Android 12 is codenamed ‘Snow Cone’, a Google executive revealed on Twitter. The trend of giving dessert names to new Android versions isn’t new as Google used titles such as Ice Cream Sandwich, Marshmallow, and Nougat in the past. However, that custom was changed with the release of Android 10 in 2019 as the company then decided to use the numerical order for calling its new Android releases. Android 12 was released on Monday as the latest operating system from the house of Google — months after going through testing under various developer previews and beta builds.
Google Vice President of Engineering for Android Dave Burke on Monday tweeted to announce Snow Cone as the dessert name for Android 12. This has made the latest Android operating system the first in the last couple of years to get a dedicated dessert-themed name — after Android Pie that was assigned to the ninth major release of the mobile platform.
As noted by Android Central, the title Snow Cone first surfaced in February, though it didn’t receive enough coverage as Google had abandoned the use of dessert names for its new Android versions in 2019.
Nevertheless, the Android family did carry dessert monikers internally as Android 11 was apparently called Red Velvet Cake among Google developers. Android 10 was also suggested to be called Queen Cake by Burke — before ditching the dessert-themed naming scheme.
A stable version of Android 12 was released on Android Open Source Project (AOSP) on Monday. Shortly after the launch, manufacturers including Oppo, OnePlus, and Realme have also confirmed the release of their custom skins based on the latest Android version. Google Pixel phones are yet to receive the update, though.
Detailed at Google’s I/O developer conference in May after an initial developer preview released in February, Android 12 brings the all-new ‘Material You’ design language. It also carries new privacy options, a new approximate location permission and an on-screen indicator to alert users when the built-in microphone or camera of the phone is in use. There are advancements such as the iOS-like way to opt out of advertisement tracking that will be available later this year.
Google has additionally optimised the overall user experience on Android 12 with better power efficiency and improved CPU performance. You will also get tweaks including smoother audio transitions and an improved notification shade.