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The Android 17 dessert name leaks. Can you guess what it is?

While only used internally these days, this long-standing tradition for Android releases remains.

By Alan Friedman

Published: Aug 10, 2025, 2:45 PM

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The droid bug appears as though he is walking through an Android display.

Started as an inside joke at Google, many of you younger Android users might not remember the dessert name given to new Android releases starting with Android 1.5, which was the third build of Android after Android 1.0 and Android 1.1. The dessert names were names of a desert, and since Android 1.5 was the third build of Android, the dessert name started with a "C" since that is the third letter of the alphabet.

Every year, Google would make a big deal about rolling out a statue representing the latest dessert name

Every major new Android build was given a dessert name that started with the letter of the alphabet that was next after the previous major Android build. For example, the fourth build of Android, Android 1.6, had the dessert name Donut. The first Android phone owned by many of you older PhoneArena users was the fantastic Motorola DROID. It was the first phone running Android 2.0, which was the fifth major build of Android and had the dessert name of Eclair. The latter started with the letter "E," the next letter in the alphabet after the "D" used for Android 1.6, the previous major Android release.

The statue for Android 5 Lollipop is seen standing at the Googleplex.

The statue representing the dessert name for Android 5.0, Lollipop. | Image credit-Unknown

Surely this should bring back memories. Eclair was the first Android operating system to feature free Google Maps turn-by-turn directions. Google eventually partnered with Nestle, and in 2013, the dessert name for Android 4.4 was KitKat after the well-known chocolate bar. This took Android to promo heaven as 50 million KitKat bars nestled inside a wrapper containing Android branding were released in 19 countries. These wrappers offered prizes such as a free Nexus 7 tablet.

Do you want Google to publicize Android dessert names again?

Google repeated this with Android 8 and Android 8.1 in 2017. A deal with Nabisco allowed Google to use the world famous Oreo name as an Android dessert moniker. As it did with KitKat, Google took advantage of the popularity of the creme-filled sandwich cookie to promote Android devices among Oreo buyers.

The dessert names were a big deal, and every year, a huge statue with a design based on the dessert name would be released in the Googleplex, the company's headquarters complex in Mountain View, California.

Google ended the practice of giving each major new Android release a dessert name after Android 9 was given the Pie desert name in 2018. Since Android 10, Google has kept the tradition alive, but only internally. The practice of using the next letter in the alphabet as the first letter for the selected dessert ended just this year. The internal dessert name for Android 15 in 2024 was Vanilla Ice Cream. By tradition, this year's internal dessert name should have started with a "W." Instead, because Google switched to a trunk-based model to develop new Android builds, Google moved ahead to "B" and selected Baklava as the dessert name for Android 16.

Android expert Mishaal Rahman says that with Google returning to the practice of going down the alphabet each year for the first letter of the dessert name, Android 17 will use a dessert name starting with the letter "C." That will be "Cinnamon Bun," according to Rahman, who explains why he is so confident that this is indeed the correct dessert name for Android 17. "A trusted source within Google shared evidence with us that clearly shows the company using "CinnamonBun" as the internal codename for API level 37.0," he said.

Caution: Reading the list below of Android dessert names will give you nostalgia

The Core API level is the name used by developers to distinguish different Android releases as opposed to the marketing names of the operating system, which uses numbers such as Android 15 and Android 16. Rahman says that you might see Android 17 referred to as "Android CinnamonBun" in beta versions of Android 17. Once the OS hits platform stability and all changes to how the system interacts with apps have been locked in, you can expect Google to refer to the operating system as Android 17.

Here's the complete list of Android dessert names from the beginning through this year:

Android 1.0-No codename, 2008
Android 1.1-Peiti Four (internal), 2009
Android 1.5-Cupcake, 2009
Android 1.6-Donut, 2009
Android 2.0, 2.1-Eclair, 2009
Android 2.2-Froyo, 2010
Android 2.3-Gingerbread, 2010
Android 3 -Honeycomb (Tablets only), 2011
Android 4-Ice Cream Sandwich,2011
Android 4.1, 4.2, 4.3-Jelly Bean, 2012
Android 4.4-KitKat, 2013
Android 5.0, 5.1-Lollipop, 2014
Android 6-Marshmallow, 2015
Android 7.0, 7.1-Nougat, 2016
Android 8.0, 8.1-Oreo, 2017
Android 9-Pie, 2018
Android 10-Quince Tart (internal), 2019
Android 11-Red Velvet Cake (internal), 2020
Android 12, 12L-Snow Cone (internal), 2021
Android 13-Tiramisu (internal), 2022
Android 14-Upside Down Cake (internal), 2023
Android 15-Vanilla Ice Cream (internal), 2024
Android 16-Baklava (internal), 2025

Doesn't reading through this list, especially the early years, bring back plenty of memories?

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

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