Android is an open-source, Linux-based operating system designed for touchscreen mobile devices. It was initially developed by Android Inc, which was later acquired by Google in 2005. The first Android phone was released in 2008. Android uses a customized version of the Java programming language and has a large community of developers writing applications. By 2012, there were over 700,000 apps available on Android through the Google Play store, and a survey found it was the most popular platform for developers.