Is it possible to officially download or purchase android software?

Question

Just like there is a download or purchase option for Windows from their publisher (Microsoft), I could not found any download or purchase option from the official website of android (https://www.android.com/) and their owner Google.



Though there are so many third-party websites letting free download android, I don't think they are trustworthy.



I want to just know, is it possible to download or purchase Android software from any official link of their original publishers? Or the software comes only through in-built with the devices?


— Always Confused | Sources

Answer

First, Android is maintained by the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) – which has its homepage here. What you may know as "Google's Android" is Android plus all those Google Apps (including the Google Frameworks).



Second, you can download the Source Code. There is no such thing as an "Installation CD" because, as you correctly assumed, the installation is very much device specific: other than on your PC, it's not done by transferring "selected files", but by flashing an image (think of Partition Cloning), so it must match the hardware 100% – including drivers for specific hardware etc.



As for purchasing: Above link title already says it, Android is "open source" – so nothing to purchase on that end.


— Izzy | Sources

Q & A

Will Nextflix Widevine L1 play with magisk?
How to flash custom or stock ROM with Odin mode working? (from a bad flashed Galaxy A20, see image)
How to recover from recovery boot loop in Galaxy A20?
Why am I getting an SSL error on my captive portal?
Is dhcpcd used in newer Android versions? How to configure new DHCP client?
"System" using 342GB storage?
How to remove the android OS version from the DHCP request?
Where does Android store the binaries of the apps themselves?
Where Firefox for Android is keeping add-on generated files?
Samsung Galaxy Buds immense RAM requirement
Prevent mobile data from automatically turning off after a while on Xiaomi Mi 4
How can one change the battery saver to dark mode in Android 9 (Samsung Galaxy S9)?
Factory resetting a Galaxy Tab 3
How to get installation log (either from adb install or manual install)
How to create filesystem in TWRP? Getting error: "Unable to format to remove encryption"
How can I factory/hard reset/wipe a Nokia 2.2 (TA-1188) without a (windows) PC?
How can one remove the animation when searching for a string in a web page in Google Chrome for Android?
Disable Ability to Change Language with Spacebar
Alarm as full charged battery notification
Auto reply to sms from specific contact

Topics

2D Engines   3D Engines   9-Patch   Action Bars   Activities   ADB   Advertisements   Analytics   Animations   ANR   AOP   API   APK   APT   Architecture   Audio   Autocomplete   Background Processing   Backward Compatibility   Badges   Bar Codes   Benchmarking   Bitmaps   Bluetooth   Blur Effects   Bread Crumbs   BRMS   Browser Extensions   Build Systems   Bundles   Buttons   Caching   Camera   Canvas   Cards   Carousels   Changelog   Checkboxes   Cloud Storages   Color Analysis   Color Pickers   Colors   Comet/Push   Compass Sensors   Conferences   Content Providers   Continuous Integration   Crash Reports   Credit Cards   Credits   CSV   Curl/Flip   Data Binding   Data Generators   Data Structures   Database   Database Browsers   Date &   Debugging   Decompilers   Deep Links   Dependency Injections   Design   Design Patterns   Dex   Dialogs   Distributed Computing   Distribution Platforms   Download Managers   Drawables   Emoji   Emulators   EPUB   Equalizers &   Event Buses   Exception Handling   Face Recognition   Feedback &   File System   File/Directory   Fingerprint   Floating Action   Fonts   Forms   Fragments   FRP   FSM   Functional Programming   Gamepads   Games   Geocaching   Gestures   GIF   Glow Pad   Gradle Plugins   Graphics   Grid Views   Highlighting   HTML   HTTP Mocking   Icons   IDE   IDE Plugins   Image Croppers   Image Loaders   Image Pickers   Image Processing   Image Views   Instrumentation   Intents   Job Schedulers   JSON   Keyboard   Kotlin   Layouts   Library Demos   List View   List Views   Localization   Location   Lock Patterns   Logcat   Logging   Mails   Maps   Markdown   Mathematics   Maven Plugins   MBaaS   Media   Menus   Messaging   MIME   Mobile Web   Native Image   Navigation   NDK   Networking   NFC   NoSQL   Number Pickers   OAuth   Object Mocking   OCR Engines   OpenGL   ORM   Other Pickers   Parallax List   Parcelables   Particle Systems   Password Inputs   PDF   Permissions   Physics Engines   Platforms   Plugin Frameworks   Preferences   Progress Indicators   ProGuard   Properties   Protocol Buffer   Pull To   Purchases   Push/Pull   QR Codes   Quick Return   Radio Buttons   Range Bars   Ratings   Recycler Views   Resources   REST   Ripple Effects   RSS   Screenshots   Scripting   Scroll Views   SDK   Search Inputs   Security   Sensors   Services   Showcase Views   Signatures   Sliding Panels   Snackbars   SOAP   Social Networks   Spannable   Spinners   Splash Screens   SSH   Static Analysis   Status Bars   Styling   SVG   System   Tags   Task Managers   TDD &   Template Engines   Testing   Testing Tools   Text Formatting   Text Views   Text Watchers   Text-to   Toasts   Toolkits For   Tools   Tooltips   Trainings   TV   Twitter   Updaters   USB   User Stories   Utils   Validation   Video   View Adapters   View Pagers   Views   Watch Face   Wearable Data   Wearables   Weather   Web Tools   Web Views   WebRTC   WebSockets   Wheel Widgets   Wi-Fi   Widgets   Windows   Wizards   XML   XMPP   YAML   ZIP Codes