It’s been nearly two months since Google rolled out Android 16 for its lineup of Pixel devices. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7, and Z Flip 7 FE were the first to launch with Android 16 (One UI 8) pre-installed. Given Google’s expedited software release schedule, it should come as no surprise that details of the next major software release are already trickling in.
As revealed by Mishaal Rahman in a newsletter for Android Authority, Google will internally refer to the upcoming Android 17 release as Cinnamon Bun. Evidence of the codename CinnamonBun being attached to API level 37.0 (Android 17) was reportedly shown to the publication.
To be clear, Cinnamon Bun won’t be a public-facing name for Android 17, as Google abandoned that idea with Android 10. However, as Rahman notes in the newsletter, Google has continued to use dessert-based internal codenames for each subsequent Android release. That came to a halt as Google shifted to a trunk-based development model for Android, allowing the company to expedite Android releases and overcome other inefficiencies of the older branch-based model.
Cinnamon Bun does have a nice ring to it
The reset of the older naming system was confirmed when Android 16 was revealed to be known as baklava, which meant that Google was always going to name its upcoming Android release after a dessert starting with ‘c.’ We didn’t know what it would be called, though. With Cupcake (Android 1.5) already taken, Google had to get a little creative this time around.
The first place you will likely see the “CinnamonBun” branding is within the Android version field (Settings > About phone) in the early beta releases of Android 17. However, as Rahman notes, this name will only last until the software reaches platform stability, at which point Google will simply refer to it as Android 17, which was the case with Android 16.
Assuming Google sticks to the same timeline as the first Android 16 developer preview, we should see the Android 17 developer preview arrive by November this year, with betas following early next year. Although you won’t see the name Cinnamon Bun mentioned in Google’s marketing materials when Android 17 makes its way to devices, it’s nice to see the company continuing a tradition that originally began with Android 1.5. We don’t know much about Android 17 in terms of feature additions and other changes, though we hopefully won’t have to wait long to have those questions answered.
What do you make of Android 17’s codename?