Google’s Android team have always used a fun name for each release, based off of tasty treats, or desserts. 10 years ago, Android 1.5 Cupcake was released, then came Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean and then maybe the most controversial with Kit Kat.
The naming of each new release became an annual guessing game for the Android community. That is sadly coming to an end.
As Android grows up, Google says they’ve heard feedback from their global community of more than 2.5 Billion people, that the names aren’t always understood.
For example, L and R are not distinguishable when spoken in some languages. So when some people heard us say Android Lollipop out loud, it wasn’t intuitively clear that it referred to the version after KitKat.
It’s even harder for new Android users, who are unfamiliar with the naming convention, to understand if their phone is running the latest version. Pies are not a dessert in some places, and that marshmallows, while delicious, are not a popular treat in many parts of the world.
As a global operating system, it’s important that these names are clear and relatable for everyone in the world. So, this next release of Android will simply use the version number and be called Android 10. The change should help make release names simpler and more intuitive for Android’s global community to understand.
While there were many tempting “Q” desserts out there, Google says the time is now right to use Version 10 instead.
Below is a video about the development of the new Android brand. Google has committed to officially start using the updated logo in the coming weeks with the final release of Android 10.
Many years ago I had the chance to travel to America and took the chance to visit Googles HQ. During the visit, I got to see the famous large statues that physically represent the Android versions. It
