MarshMallow, Nougat, Oreo, Pie, 10. Not everyone around the world enjoys the same kinds of desserts. For this reason, and others, Google says it wants to put an end to its playful sweet-tooth naming system of major Android updates. Early releases of the latest mobile operating system Android may have bared the letter Q, but it’s now officially called Android 10, breaking with the tradition of previous versions, such as Pie (Android 9) and Oreo (Android 8).
“Pies are not a dessert in some places,” Google said, announcing the change. Meanwhile “marshmallows, while delicious, are not a popular treat in many parts of the world.” The decision also coincides with a particularly tricky letter for desserts — Q — with many commentators betting on quince or quiche as the next food to be given the nod for the smartphone world’s most widely used operating system. But Google also acknowledged that the English alphabet also made it difficult for the order of Android to be understood around the world.
“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,” the company said. Watch out for a slight design change, too: The logo’s black lettering now always includes the well-known green robot head.
New features of Android 10 include a dark mode, improved energy management for OLED displays and a so-called focus mode, which is intended to help you concentrate without being distracted by your phone. Owners of Google’s Pixel smartphones and models such as Mate 20 Pro from Huawei, Sony Xperia XZ3, Oneplus 6T or Nokia 8.1 can already try out beta versions of Android 10. The first final versions of the operating system are expected to be available for installation towards the end of 2019. – dpa
