Google’s Android 15 Statue Sparks Nostalgia

Remember the good old days when Google made a big fuss about unveiling the latest statue representing the dessert name of each new Android version? Ah, those were enjoyable times when statues of KitKat, Jelly Bean, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Lollipop adorned the Googleplex in Mountain View.

The dessert names were assigned in alphabetical order, starting with Android Cupcake 1.5 in April 2009. However, with the release of Android 10 and Android 11 in 2019 and 2020, respectively, Google discontinued the dessert names, marking Android 9’s Pie as the end of an era in 2018. What led to this change?

Kaori Miyake, Google’s communications manager for Android, explained at the time, “We received feedback over the years from users that the names weren’t always intuitively understandable for everyone in the global community.” Yet, from my perspective back then, Android users seemed to enjoy the dessert names, particularly KitKat, which always evoked thoughts of the tasty crunchy chocolate snack bar. Android 12 brought back the sweet theme with Snow Cone, followed by Android 13’s Tiramisu and Android 14’s Upside Down Cake.

Now, with Android 15 set to roll out soon, Google has revealed a new statue today for the Android 15 dessert name: Vanilla Ice Cream.

The statue depicts the green Android bug droid sitting on a bench, savoring a vanilla ice cream cone. This suggests that we can eliminate “Waffle Cone” as a potential dessert name for next year’s Android W.

Developing dessert names for Android 17, Android 18, and Android 19, set to launch in 2026, will require significant brainstorming from the top minds at Mountain View, as these names will need to begin with the letters “X,” “Y,” and “Z.” Perhaps this will necessitate the use of the two most commonly used letters from 2024-AI. Just thinking of some of the dessert names from Android’s early days brings back a flood of memories.

Who could forget Android 2.0-2.1 Eclair, which powered the first genuine competitor to the iPhone, the Motorola DROID? There were also Android Froyo (2.2-2.2.3), Gingerbread (2.3-2.3.7), and many others. Although the Pixel 9 series has officially been released, these phones come pre-installed with last year’s Android 14. Owners of the Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and later models can install the Android 15 Beta on their devices, which I have done on my Pixel 6 Pro.

The stable version of Android 15 may not be available until next month.