Google surprised Android aficionados last year by dropping the naming scheme that uses dessert names to mark the release of the latest major build of Android. And this was done in alphabetical order. This practice started with Android 1.5 which was given the name Cupcake. But it wasn’t until Android 2.0 Donut launched with the release of the Motorola DROID in November 2009 that the operating system took off on the way to currently owning approximately 85% of the smartphone market.
Internally, Android 11 is known as RVC or Red Velvet Cake
So Google continued to use dessert names in alphabetical order every year until 2019’s Android 10. Based on the pattern, Google was supposed to use a dessert name that started with the letter “Q” which made things rather difficult. So last year, Google shut down its dessert naming unit and told those in this highly specialized division to give the broom closet back to the janitor.
Interestingly, part of the old naming scheme was kept as Google refers to the current beta version of Android as Android R, just like it called last year’s beta Android Q. And on the All About Android podcast (via 9to5Google) Android’s vice-president of engineering, Dave Burke, said that the Android internal software engineering team continues to use dessert names to identify the upcoming build of the operating system. Burke said, “We’re turning it to 11, so it’s Android 11. However, if you were to ask a member of my team ‘What are they working on?’ They would say RVC, and so, ‘RVC’ is Red Velvet Cake.” Last year, Burke said that Android 10 was going to be named “Queen Cake” but ended up known internally as “Quince Tart.”
The list of dessert names used for Android builds includes:
- Android 1.5 Cupcake (4/27/2009)
- Android 1.6 Donut (9/15/2009)
- Android 2.0 Eclair (10/26/2009)
- Android 2.2 Froyo (5/20/2010)
- Android 2.3 Gingerbread (12/06/2010)
- Android 3.0 Honeycomb (optimized for tablets-2/22/2011)
- Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (10/18/2011)
- Android 4.1 Jelly Bean (7/09/2012)
- Android 4.4 KitKat (10/31/2013)
- Android 5.0 Lollipop (11/12/2014)
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow (10/05/2015)
- Android 7.0 Nougat (8/22/2016)
- Android 8.0 Oreo (8/21/2017)
- Android 9.0 Pie (8/06/2018)
Did running through those names give you any flashbacks?
We also need to point out that Google has released an unscheduled update. Android 11 beta 2.5 was recently released just a couple of weeks after Google dropped Android 11 beta 2. This update fixes several bugs including one suffered by Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL users that was caused by the previous beta version. The latter removed a feature that allows those with one of the latest Pixel models to keep the 90Hz refresh rate on the screen even when the content being viewed doesn’t benefit from the faster display updates. As a result, the constant changing from 90Hz to the standard 60Hz caused the flickering. As one Pixel 4 user said in a Reddit post, “In WhatsApp it just goes bonkers and switches between 60Hz and 90Hz all the time.”Another fix allows a Pixel 4 series phone to return to Android 10 even if the user has installed more than one Android 11 update. Keep in mind boys and girls, there is a penalty if you opt-in to receive the beta updates and decide that perhaps you should have followed our advice not to install it right away on your daily driver. To return to Android 10, you will have to perform a factory reset.
To update your Pixel to version 2.5 of the Android 11 beta, go to Settings > System > Advanced > System update. Android 11 beta 3 should arrive next month and that is the beta version that will be most like the final build of Android 11. If you must be the first on your block with the latest Android features, that would be the iteration of the beta we would hold out for. The final version of Android 11 should be released in September.
