Android 10: Google ends tasty dessert naming tradition

Google on Thursday officially announced the arrival of Android 10 and after a long time, the company has rebranded the mobile OS. It has ditched the popular desserts naming convention for the software and instead uses just the number; thus returning to the basics.

In the early inception in 2008, Android started with v1.0 followed up by 1.1, and later, in a bid to sparkle excitement among users, it started using tasty desserts in alphabetic order starting with Cupcake (v1.5). It was succeeded by Donut (v1.6), Eclair (v2.0, v2.0.1 & v2.1), Froyo (v2.2), Gingerbread (v2.3 & v2.3.3), Honey Comb (v3.0, v3.1 & v3.2), Ice Cream Sandwich (v4.0 & v4.0.3), Jelly bean (v4.1, v4.2 and v4.3), KitKat (v4.4), Lollypop (v5.0 & v5.1), Marshmallow (v6.0), Nougat (v7.0 & v7.1), Oreo (v8.0 & v8.1) and the Pie (v9.0) in 2018, the last of the dessert-flavoured Android OS.

When Android Q was announced in the I/O 2019, nobody had a clue, that Google had other plans. Several people started guessing names for Android Q and the popular ones include Quiche, Quaker Oats, Quindim and several other tasty treats. Now, it all looks like a futile effort.

Why did Google ditch dessert naming tradition?
"Our engineering team has always used internal code names for each version, based off of tasty treats, or desserts, in alphabetical order. This naming tradition has become a fun part of the release each year externally, too. But we’ve heard feedback over the years that the names weren’t always understood by everyone in the global community," Google said.

For instance, 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. We also know that pies are not a dessert in some places and that marshmallows, while delicious, are not a popular treat in many parts of the world, the company noted.

Google refreshes Android logo (Picture Credit: Google)

With 2.5 billion active users, Google believes that Android 10 is simpler and easier to naive and regular users to know, which is the latest version is.

Google has not only changed the naming convention but also altered the Android logo. This is the first time since 2014 the company has given prominence to the Android bot to offer the more human touch. Going forward, it will have green bot head with the antennas and below, it will have the android engraving in black shade.

Google may have ditched dessert naming convention but features galore in Android 10

Google's latest Android 10 is expected to come with a boatload of upgrades in terms of user-interface, improved security to protect user-privacy, bring new capabilities to the Assistant and more.

1) Google is bringing a much-awaited dark theme with the Android 10, which will greatly enhance not only the interface visually, but also extend the battery life of devices.

2) Google during the I/O 2019, announced that Android Q will bring live caption feature that will transcribe the video with texts below the screen in real-time on YouTube and other select video service apps. The company has plans to bring it to all apps in the near future.

3) For want of simplicity, Google is bringing all privacy options under one roof. It will be placed at the top of the Android 10's Settings tab. Also, there will be new permission controls so that the user can share their location (or not) with apps on their own terms.

4) Taking digital welling feature of Android Pie forward, Google has announced to bring new Focus Mode in Android 10, that will help users get things done without distraction. User can select the apps he or she wants to stay active and pausing everything they don't.

5) Like the Gmail app, the Android message app will get Smart Reply option in addition to quick action feature. For instance, if your friend sends a message containing an address, the app automatically offers address search option linking to Google maps in the message.

6) Also, Google is bringing the Family Link part of every device that has Digital Wellbeing to help children and families find a better balance with technology.

7) In 2018, Google's Project Treble was initiated to fast track software roll-out to all Android phones, but it was not fully successful except for select phone models. Now, Google is taking things a step further with new Project Mainline for Android 10.

With this, Google will take the responsibility to upgrade core OS components to the device directly without a full OS update via Play store update. The rest of the features will be released later via incremental update by affiliate OEM.

8) With folding phone expected to become a norm in the mobile phone industry (Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X already announced and more devices are expected to come), Android 10 will offer new gesture-based navigation to enable users to make full use of the flexible-cum-tablet-like big display to complete any particular tasks.

9) Google Assistant will become swift in responding to the commands of the presenter and executing the functions in select Android phones. It is expected to be more effective in new Pixel phones, which will be incorporated with special chipset and it is slated for release in October 2019.

Google has confirmed to release the Android 10 in coming weeks. It will be rolled out first to Pixel and Android One series of mobile phones, most probably in September.

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