With Google's first Android phone, the iPhone finally has a rival

Ten years ago tomorrow, October 20, the T-Mobile G1 launched in the United States. The first Android phone was not very beautiful and he suffered awkward startbut none of that mattered. Even though the G1 (aka the HTC Dream out of the US) debuted with a mixed reception, it was clear that Android had the potential to overshadow Apple's iPhone. in the same way that the big brands of the time – BlackBerry, Palm, Nokia and Windows Mobile – could not. A decade later, he did it.

Today, more than 85% of all phones in the world run on Android. It's a surprising feat when you realize that the T-Mobile G1 / HTC Dream lacked the beauty and finesse of the iPhone. A swiveling physical keyboard frustrated us with flat keys; a large protruding chin preventing the typing; basics like a virtual keyboard and a headphone jack were not found. But this thick and heavy device has left an indelible mark in the world of smartphones and has helped bring us to where we are today. While the strength of the iPhone lay in its clean, simple design and intuitive layout, the very first Android phone brought personality and the ability to personalize your experience.

The HTC Dream / T-Mobile G1 also had some important features that the iPhone of the day – the iPhone 3G, under "iPhone OS 2" – was missing: Features such as a better camera and a copy / paste. The power of Google's platform. More importantly, the G1 has proven that a software company can support a high-performance cell phone. This is how this ugly duckling made his mark.

Update of October 19th: This story was published on September 23, 2018 and was last updated on October 19.

1. Proof that personalization is king

The G1 stands out from the first iPhone immediately by allowing a deep ability to change and perfect the way you used the phone. For the more ambitious, it might mean writing their own applications. But for most people, changing the G1 home screen was a good start and a vital part of Android's identity. Between the launchers, the packs of icons, the wallpapers, the widgets and the folders, what you saw was not necessarily what you had.

The iPhone caught up later – now you can change the background of the welcome screen and rearrange applications in folders – but the G1 showed that personalization in smartphones was important (and in a way much easier to use than Windows Mobile).

These are not just individuals who personalize their Android phones. The open platform of Android also meant that smartphone manufacturers could use the basic Android operating system and create their own look with themes, launchers and even additional applications and features.

Of course, an open system had a disadvantage. Fragmentation, that elephant that is still hiding in the Android room, later became a hindrance to Android's quick updates, especially as manufacturers had to adjust the updates for Android. match their habits skins.

Consumer appetite for the type of customization offered by Android was evident from the very first G1, and this has contributed to the current success of Android.

2. App Market from the beginning

the iTunes App Store debuted a few months ago the G1, but the HTC phone still managed to hit the debut of the Apple smartphone in 2007 by launching with its ecosystem of applications already in place.

Android Market (which will later become Google Play) means that G1 owners do not have to wait to do more with their phone, than it is to play games, shop around or just stay organized. Even though it was clear that apps were the future of phones, G1 was ready.

The nature of the Android Market had its advantages and disadvantages. By adopting a more flexible validation and approval process than Apple has followed, Google's app store has enabled more application selection and has been more user-friendly for developers of all levels.

By cons, less quality control meant that you were more likely to bite into some lemons of apps, and apps were not always complying with every Android update.

3. The G1 multiplied Google's power in the pocket

As the first Android device, the T-Mobile G1 has allowed Google to make you even more dependent on its online tools.

The strength of the iPhone was to work with other Apple hardware. the first iPhone It was basically the most magical iPod Apple ever made, since it also made calls and had apps that you could also find on the Mac.

Google has taken a different approach by focusing on the ecosystem of its already robust and ever-expanding software empire. Here, you had the power of Google search in your pocket, as well as the great application Gmail and Google Maps. Yes, much of it was also available on the iPhone. Google Maps was the default mapping app for iPhone until Apple created its own app. much lower Apple Maps in 2012 – but with Android, everything was integrated and tightly integrated. If you were already using Google tools, Android was obvious.

For Google, this meant that you came to use Google products at home, at work and now everywhere in between.

4. It sets a precedent for several designs

Although the first Android phone has QWERTY keyboard and many buttons, the choice has always been planned.

The G1's job was to show shoppers how a "Google phone" would work and give app developers something they could bite into, so the next Android phones would have a stronger foundation.

It was not long before the curious Android could see the phones from Motorola, Samsung, LG and even more HTC devices. This small army of Androids came out with screens, dimensions, camera capabilities of different sizes.

But without this first Android phone to plant the flag and test the interest of buyers, we might never have seen the Motorola Droid, which was marketed as a real alternative to the iPhone; the HTC Evo 4G (first 4G phone in the United States); the first Samsung Galaxy Note with its stylus S Pen; or the Google Pixel 3 that we plan to see on October 9th.

5. The magic of HTC paved the way for Pixel

Before the T-Mobile G1, HTC was a small Taiwanese manufacturer that was striving to become a global brand among giants such as Samsung and Motorola.

The G1 gave HTC the opportunity to burst and the start of a strong relationship between the company and Google. Then came the Google Ion / T-Mobile MyTouch 3G (the second Android phone), the HTC Hero (the first Android CDMA handset) and the HTC Droid Eris (the first Android phone with pinch to zoom).

But it was really with the Nexus One in 2010, HTC has reached its Android pace. A "pure" Android phone, he quickly received updates from Android and offered a welcome alternative to the skins of manufacturers become commonplace. Since then, HTC has continued to produce some of the best Android devices, like the first Pixel phone in 2016. This year, Google even paid $ 1.1 billion to hire HTC engineers. everything that comes next.

6. A real rival Apple has become the only rival Apple

The most significant effect of the HTC Dream / T-Mobile G1 is perhaps his role as fierce rival for iPhone. Google and Apple, headquartered just 11 miles (40 km) from each other in Silicon Valley, were two of the most powerful and exciting technology companies in the world.

Apple and Google were also new entrants in an already crowded telephone area populated by BlackBerry, Nokia (Symbian OS) and Windows Mobile devices on the "smart" end and flip or candybar phones on the low end. ("Special phones" were entirely an intermediate layer.)

The popularity of the iPhone has exploded and veteran platforms could not keep up. But then, Android has arrived. It was new, it was new and it had considerable resources from Google to counter Apple as a future phone platform.

The T-Mobile G1 has also pushed Apple to do better, bringing parity of features to later iPhones, such as a better camera, maps with detailed instructions … and copy / paste. Google has been so successful that Android today does not just compete with the iPhone – it's the only Rival iPhone left.

And it all started with this funny little phone.

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