Android versions and their flavours

15 min readDec 22, 2019

Did you know all Android names are in Alphabetical order?

Here’s how Google has named all the Android versions. Google’s Android has just turned 10 and as the Global rollout of Android 9.0 Pie begins, here we take a look at all the Android versions and their names.

Before dwelling into the details, it should be noted that Google names every Android version in alphabetical order which means that after Google 9.0 Pie, the next Android name with start from the alphabet Q. On the other hand, Apart from Android 1.0 and 1.1, every other Android version has been named after either sweet treats or desserts.

Android versions and their names

Android 1.5: Android Cupcake
Android 1.6: Android Donut
Android 2.0: Android Eclair
Android 2.2: Android Froyo
Android 2.3: Android Gingerbread
Android 3.0: Android Honeycomb
Android 4.0: Android Ice Cream Sandwich
Android 4.1 to 4.3.1: Android Jelly Bean
Android 4.4 to 4.4.4: Android KitKat
Android 5.0 to 5.1.1: Android Lollipop
Android 6.0 to 6.0.1: Android Marshmallow
Android 7.0 to 7.1: Android Nougat
Android 8.0 to Android 8.1: Android Oreo
Android 9.0: Android Pie
Android 10

Android 1.0 and 1.1: Unnamed, and “Petit Four”?

There appears to be no codename assigned to versions 1.0 Android OS.

Google bought a company called Android back in July 2005. Android was headed by several mobile big shots, including the former head of a big carrier, ex-owner of a phone maker, and more. After their buyout, Android went into stealth mode, and rumours spread that Google was working on a mobile phone.

The dam finally broke in November 2007, when Google suddenly announced that they were indeed working on a phone (Google Phone). More than that, they were also working on a brand-new mobile operating system called Android, based on the Linux kernel, to be used by the Open Handset Alliance, a group of 65 different hardware makers, carriers, and other mobile-related companies.

HTC was the first phone maker to get a real consumer phone out, the T-Mobile G1 (also known as the HTC Dream outside of US), on October 2008.

An update of Android, version 1.1, was released in February 2009. According to Android Police, this version was officially named “Petit Four”, but since it was rarely seen, the name was also rarely mentioned.

The first significant version of Android OS that showcased the power of the platform was V1.5, codenamed “Cupcake.” As Cupcake starts with letter “C”, many have suspected that 1.0 had a codename starting with “A” and 1.1 had one starting with “B,” but no actual codenames were ever assigned. Someone assumed that earlier mention of “Astro” and “Bender” by Android engineers in early talks referred to these two versions, but they denied so in the Android Police article linked above.

Android version 1.5: Cupcake

With early 2009’s Android 1.5 Cupcake release, the tradition of Android version names was born. Cupcake introduced numerous refinements to the Android interface, including the first on-screen keyboard — something that’d be necessary as phones moved away from the once-ubiquitous physical keyboard model.

Cupcake also brought about the framework for third-party app widgets, which would quickly turn into one of Android’s most distinguishing elements, and it provided the platform’s first-ever option for video recording.

A cupcake is a small, individually-sized cake baked in a cup-shaped mold. It is usually served with frosting on top.

Android version 1.6: Donut

Android 1.6 Donut is a version of Android that was released on 15 September 2009, based on Linux kernel 2.6.29. Its predecessor was Android 1.5 Cupcake and its successor was Android 2.0 Eclair. Included in the update were numerous new features.

Android 1.6, Donut, rolled into the world in the fall of 2009. Donut filled in some important holes in Android’s centre, including the ability for the OS to operate on a variety of different screen sizes and resolutions — a factor that’d be critical in the years to come. It also added support for CDMA networks like Verizon, which would play a key role in Android’s imminent explosion.

A donut is a small ring-shaped friedcake. The ring is made of rich, light dough and deep-fried. Various sweet coatings can be added. Donuts are not to be mistaken for bagels, which are baked, much denser, and usually salty.

Android version 2.0 to 2.1: Eclair

Android 2.0 was released in October 2009, with a bugfix version (2.0.1) coming out in December 2009. Android 2.1 was released January of 2010. Most people consider them a single release. Added features include Bluetooth 2.1 support, flash and digital zoom for the camera, multi-touch support, live wallpapers, and more.

The release’s most transformative element was the addition of voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation and real-time traffic info — something previously unheard of (and still essentially unmatched) in the smartphone world. Navigation aside, Eclair brought live wallpapers to Android as well as the platform’s first speech-to-text function. And it made waves for injecting the once-iOS-exclusive pinch-to-zoom capability into Android — a move often seen as the spark that ignited Apple’s long-lasting “thermonuclear war” against Google.

Eclairs are usually described as oblong cream puffs. They are baked pastries with cream filling and chocolate coating on top.

Android version 2.2: Froyo

Just four months after Android 2.1 arrived, Google served up Android 2.2, Froyo, which revolved largely around under-the-hood performance improvements.

Froyo did deliver some important front-facing features, though, including the addition of the now-standard dock at the bottom of the home screen as well as the first incarnation of Voice Actions, which allowed you to perform basic functions like getting directions and making notes by tapping an icon and then speaking a command.

Android 2.2 mainly improved speed by adopting the Javascript “just-in-time” compiler engine from Google’s browser, Chrome. It also improved browser support by adding animated GIF support and Flash 10.1 plug-in support, along with USB tethering and Wi-Fi Hotspot capability (for those with supporting hardware).

Froyo is short for “frozen yoghurt.” It is a frozen dessert made from yoghurt, so it is slightly more sour than soft serve but also lower in fat.

Android version 2.3 and 2.4: Gingerbread

Gingerbread was officially released in December 2010.

On December 6th, 2010, Google officially announced the first phone with Android OS 2.3 Gingerbread. The phone was the Nexus S, which Google co-developed with Samsung. The phone was originally only available for T-Mobile but was later made for Sprint and AT&T as well.

Gingerbread supports SIP internet calling, NFC wireless transaction capability (if the hardware is present), more than one camera, and gyroscopes and other sensors (barometers, gravimeters, and others are possible). It also features a download manager, some tweaks to allow usage on Tablets, and other system-level tweaks for programmers.

TechCrunch just revealed that there will be “Ice Cream Sandwich” after Honeycomb.

A version of Android 2.4 was found on Sony Ericssen Xperia Arc at CES 2011. The phone maker claims wrong version, but later Google source confirmed that “Ice Cream” will be announced at Google I/O event in May 2011 and released June or July 2011.
But wait, Pocket Lint quotes Viewsonic (an Android tablet maker, among other things) that 2.4 will retain the “Gingerbread” moniker, and “Ice Cream” (or “Ice Cream Sandwich”) will be 3.1!
Well, 2.4 being Ice Cream doesn’t make sense, as it violates the existing order, as the dessert names are in alphabetical order, and I is after H, not before. It does make sense to make it after Honeycomb (3.0)

As a dessert, gingerbread is basically a ginger-flavoured cookie. It is often made to celebrate end-of-year holidays in the US. The cookies are cut into festive shapes — often the shape of a man — and decorated with icing and candy.

Android 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2: Honeycomb

2011’s Honeycomb period was a weird time for Android. Android 3.0 came into the world as a tablet-only release to accompany the launch of the Motorola Xoom, and through the subsequent 3.1 and 3.2 updates, it remained a tablet-exclusive (and closed-source) entity.

Under the guidance of newly arrived design chief Matias Duarte, Honeycomb introduced a dramatically reimagined UI for Android. It had a space-like “holographic” design that traded the platform’s trademark green for blue and placed an emphasis on making the most of a tablet’s screen space.

While the concept of a tablet-specific interface didn’t last long, many of Honeycomb’s ideas laid the groundwork for the Android we know today. The software was the first to use on-screen buttons for Android’s main navigational commands; it marked the beginning of the end for the permanent overflow-menu button, and it introduced the concept of a card-like UI with its take on the Recent Apps list.

Dessert-wise, honeycomb is a sheet of hexagonal cells bees build-out of wax and fill with honey. Fresh honeycomb can be consumed as a dessert — some people chew or even consume the wax with the honey.

Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich

With Honeycomb acting as the bridge from old to new, Ice Cream Sandwich — also released in 2011 — served as the platform’s official entry into the era of modern design. The release refined the visual concepts introduced with Honeycomb and reunited tablets and phones with a single, unified UI vision.

ICS dropped much of Honeycomb’s “holographic” appearance but kept its use of blue as a system-wide highlight. And it carried over core system elements like on-screen buttons and a card-like appearance for app-switching.

Android 4.0 also made swiping a more integral method of getting around the operating system, with the then-revolutionary-feeling ability to swipe away things like notifications and recent apps. And it started the slow process of bringing a standardized design framework — known as “Holo” — throughout the OS and into Android’s app ecosystem.

In real life, an ice cream sandwich is a layer of ice cream, usually vanilla, sandwiched between two cookies, usually chocolate. They are often rectangular in shape.

Android versions 4.1 to 4.3: Jelly Bean

Spread across three impactful Android versions, 2012 and 2013’s Jelly Bean releases took ICS’s fresh foundation and made meaningful strides in fine-tuning and building upon it. The releases added plenty of poise and polish into the operating system and went a long way in making Android more inviting for the average user.

Visuals aside, Jelly Bean brought about our first taste of Google Now — the spectacular predictive-intelligence utility that’s sad since devolved into a glorified news feed. It gave us expandable and interactive notifications, an expanded voice search system, and a more advanced system for displaying search results in general, with a focus on card-based results that attempted to answer questions directly.

Multiuser support also came into play, albeit on tablets only at this point, and an early version of Android’s Quick Settings panel made its first appearance. Jelly Bean ushered in a heavily hyped system for placing widgets on your lock screen, too — one that, like so many Android features over the years, quietly disappeared a couple of years later.

Jelly beans are small bean-shaped sugar candies with soft candy shells and thick gel interiors (see gelatin and jelly).

Android 4.4: KitKat

Google announced that Android 4.4 would be named KitKat on September 3, 2013. KitKat’s parent company, Nestlé, was fully on board with the naming of the operating system and launched an advertising campaign during KitKat’s release. As part of the campaign, specially marked packages of Kitkat with Andy the Green Android on the package each contained a sweepstakes code that could win a new Nexus 7 Android tablet or Google Play store credit.

KitKat took the Google Now feature and took it a step further with “Ok Google.” Ok, Google allows people to access Google Now without even touching their phones — just verbally saying the phrase opens up the artificial intelligence assistant. KitKat also introduced Emoji to Google’s keyboard.

Kitkat is a crispy light wafer coated with delicious Nestlé chocolate.

Android versions 5.0 and 5.1: Lollipop

Google essentially reinvented Android — again — with its Android 5.0 Lollipop release in the fall of 2014. Lollipop launched the still-present-today Material Design standard, which brought a whole new look that extended across all of Android, its apps and even other Google products.

Android 5 is called Lollipop, and it featured a brand new runtime called ART that no longer relies on the older DALVIK runtime (which is somewhat based on Sun/Oracle specs). Lollipop also contains other UI improvements and has an excellent battery life on some devices.

In real life, A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking.

Android version 6.0: Marshmallow

Android 6: Marshmallow is already out for the Nexus devices and is believed to be coming soon to all flagship devices before the end of the year, and to other devices by mid-2016.

Marshmallow introduced several changes that can have a significant impact. App permission model is now opt-in (grant specific permission as requested) rather than opt-out (all is permitted, then use App Ops to run off individual permissions). Doze mode allows the device to go into hibernation when idle, cutting power consumption to virtual nil. Fingerprint sensor support is now baked into the OS rather the vendor support, and USB C is now fully supported. Finally, Marshmallow allows one to format a microSD card and adopt it as if it’s internal storage and share the same internal security level.

Marshmallow’s most attention-grabbing element was a screen-search feature called Now On Tap — something that, as I said at the time, had tons of potential that wasn’t fully tapped. Google never quite perfected the system and ended up quietly retiring its brand and moving it out of the forefront the following year.

Marshmallow is a type of confectionery which is typically made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a squishy consistency.

Android versions 7.0 and 7.1: Nougat

Android 7 was officially christened Nougat on June 30, 2016, when the latest lawn status was revealed amidst fanfare (see photo). It is armed with a new Just-In-Time compiler based on the ART engine, Unicode 9.0 Emoji support, and the new Vulkan 3D rendering API. Patches for 7.1, 7.1.1, and 7.1.2 followed in 2017.

Perhaps most pivotal among Nougat’s enhancements, however, was the launch of the Google Assistant — which came alongside the announcement of Google’s first fully self-made phone, the Pixel, about two months after Nougat’s debut. The Assistant would go on to become a critical component of Android and most other Google products and is arguably the company’s foremost effort today.

The nougat in candy bars typically is not made with sugar, but rather uses sucrose and corn syrup, then aerated hydrolyzed soya protein or gelatin, instead of egg whites.

Android version 8.0 and 8.1: Oreo

Android 8, named Oreo after the famous cookie, was released in Q3 of 2017. Its major change was “Project Treble”, where it made the OS more modular so OS upgrades can be released faster by the manufacturers. Emoji support was updated to Unicode 10, with improved notifications framework multiple display support, and other features. It was quickly followed by 8.1 in December 2017 with an “Oreo Go Edition” for low-end devices as well as improved API for several internal functions.

The 2017 release also included some noteworthy elements that furthered Google’s goal of aligning Android and Chrome OS and improving the experience of using Android apps on Chromebooks, and it was the first Android version to feature Project Treble — an ambitious effort to create a modular base for Android’s code with the hope of making it easier for device-makers to provide timely software updates.

An Oreo is a sandwich cookie consisting of two (usually chocolate) wafers with a sweet crème filling.

Android version 9: Pie

The freshly baked scent of Android Pie, a.k.a. Android 9, wafted into the Android ecosystem in August of 2018. Pie’s most transformative change was its hybrid gesture/button navigation system, which traded Android’s traditional Back, Home, and Overviews keys for a large, multifunctional Home button and a small Back button that appeared alongside it as needed.

Pie included some noteworthy productivity features, too, such as a universal suggested-reply system for messaging notifications, a new dashboard of Digital Wellbeing controls, and more intelligent systems for power and screen brightness management. And, of course, there was no shortage of smaller but still-significant advancements hidden throughout Pie’s filling, including a smarter way to handle Wi-Fi hotspots, a welcome twist to Android’s Battery Saver mode, and a variety of privacy and security enhancements.

A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients.

Say Goodbye To Desserts: Android Q Becomes Android 10

Google released Android 10 — the first Android version to shed its letter and be known simply by a number, with no dessert-themed moniker attached — in September of 2019. The software brings about a reimagined interface for Android gestures, this time doing away with the tappable Back button altogether and relying on a completely swipe-driven approach to system navigation. (If you so choose, that is; unlike Pie, Android 10 also includes the traditional Android three-button navigation system as an option on all phones.)

Under the hood, Android 10 introduces a new setup for hot-fix-style updates that’ll eventually allow for faster and more consistent rollouts of small, narrowly focused patches. And the software has plenty of other quietly important improvements, including an updated permissions system that gives you more control over exactly how and when apps can access location data as well as an expanded system for protecting unique device identifiers (which can be used to track a device’s activity over time).

Beyond that, Android 10 includes a system-wide dark theme, a new Focus Mode that lets you limit distractions from specific apps with the tap of an on-screen button, and a long-overdue overhaul of Android’s sharing menu. It also lays the groundwork for a new Live Caption feature that’ll allow you to generate on-the-fly visual captions for any media playing on your phone — videos, podcasts, or even just regular ol’ voice recordings — though that feature wasn’t available immediately upon the software’s launch and is expected to arrive starting with Pixel phones sometime later this year.

There’s also a change in the “Android” Logo
Google is also making some changes to the Android logo, with this announcement. It now has a bit more color and looks more modern. Google says that the “design of the logo draws inspiration from the most recognizable non-human member of the community, the Android robot.”