Android 9 is... Android Pie! Seriously, Google?

Google has revealed what the P in Android P -- otherwise known as Android 9 -- stands for. Despite previous suggestions that it was going to be Pistachio, it is in fact Android Pie.

Just let that half-assed name sink in for a moment. Pie. Not even a specific pie to evoke some sort of imagery. Just a bog standard, run of the mill, common or garden... pie. The name is something of a damp squib and now the game of wait-and-see-if-I-actually-get-the-update begins. Google has already made the source code available on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), and Pie is rolling out to Pixel owners now. Everyone else will just have to wait to see when -- or if -- they get it. So what's new?

See also:

• Google releases fourth and final Android P beta ahead of official launch
• Leaked: The P in Android P stands for...
• EU hits Google with record €4.34bn fine for 'very serious illegal behaviour' in Android antitrust case

Google highlights Pie's use of artificial intelligence -- an AI Pie? Help us... -- and says that "Android 9 adapts to you and how you use your phone, learning your preferences as you go". There are improvements to battery life -- hello "Adaptive Battery" -- and improvements to Android's handling of different lighting conditions thanks to Adaptive Brightness. Google says: "Don't worry about changing your brightness -- your phone learns how you like to set it and automatically adjusts. Easy as pie".

I really hope the name wasn't just chosen to push through crappy gags like that.

There's more AI on hand to learn how you use your phone and predict what tasks you might want to complete next. And then there are Slices.

Yep… Slices. Another piss-poor pie pun from gagster Google. What are these new things? "Slices bring relevant parts of your favorite apps to the surface. Next time you search for Lyft, you can see prices and driver ETAs right within your results". Now you know.

There's much more to Android 9, but after the appalling name and terrible jokes, I need a lie down.

You can find out more over on the Android Pie website.