---
title: "Which came first, Android or TikTok?"
description: "Android vs TikTok: Android came first, by 8 years — 2008 against 2016. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/android-vs-tiktok/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Android or TikTok?

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

2008 — 8 years before TikTok

Android came first, by 8 years. The HTC Dream, the first Android phone, was announced.

## Side by side

|  | Android | TikTok |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 2008 | 2016 |
| Date | 2008-09-23 | — |
| Category | technology | technology |
| What happened | The HTC Dream, the first Android phone, was announced. | ByteDance launched Douyin in China; TikTok followed abroad in 2017. |

## 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.

## TikTok

The app launched in China as Douyin in September 2016 and internationally as TikTok in 2017. What made it global was the 2018 acquisition and merger of Musical.ly, a lip-sync app that had launched in 2014 and already had a large Western user base — so part of TikTok is two years older than TikTok. Douyin and TikTok remain separate apps on separate infrastructure.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Android or TikTok?

Android, by 8 years — 2008 against 2016.

### When did Android start?

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

### When did TikTok start?

2016. ByteDance launched Douyin in China; TikTok followed abroad in 2017.

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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/)