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Google's Android 12 gets a tasty new leak

Published: Feb 16, 2021, 6:48 AM

Adrian Diaconescu

Google's Android 12 gets a tasty new leak

UPDATE: The first Android 12 beta is official. Read all we know so far about the Android 12 release date and new features.

The original story continues below.

While most Android device manufacturers that are not Samsung continue to do a (comparatively) poor job of delivering the newest OS version even to their latest and greatest smartphones, Google is obviously hard at work on the next platform build.

If history is any indication, the search giant's in-house Pixel handsets will get their stable Android 12 updates before the vast majority of the world's active mobile devices can make the official jump to Android 11. Of course, both developer preview and public beta programs are expected to be opened well ahead of that wide-scale release presumably scheduled for early September, giving us plenty of time to confirm and examine all of the recently rumored changes and enhancements (and many more).

While waiting for all of that to unfold, the extremely reliable folks over at XDA Developers claim to have learned a delicious tidbit of information after doing "a bit of digging." These guys do their research very thoroughly every single time when it comes to unreleased mobile software, mind you, so the Snow Cone dessert name of Android 12 is pretty much etched in stone already.

As you're probably well aware, this is a tradition dating all the way back to 2009's Android 1.5 Cupcake, which came after versions 1.0 and 1.1 of the operating system. Those two didn't get dessert-themed marketing labels, but in their honor, Google kicked off this sweet tradition with the third letter of the English alphabet.

Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat, Lollipop, Marshmallow, Nougat, Oreo, and Pie all followed like clockwork, but for some reason, Android 10 broke this established practice in 2019. Although Android 11 officially pursued a similar path last year, its unofficial alternate name is Red Velvet Cake.

It remains to be seen now if Big G aims to bring dessert monikers back to the limelight with Snow Cone this year or if that cold and tasty treat will be kept under wraps as a fun little secret for hardcore Android fans to share. Our money is on the latter option, but it would sure be nice for Google to prove us wrong.