After months of speculation, the name of Android’s next major release has been spotted by teamb58 and shared by Mishaal Rahman on Twitter. According to a Tradefed commit, Android 15 will be called “Vanilla Ice Cream”. For those who are unfamiliar, each version of Android is named after a sweet treat. From Cupcake to Donut, to Lollipop, Marshmallow, Nougat, and beyond, Google has been consistent in giving each new iteration of its handset OS a name that’s both playful and fun.
It all started in 2009 when the first version of Android, Android 1.5, was released and named “Cupcake.” Since then, each version has followed in alphabetical order and been given a dessert-inspired name. For the most part, Google has stuck to traditional sweet treats like Ice Cream Sandwich, Gingerbread, and Jelly Bean. But they’ve also thrown in some unexpected choices like KitKat and Oreo after collaborating with Nestle to promote their brands. I remember buying so many KitKats in hopes of winning, but I never did. Either way, the joke’s on Google because it’s my favorite candy bar.
In my opinion, it seems only fitting that the “V” version of Android be named after the most popular sweet treat in the world – vanilla ice cream! While some may argue that something like “Volcano Cake” should have been chosen, those people are wrong. Just kidding, but only partially – vanilla ice cream is a classic that has stood the test of time, and to go with anything other than this would be heresy. Who knows, maybe there will be some fun ice cream-inspired features included when it releases officially.
Interestingly, the previous version of Android, Android 14, was called “Upside Down Cake.” This name was never officially confirmed by Google but was spotted in some code by developers who were testing the system. It’s unclear why Google decided not to use the name, but it’s possible they felt it was too obscure or not popular enough globally to be marketed widely.
While we don’t yet know much about the new features or improvements that will come with Android 15, the fact that it’s already in development is exciting (and expected). Users are currently testing Android “U,” which is expected to be released in August of this year. It’s worth noting that Google sometimes changes the names of Android versions during development, so there’s always a chance that Vanilla Ice Cream could be replaced with something else, but let’s be honest, they’d have to be crazy to do that!
Moreover, as Google nears the end of the alphabet, it raises the question of what they will do for future Android versions. Perhaps they will leave the sweet treats behind and start with a new nomenclature or simply number releases like others do. Only time will tell, but their aforementioned lack of announcements for the names and their backseat codenaming approach seems to indicate this may be the way forward. For now, let’s all go get a vanilla ice cream cone to celebrate!
Photo by Somben Chea
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