For almost a decade, Google has accustomed users to discover new updates of Android – the operating system developed by Mountain View for mobile devices, the first commercial version of which was released in 2008 – through names of sweets. Versions like “Cupcake”, “Lollipop”, “Oreo” and “Pie” were accompanied by colorful icons that made the launch of each release of the green robot’s operating system more playful and fun. However, starting with Android 10, Google has abandoned this traditionadopting a nomenclature based only on numbers. But why this change? The answer lies in a question of clarity and universality: the names of the dessertshowever funny, they were not always understandable throughout the world and in all cultures.
How the tradition of Android candy names was born
The first version of Android – Android 1.0 precisely – it was released in October 2008 and was known by the code name Astro Boy; a year later, Android 1.1 he had the code name Petit Four (traditional French sweets also known as mignardises).
Ryan GibsonGoogle’s project manager at the time, had the idea of using nicknames based on sweets for public releases and, for this reason, in April 2009the version of Android 1.5 was released with the name Cupcakes. All this made the release of new versions of the operating system more fun and less “cold”, generating a certain expectation among sector enthusiasts who, from year to year, would try to guess which dessert would be chosen by Google for the next release of Android. The tradition continued until 2018with Android 9.0 Piethe last to receive a name public associated with a dessert (now you will understand the reason for this specification).
The change in fact occurred with Android 10released in 2019. Although the Google team had discussed various names of desserts that began with “Q” – such as “Queens Cake” and “cinquem” – they realized that the diffusion of certain desserts is strictly linked to limited geographical areas, outside of which they are practically unknown. For example, Diecim, a Brazilian dessert, would have been an incomprehensible name for many international users, including us Europeans. Additionally, user feedback indicated that not all dessert names were easily recognizable or translatable across different languages and cultures. Hence, the choice to adopt a nomenclature based on numbers. In explaining this choice, in a statement published on its official blog, Google reported:
We’re changing the way we name our releases. Our engineering team has always used internal codenames for each release, based on treats or desserts, in alphabetical order. This naming tradition has become a fun part of the release every year even externally. But over the years we have received feedback that the names were not always understood by everyone in the global community. For example, L and R are indistinguishable when pronounced in some languages. So when some people heard us say Android Lollipop out loud, it wasn’t intuitively clear that we were referring to the version after KitKat. It’s even harder for new Android users, who aren’t familiar with the naming convention, to figure out if their phone is running the latest version. We also know that cakes are not a dessert in some places and that marshmallows, while delicious, are not a popular treat in many parts of the world.
Android versions with a public name associated with a dessert
If you missed the names chosen by Google for Android versions in the past, you can recover with the list we have prepared for you (the release date of the operating system is indicated in brackets).
- Android 1.5, Cupcake: (April 27, 2009)
- Android 1.6, Donut: (September 15, 2009)
- Android 2.0-2.1, Eclair: (October 26, 2009)
- Android 2.2-2.2.3, Froyo: (May 20, 2010)
- Android 2.3-2.3.7, Gingerbread: (6 December 2010)
- Android 3.0-3.2.6, Honeycomb: (February 22, 2011)
- Android 4.0-4.0.4, Ice Cream Sandwich: (18 October 2011)
- Android 4.1-4.3.1, Jelly Bean: (July 9, 2012)
- Android 4.4-4.4.4, KitKat: (31 October 2013)
- Android 5.0-5.1.1, Lollipop: (12 November 2014)
- Android 6.0-6.0.1, Marshmallow: (5 October 2015)
- Android 7.0-7.1.2, Nougat: (22 August 2016)
- Android 8.0-8.1, Oreo: (21 August 2017)
- Android 9.0, PIE (Pistachio Ice Cream): (6 August 2018)
The tradition of Android candy names continues
Even though Google stopped assigning sweets to the public names of new Android versions, it still continued to follow this tradition. In what sense? Using for internal use only for new releases of Android dei code names associated with sweets. And since we know that you are curious to know which ones have been chosen by “Big G” over the last few years, we are happy to reveal them to you. Returning to Android 10the code name that was eventually chosen was Quince Tart; For Android 11 era Red Velvet Cake; For Android 12 era Snow Cone; For Android 13 era Tiramisu; For Android 14 era Upside Down Cake and for Android 15 (released just these days) Vanilla Ice Cream.