---
title: "Which came first, Android or Google?"
description: "Android vs Google: Google came first, by 10 years — 1998 against 2008. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/android-vs-google/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Android or Google?

**Which came first, Android or Google?: Google**

1998 — 10 years before Android

Google came first, by 10 years. Google Inc. was incorporated in a garage in Menlo Park.

## Side by side

|  | Android | Google |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 2008 | 1998 |
| Date | 2008-09-23 | 1998-09-04 |
| Category | technology | technology |
| What happened | The HTC Dream, the first Android phone, was announced. | Google Inc. was incorporated in a garage in Menlo Park. |

## Android

Android as a company was founded in October 2003 — four years before the iPhone — originally to build an operating system for digital cameras. Google bought it in 2005 and the first Android phone shipped in October 2008, fifteen months after the iPhone went on sale. So Android is older than the iPhone as a project and younger as a product, which is why the question needs the distinction stated.

## Google

The date used here is the incorporation, 4 September 1998. Two others compete: the research project called BackRub began at Stanford in 1996, and the google.com domain was registered on 15 September 1997. Google itself has celebrated its birthday on four different September dates over the years, which is a fair indication that no single one is correct. It is younger than Amazon, eBay and Netflix.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Android or Google?

Google, by 10 years — 1998 against 2008.

### When did Android start?

2008. The HTC Dream, the first Android phone, was announced.

### When did Google start?

1998. Google Inc. was incorporated in a garage in Menlo Park.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)