Last year, Google decided that a
traditional convention of their open-source mobile operating system, Android,
has finally worn out its welcome. The year 2019 would see the tenth major
release (out of seventeen versions) of the Android MOS, and it was simply
branded Android 10. Its predecessor releases, major or otherwise, had almost
all been labeled during internal development with a name taken from a variety
of dessert items. Having Android 10 come after 2018’s Android Pie (ninth major
release/16th version) came across as a break from the past towards a
bigger future. And then as it turns out the 11th major release will
have a dessert nickname after all.
As The Verge would have it, the development teams working on Android
are not quite used to letting go of the dessert naming theme for versions of
the one major mobile OS outside of Apple’s iOS. While there is a chance that it
may not come into official consumer use, Android 11 is known internally as
Android “Red Velvet” cake. That comes from “R” as Android 10 from 2019 was Android
Q, but where the developers never quite gave Q a dessert name, its successor
with R was easy designated like a piece of cake.
Pun aside, the last part is not
entirely accurate. Android developers did turn the Q in Android Q into “Quince
Tart.” Yes, a dessert item but not one that is generally known worldwide. And
that is one factor in Google’s Android team dispensing with the dessert names
for commercial use. Some of the terms from past versions were noted as hard to
pronounce by non-English-speaking Android users. So for now, the dessert
designations stay internal with the developers, though curious fans might take
up use of them with some affection.
While Android 11 would be
officially released under that name-number designation, it does try to grab
attention through visual art. The minimalistic Android 10 logo (a stylized Q)
now feels less evocative than its follow-up’s mark. It shows a dial with 11
knobs on the outside, a cultured shout-out to the 1984 mockumentary “This is
Spinal Tap” from Embassy Pictures, which featured an amp with volume dials that
go “up to 11.” The logo for Android 11 promises some great features and
capacities for the MOS, which was first released in February with the “latest
preview” of Beta 2.5 coming out last Wednesday, July 22.
In case you need a refresher,
barring versions 1 and 1.1 the Android dessert names went: Cupcake/1.5, Donut/1.6,
Eclair/2-2.1, Froyo/2.2-2.2.3, Gingerbread/2.3-2.3.7, Honeycomb/3-3.2.6, Ice
Cream Sandwich/4-4.0.4, Jellybean/4.1-4.3.1, Kit-Kat/4.4-4.4.4, Lollipop/5-5.1.1,
Marshmallow/6-6.0.1, Nougat/7-7.1.2, Oreo/8-8.1, Pie/9, Android 10/”Q” and finally
Android 11/”Red Velvet Cake.”
Image courtesy of XDA Developers
0 comments:
Post a Comment