Many of us are still waiting to install the Android Pie (or Android 9), but in the meantime Google is already working on their next version of Android dubbed as Q or Android 10. The first mention of the new version of mobile operating system took place during the Android Developer Summit, when Google has confirmed that it would have ‘screen continuity’ which is native support for apps that work on foldable devices.
With the feature, applications can seamlessly transition from a phone layout to a more immersive tablet layout and vice versa. No surprise, as the new Android needs to support the various foldable smartphones that are promised by companies like Samsung, LG and Huawei from the beginning of 2019.
Other new features of Android Q include ‘multi-resume’, an update for split-screen use that allows two apps not only to be viewed with but also to run simultaneously; and warnings about installing older apps designed for an earlier operating system.
When will Android Q be released?
In previous years, the Developer Preview was always announced in March, with a public beta version released on Google I/O (on May/June), followed by the final release in August. From there the new Android arrives first on the Pixel and Android One devices , and then is gradually implemented by mobile phone manufacturers and network operators on other smartphones in the following months.
For Android 10, it is possible that developers have a preview earlier in 2019, since at the Android Developer Summit, Google signaled that it could release a Generic Source Image before the developer version, which could be manually flashed to a Pixel smartphone.
Not all existing smartphones will get the upgrade, and it’s typically flagships released in the past year or so that make the grade. Operating system fragmentation is still a major criticism of Android, and as you can see in the chart below some users are still on Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread, and so few are on Android 9.0 Pie that it doesn’t feature.
What will Android Q be called?
Aside from what features the new OS will offer, one of the major questions in the lead up to launch always concerns what it will be called.
Google typically uses the names of sweet treats for its operating systems, which are released in alphabetical order. So far we’ve seen:
Android Donut (v1.6)
Android Eclair (v2.0)
Android Froyo (v2.2)
Android Gingerbread (v2.3)
Android Honeycomb (v3.0)
Android Ice Cream Sandwich (v4.0)
Android Jelly Bean (v4.1)
Android KitKat (v4.4)
Android Lollipop (v5.0)
Android Marshmallow (v6.0)
Android Nougat (v7.0)
Android Oreo (v8.0)
Android Pie (v9.0)
That presents us with a small problem for version 10: what sweet treats begin with a Q?
There’s Quality Street, of course, a British fave. Perhaps Queen of Puddings, potentially shortened to Android Queen.
Other suggestions we’ve never heard of include Quindim, Quesito, Queijadas and Qottab.
To be fair none of the options sounds terribly appealing, so could 2019 be the year Google ditches its traditional naming system?