Why Google’s Android Q is now called Android 10

It’s the end of an era: Android Q is now called “Android 10.”

Google announced in a blog post it’s ditching Android’s dessert names (Pie, Oreo, Nougat, etc.) in favor of numbers. As such, Android Q, which comes out “in the coming weeks,” is now just Android 10.

The name change ends over a decade of dessert names for its mobile operating system. 

But why the change? Google says, while dessert names were fun, they “weren’t always understood by everyone in the global community.”

The tech giant says dessert names aren’t as inclusive as numerals for a number of reasons: different cultures where a certain dessert may not well known, challenges for non-English speaking users to pronounce names, and confusion for new Android users who may not know which version they have on their device(s).

“For example, L and R are not distinguishable when spoken in some languages,” says Google. “So when some people heard us say Android Lollipop out loud, it wasn’t intuitively clear that it referred to the version after KitKat.”

Numbers are easier to understand. For example, everyone can understand that Android 11 comes after Android 10. 

A new naming convention isn’t the only thing Google’s changed for Android. Google’s polished up its own “Robot” font with rounder glyphs and tweaked Andy, the Android logo, ever so slightly by moving its eyes lower, elongating its antennae, and switching to a darker green.

Naturally, the name change has stirred up emotions from Android fans:

Like all name changes, everyone will eventually get over it, because Google’s right, Android 10 is way easier to say and understand than Android Quiche or Android Quince or whatever Q-named dessert Google would’ve been forced to name its new mobile OS.