Steam Machines and the Steam Deck gaming computer. SteamOS is free to use but has some private parts.

Tizen

Main article: Tizen

Tizen is a mobile operating system made for many types of devices. It works on phones, tablets, smart TVs, and car systems. Tizen is free to use but some parts made by Samsung are private.

KaiOS

Main article: KaiOS

KaiOS is made for simple phones. It gives these phones more features like apps and internet access.

Fully open-source, entirely permissive licenses

Fuchsia

Main article: Fuchsia (operating system)

Fuchsia is a new operating system being made by Google. It is different from Android and ChromeOS because it uses a new system instead of the usual one. Fuchsia can work on many types of devices.

LiteOS

Main article: LiteOS

LiteOS is a small operating system made by Huawei. It was used in Huawei watches.

OpenHarmony

Main article: OpenHarmony

OpenHarmony is an open-source version of HarmonyOS made by Huawei. It works on devices with very little memory or more memory.

Fully open-source, mixed copyleft and permissive licenses

See also: List of open-source mobile phones

Fedora Mobility

Fedora Mobility is a mobile operating system being developed by the Fedora Project.

LuneOS

Main article: LuneOS

LuneOS is a modern version of an old webOS interface.

Manjaro ARM

Manjaro ARM is a mobile operating system used on the PinePhone.

Mobian

Mobian is a mobile version of Debian for the PinePhone.

Plasma mobile

Main article: Plasma Mobile

Plasma Mobile is a version of Plasma for smartphones. It works with many different phone applications.

The Necuno phone uses Plasma Mobile. It does not have a regular phone system and uses internet calls instead.

postmarketOS

Main article: postmarketOS

postmarketOS is based on Alpine Linux. It is meant to work on older phones.

PureOS

Main article: PureOS

PureOS is a mobile version of Ubuntu. It works on the Librem 5 smartphone.

Ubuntu Touch

Main article: Ubuntu Touch

Ubuntu Touch is an open-source mobile version of Ubuntu. It works on many phones and tablets.

Closed source

iOS

Main articles: iOS and iOS version history

iOS is made by Apple. It is used on iPhones, iPods, iPads, and Apple TVs. It is private and only Apple can change it.

Before 2008, people could add their own apps by "jailbreaking" the phone. Now it is harder to change iOS.

iPadOS

Main article: iPadOS

iPadOS is a version of iOS made just for iPads.

watchOS

Main article: watchOS

watchOS is the operating system for the Apple Watch. It helps with calls, messages, and health tracking.

Kindle firmware

Main article: Amazon Kindle

Kindle firmware is the operating system for Amazon Kindle e-readers.

HarmonyOS

Main article: HarmonyOS

HarmonyOS is an operating system made by Huawei for many types of devices. It was first used on smart TVs and later on phones.

Nintendo Switch system software

The Nintendo Switch system software is the operating system for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite.

PlayStation Vita system software

The PlayStation Vita system software is the operating system for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation TV.

Microsoft Windows

Main articles: Microsoft Windows, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 11

Windows is an operating system made by Microsoft. It was updated to work better on tablets with Windows 8.

Minor proprietary operating systems

Other companies have made their own private operating systems for smartwatches and fitness trackers.

Discontinued software platforms

Open source

CyanogenMod

Main article: CyanogenMod

CyanogenMod was a special version of a mobile operating system made from open sources. It let people update their phones even if the company stopped giving updates. However, in 2016, the team stopped working on it and moved to a new system called LineageOS.

Cyanogen OS

Cyanogen OS was similar to CyanogenMod but included some special apps and was made for business use only.

Firefox OS

See also: Comparison of Firefox OS devices

Firefox OS was made by Mozilla to let the web work like an app system. But in 2016, Mozilla stopped working on it.

MeeGo/Maemo/Moblin

Main articles: MeeGo, Maemo, and Moblin

MeeGo was an open system made for many devices. Nokia and Intel made it, but Nokia later chose another system instead. Maemo was Nokia’s system for smartphones and small tablets.

webOS

webOS was made by Palm and was open for anyone to use. Palm made phones and a tablet with it, but later HP bought Palm. HP stopped making devices with webOS but kept updating the system. Later, LG bought webOS for their smart TVs.

Closed source

Bada

Main article: Bada (operating system)

Bada was made by Samsung for smartphones. Samsung later stopped working on Bada and moved to another system called Tizen.

BlackBerry OS

In 1999, Research In Motion made its first BlackBerry devices for secure messages. Later, they changed their name to BlackBerry Limited and made new devices with a system called BlackBerry 10.

BlackBerry 10

Main article: BlackBerry 10

BlackBerry 10 was made by BlackBerry and only worked on their phones and tablets. By the mid-2010s, it became less popular, and BlackBerry stopped making big updates to it.

Nintendo 3DS system software

The Nintendo 3DS system software is the operating system used by the Nintendo 3DS.

Symbian

Main article: Symbian

Symbian was made by Nokia for smartphones but was stopped in 2012.

Palm OS

Main article: Palm OS

Palm OS was made by Access Co. and was used in older Palm devices. Palm later made webOS as a replacement.

Microsoft

Windows Mobile

Main article: Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile was an older system by Microsoft for small pocket computers. It was replaced by Windows Phone in 2010.

Windows Phone

Main articles: Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile

Windows Phone was made by Microsoft for smartphones. It had a simple design and worked with Microsoft services like OneDrive and Office. In 2015, Microsoft changed its name to Windows 10 Mobile. But by 2019, Microsoft stopped supporting it and suggested people switch to iOS or Android.

Market share

Usage

See also: Usage share of operating systems § Crossover to smartphones having majority share, and Usage share of web browsers § Crossover to smartphones having majority share

In 1992, the first smartphone prototype, the IBM Simon, was first shown.

The IBM Simon was sold in 1994. It used the Datalight ROM-DOS operating system.

Between 1999 and 2002, Palm OS was the most popular, reaching 74% of the market in 2000.

Symbian became the leader in 2003. It reached its highest point at 73% of the market in 2006. After that, it began to lose popularity but stayed the largest until 2012.

In 2006, Android and iOS did not exist and only 64 million smartphones were sold. By early 2018, 183.5 million smartphones were sold and Android had 48.9% of the market, while iOS had 19.1%. Only a very small number of smartphones with other operating systems were sold.

According to StatCounter data, smartphones are now used more than desktop computers around the world. This use varies by location, with smartphones being more popular in large areas like Asia. Desktops are still used more in some places, but not in North America.

Smartphones became more popular than desktops in late 2016 and have stayed that way. In some countries like Poland and Turkey, smartphones are used more than desktops. In other places, like the United States, desktops are still used more often.

In early 2025, Android had the largest share of the market with over three quarters, or 76%, of sales. iOS was second with 19% of sales. Harmony OS reached 5% market share. This was the first time a mobile operating system besides Android and iOS had reached the 5% milestone in ten years.

By operating system

Notes:

1. Windows includes all versions.
2. BlackBerry includes all versions.
3. Other includes all other smartphone OSes but not feature phone OSes.