5 ms·

I really wish they used version numbers rather than names so i can tell there’s a new version of android. I thought this was a just a distro for raspberry pis.

by drb91 8y ago

I really wish they used version numbers rather than names so i can tell there’s a new version of android. I thought this was a just a distro for raspberry pis. It’s pretty clear in the article though, no sweat :)

amitutk 8y ago
There is a version letter, P in this case. The last version being O(reo).
- drb91 8y ago
  Ahh, this does in fact make sense!
  - usrusr 8y ago
    You can even use the Android letter to determine how outdated your Eclipse installation is and vice versa.
simcop2387 8y ago
They sort of do, the first letter of the new name is always the next one in the english alphabet. That said, they do have version numbers but almost no marketing uses them with or instead of the codenames. Kitkat Lolipop Marshmallow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history
- the_trapper 8y ago
  The stupid thing is that these code names sometimes span multiple versions of Android and even API levels making it all even more of a clusterfuck of a platform. My suspicion is that they do this to hide all of the fragmentation and pretend that more handsets are up to date than they actually are.
  - altair8800 8y ago
    What's the difference between named releases and Apple's semantic versioning? Both create groupings that hide fragmentation.
    - sjwright 8y ago
      What fragmentation is being hidden behind Apple's iOS version numbers?
      - altair8800 8y ago
        I should have said can hide fragmentation.
  - mikelward 8y ago
    The major "dessert" releases seem to happen about once a year now, with a big marketing push, and often substantial user-visible changes. API levels change when there are major developer-visible changes. I assume any time there's a backwards incompatible change for app developers, they bump the API version, as is standard for any API. No conspiracy theory required.
- wyattpeak 8y ago
  Funnily, I've been using Android for years and I never noticed until I thought "Why on earth would they call it Pie?" and it struck me. Guess I'm not as observant as I think.
izacus 8y ago
For app developers, the API level (which is 28 for Android 9.0 / Pie) is significantly more relevant, since it determines API breakages, behaviour changes and backwards compatibility.
cryptos 8y ago
I hate this with Ubuntu, too. And then you see that you systems since <crazy name> are supported and you have to google to find out the actual Ubuntu release number and compare it to that of the target system. Annoying!

by drb91 8y ago

amitutk 8y ago

There is a version letter, P in this case. The last version being O(reo).

drb91 8y ago
Ahh, this does in fact make sense!
- usrusr 8y ago
  You can even use the Android letter to determine how outdated your Eclipse installation is and vice versa.

simcop2387 8y ago

They sort of do, the first letter of the new name is always the next one in the english alphabet. That said, they do have version numbers but almost no marketing uses them with or instead of the codenames. Kitkat Lolipop Marshmallow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history

the_trapper 8y ago
The stupid thing is that these code names sometimes span multiple versions of Android and even API levels making it all even more of a clusterfuck of a platform. My suspicion is that they do this to hide all of the fragmentation and pretend that more handsets are up to date than they actually are.
- altair8800 8y ago
  What's the difference between named releases and Apple's semantic versioning? Both create groupings that hide fragmentation.
  - sjwright 8y ago
    What fragmentation is being hidden behind Apple's iOS version numbers?
    - altair8800 8y ago
      I should have said can hide fragmentation.
- mikelward 8y ago
  The major "dessert" releases seem to happen about once a year now, with a big marketing push, and often substantial user-visible changes. API levels change when there are major developer-visible changes. I assume any time there's a backwards incompatible change for app developers, they bump the API version, as is standard for any API. No conspiracy theory required.
wyattpeak 8y ago
Funnily, I've been using Android for years and I never noticed until I thought "Why on earth would they call it Pie?" and it struck me. Guess I'm not as observant as I think.

izacus 8y ago

For app developers, the API level (which is 28 for Android 9.0 / Pie) is significantly more relevant, since it determines API breakages, behaviour changes and backwards compatibility.

cryptos 8y ago

I hate this with Ubuntu, too. And then you see that you systems since <crazy name> are supported and you have to google to find out the actual Ubuntu release number and compare it to that of the target system. Annoying!