We have been waiting for Android Q’s name to drop with an unabated breath. Google, which owns the mobile OS, has been branding its yearly major system updates with a dessert name, and according to the latest news from the search giant, Android Q will simply be referred to as Android 10. Admittedly, we did not see this coming, but it makes sense considering the dessert monikers were getting a little stale, a little predictable, a little stiff.
For those who have been keeping count, Android 9 Pie marked Android’s 14th dessert-based official release: There was Android 1.0 that was never really released to the public. It was then succeeded by Android 1.5 named Cupcake, followed by 1.6 (Donut), 2.0 – 2.1 (Eclair), 2.2 (Froyo), 2.3 (Gingerbread), tablet-based 3.0 – 3.2 (Honeycomb), 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), 4.1 – 4.3 (Jellybean), 4.4 (KitKat), 5.0 – 5.1 (Lollipop), 6.0 (Marshmallow), 7.0 – 7.1 (Nougat), 8.0 – 8.1 (Oreo) and finally, 9.0 Pie.
Some of us were not going to catch up with this naming scheme. Also, there are other untold reasons Google decided to pick this number trend as is the case with iOS, including the fact that the OS has never seen a major cosmetic overhaul since Lollipop days. What has really changed is the manner we navigate around the system that is now gesture-based.
Android has also matured, and there are hundreds of under-the-hood improvements that have been introduced in Android 10 to make the system more functional and robust.
We are going to see Android 10 in the current Pixel devices and their fourth iteration that will be unveiled a few weeks from now: unless other OEMs such as Nokia that ship their phones with barebones Android under the Android One program have a device in the pipeline before the Pixel 4 announcement.
Locally, folks with TECNO Spark 3 Pro and Nokia 8.1 have been testing Android Q, so we hope these devices will be lucky enough to be bumped to the new goodies from Google.
