There are around 2.5 billion Android devices across the globe and Google is planning to streamline the platform. A recent report reveals that the Silicon Valley giant will not be using Dessert-based moniker for the Android versions. So, if you were wondering names for the upcoming Android Q, don’t bother!
Well, there will be no Q lettered christening after all. Android Authority reveals its interaction with Sydney Thomashow, Google’s head of brand and creative for Android. The Mountain View company is apparently aiming for a completely new brand identity for the mobile OS.
In her words, “It’s really important for us to acknowledge that Android is in fact, a large global brand. In thinking about the brand, we wanted to make sure that we are as accessible and inclusive as possible.”
All that’s alright, but you might think – What’s that gotta do with Android naming scheme?
In short, it matters. Bear with us!
To make any platform more “accessible and inclusive as possible”, the brand should have a universal appeal. Now, this has to do a lot with simple things like Color, Logo, Name, etc using by the company across the board. It should be distinct, similar and more importantly understandable as well as relatable to the global audience.
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In the past, we might have come across certain Android “Sweet” names that we had no clue whatsoever. And most of us might not recall a Dessert name starting with the letter Q. Therein lies the problem and the new decision seems to be intended to address it.
Android Q is now simply Android 10
And it’s not just Google, even another tech titan – Apple of the iPhone’s eyes (lol) is also slowly facing out the prefix “i” from its products. How about Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Watch as examples?
Google is also tweaking color elements skinned to its products and services. Apparently, red-green colorblindness is common and for those suffering the same, the new palette schemes should be a blessing.
Sydney says, “[Android] started as a very, sort of limey yellow-green, then it got a little bit darker. And we knew that we wanted to continue to have green in our identity and for it to be very prominent, but we thought about how might we start to introduce additional colors so that we could help with accessibility. We took our existing Android green, and we actually added a little bit more blue into it. What that allowed us to do is start to complement the Android green with other shades of blue.”
That’s not all, even the good old Andy, the Android Mascot gets a revamp. Going forward, both the mascot and the wordmark will appear together in one image, and the logotype will be either next to Andy or below it.
Ergo, the robot’s body is trimmed and the emphasis is put on its face and antenna movement to make it all look cute. They have even made the wordmark “a little bit thinner, a little more geometric and modern”. Even the typography is a tad curvy to belong right next to the robot.
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And let’s be honest. For the major public, the removal of Dessert names won’t even matter. Still, it was kinda fun to nerd around guessing names before every new Android version. So, those who share the nostalgia here’s the 14 Android iteration over the years –
Note: The archetype version 1.0 was internally called Asteroid. Later the Sweet tradition started.
| Version number | Dessert or Sweet name |
| 1.5 | Cupcake |
| 1.6 | Donut |
| 2.0.1 | Eclair |
| 2.2 | Froyo |
| 2.3 | Gingerbread |
| 3.0.2 | Honeycomb |
| 4.0 | Ice Cream Sandwich |
| 4.1-3 | Jelly Bean |
| 4.4 | KitKat |
| 5.0-1 | Lollipop |
| 6.0 | Marshmallow |
| 7.0.1 | Nougat |
| 8.0.1 | Oreo |
| 9.0 | Pie |
And we are just inching close to Android 10 and remember – No more Android Q.
