Why Did Google Cease Utilizing Android Dessert Names?

For a few years, Android was recognized for its quirky dessert nicknames. Froyo, Ice Cream Sandwich, Lollipop, Oreo, and extra. It was a yearly custom to search out out the brand new title, however then that got here to an finish. What occurred?

A Transient Historical past of Android Desserts

The primary model of Android—Android 1.0—was launched in October 2008 on the T-Cellular G1 (a reasonably ugly telephone). Internally, it was codenamed “Astro Boy,” however there was no public nickname hooked up to it. A 12 months later, Android 1.1 was codenamed “Petit 4”—a small bite-sized confectionery.

Ryan Gibson, the challenge supervisor, got here up with the thought of utilizing confectionery-based nicknames for public releases. In April 2009, Android 1.5 was launched with “Cupcake” as the general public nickname. This obtained the releases again on the alphabetical monitor, and kicked off a practice that may proceed for practically a decade.

Along with the nicknames, Google additionally had statues made for every dessert (high of the web page). Earlier than every new model was launched, Google would unveil the statue. This was usually how Google would formally announce the nickname. The statues can nonetheless be discovered on the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Right here’s the complete record of Android variations (and their launch dates) that featured dessert nicknames:

• 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: Could 20, 2010
• Android 2.3-2.3.7, Gingerbread: December 6, 2010
• Android 3.0-3.2.6, Honeycomb: February 22, 2011
• Android 4.0-4.0.4, Ice Cream Sandwich: October 18, 2011
• Android 4.1-4.3.1, Jelly Bean: July 9, 2012
• Android 4.4-4.4.4, KitKat: October 31, 2013
• Android 5.0-5.1.1, Lollipop: November 12, 2014
• Android 6.0-6.0.1, Marshmallow: October 5, 2015
• Android 7.0-7.1.2, Nougat: August 22, 2016
• Android 8.0-8.1, Oreo: August 21, 2017
• Android 9.0, Pie: August 6, 2018

The final model of Android to function a dessert nickname was Android 9.0 Pie in 2018. Since then, it’s been plain model numbers and no enjoyable nicknames. Why is that?

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Candy Confusion

In August 2019, Google launched Android 10…simply 10. After practically a decade of enjoyable nicknames and cute statues, the custom got here to an finish.

It wasn’t that Google couldn’t give you a dessert for the letter “Q.” In reality, Google VP of Product, Sameer Samat, stated the worldwide Android staff crowdsourced potentialities like “Queens Cake” and “quindim.” Nonetheless, the latter demonstrated an issue with the dessert names.

Quindim is a custard dessert common in Brazil. How many individuals exterior of Brazil are aware of it? Desserts—like meals basically—might be extremely regional. There’s additionally the matter of some phrases not translating properly to different languages, which isn’t an issue with numbers.

“One piece of suggestions we’ve gotten from customers through the years is that the dessert names are usually not universally understood in numerous cultures and totally different languages. Meals tends to typically be an area factor.”

On the finish of the day, Google wished a reputation that may be simple to grasp throughout languages and areas. The outcome was “Android 10,” and the next variations have been named in the identical means.

Dessert Nickname Nonetheless Exist, Kinda

Each model of Android has had an inside codename separate from the general public title. For instance, Android 9 Pie’s codename was “Pistachio Ice Cream.” These inside codenames have continued previous the general public nicknames.

Android 10’s inside codename was “Quince Tart.” Android 11 was “Crimson Velvet Cake.” Android 12 was “Snow Cone.” Android 13 was “Tiramisu.” These codenames weren’t used publicly after the discharge of every Android model, however they offer us a style of what might have been.

It’s just a little unhappy that Android telephones don’t include dessert nicknames anymore. It was all the time enjoyable attempting to guess which dessert they might use, and it was thrilling when Google would reveal the statue. Android has matured lots through the years, and so has its branding.