Android 2012: Review of TheYear

We take a look back at the best phones, tablets and apps of the last year.

2012 saw more than 50 different Android devices launch, more than a million being sold every day and the OS account for more than three out of every four smartphones being sold. Over the year the number of apps in the Play store nearly doubled to over 700,000, while the number of app downloads continued to grow exponentially, from 10 billion last December to over 25 billion just nine months later. It has, it,s fair to say, been a pretty extraordinary year for Android. Over the next nine pages we review the highs and lows of 2012, and reveal our choices for the best phones, tablets and apps of the year.

This year has seen massive growth in the Android market. The number of devices being activated on a daily basis has now topped one million and there are as many apps on the Play store as there are for iOS. We look back at some of the most notable moments for Android in 2012.

January: 400,000 aps in Android Play Store. The ’Android Design' website is launched to give guidelines to budding developers looking to design Android apps. It proved to be a massive influence on how the year's apps looked. Hugely popular PC game distribution software Steam releases an Android app. Although it was a closed beta at first, the popularity of the beta was soon made in to a full release of the app.

February: For the first time in history, more smartphones are shipped worldwide than the desktop computers.  Just under a million Android devices are confirmed to be activated every day, worldwide. Mobile World Congress brought up some interesting new phones, tablets, and a vision in to the future. Who can forget the fabled Samsung flexi-screen prototype.

March: Ice Cream Sandwich begins a long and protracted rollout process that will still be ongoing as the year comes to an end. Among the first to get going is Sony, who delivers updates to all of its 2011 and 2012 models. iOS hit Temple Run finally hits the Android Market, and allows everyone to get their free-running fix. The game quickly passed a million downloads.

April: Google's very own cloud-storage service is released, named Google Drive. Not only does it allow a great solution for storing files, it also integrated with Google Docs allowing you to create and edit documents within it. HTC One X released. Instagram launches for Android... and is promptly bought by Facebook.

May: The hotly rumored Samsung Galaxy S III is released to the masses. The device sports a 4.8-inch display, 8-MP camera, and is the flagship device for the Android OS. The Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is among a glut of new tablet launches. 500,000 apps are available on the Play store. Orange unveils the San Diego, the first Android phone based on an Intel processor. Google's acquisition of Motorola is completed, allowing Google to take advantage of the 17,000 patents that Motorola currently holds on their phones, tablets and other electrical devices.

June: 20 billion downloads on the Play store. Popular news aggregation app, Flipboard comes out of beta for public release on Android. The app collects content from various websites and blogs, presenting it in a functional magazine format. New Google products The Google I/O event brings several big announcements. Android 4.1 , Nexus 7, and the Nexus Q were all officially announced here. LG announces the Optimus G, one of the most powerful quad-core phones and the forerunner to the Nexus 4.

July: Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) is launched alongside the Nexus 7 tablet. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the first phone to get the OS update. Android-based games console Ouya becomes the second highest earning project in history on Kickstarter. The $99 console raised $8,596,475 in less than a month.

August: Android's issues with Flash come to a conclusion, with the app being pulled from the Play store after months of speculation. Android cameras make their debut thanks to Samsung and Nikon.

September: The Google Play store celebrates 25 billions downloads, and puts a variety of apps, books, movies and albums on sale at a bargain price. As Of Q3 2012, there were 500 million total Android devices activated and 1.3m new activations taking place. A security flaw is found in both Samsung and HTC handsets, allowing hackers to remotely wipe devices. The problem is quickly identified and fixed soon after. The official Jelly Bean update begins rolling out to Galaxy S3 owners.

October: The Kindle Fire HD goes on sale in the UK, followed shortly by the Nook HD. Both affordable devices aim to bring tablets to the eReading crowd. Galaxy Note II is released.A s Of Q3 2012, there were 500 million total Android devices activated and 1.3m new activations taking place every day.

November: The Galaxy S III surpasses 30 million sales worldwide. Rovio and Lucas Arts join forces to produce Angry Birds Star Wars.