Is Neyyappam, the next Android release?

Google is gearing up for the next release of Android version (maybe 7.0?), currently dubbed 'Android N'. Android enthusiasts around the world are really interested in knowing the name of the next major Android release (Who in this world wants to call someone/something by initials?) 

Conventionally, each new version of Android had confectionary-themed code names in alphabetic ordering, starting from version 1.5.

Version Number	Code Name
1.5	Cupcake
1.6	Donut
2.0-2.1	Eclair
2.2	Froyo
2.3	Gingerbread
3.0-3.2	Honeycomb
4.0	Ice Cream Sandwich
4.1-4.3	Jellybean
4.4	Kitkat
5.0-5.1	Lollipop
6.0	Marshmallow
7.0?	N_________

Then, where are the names starting with A and B? Many say, Alpha and Beta. Actually not! Infact, Google released Alpha and Beta versions prior to Android 1.0. But these releases were mostly internal within the company, with code names inspired by fictional robots as Astro Boy, Bender, R2-D2 etc. Note that, these names were used by Google for pre-release versions of Android only.

Though Android 1.0 and Android 1.1 never had official names, Android 1.1 was called 'Petit Four' internally within the company. The idea of naming Android versions by sweet dessert themes was conceived only before the release of version-1.5 Cupcake, by the project manager, Ryan Gibson.

So, the name of the next release starts with N. Great!

In his recent visit to India in December 2015, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that Google will be crowd-sourcing name suggestions for Android N. He too made a note that Android N or Android P could be named after any Indian dessert. As per the announcement, a micro-site (android.com/n) to receive suggestions from the greater fans, was made public on May 18, 2016.

This set off a huge wave across Indian netizens, who started campaigning online for the names of various Indian desserts. A Bangalore based techie, Arun Kumar insisted on campaigning for 'Neyyappam', a delicacy from southern Indian state of Kerala, along with his friends. Even a website androidneyyappam.com has been started, campaigning for the same.

'Kerala Tourism' - an initiative by state government of Kerala, was already campaigning in middle-east countries, took this oppurtunity, started supporting the 'Neyyappam' campaign via Twitter handle #AndroidNeyyappam.

Recently, Google hinted about the most suggested names in the micro-site. It featured Neyyappam, Nachos, Nectarine, Nutmeg, Navy Bean among the most suggested names.

Google finds an immense interest in the Indian sub-continent in recent days. The fact that having an Indian name will attract some potential millions into the Android ecosystem with a range of mid-range phones making their debut into the Indian market, will make an impact as well.

Anyhow, Google reserves the right to choose any name they wish. Let's wait till August/September this year to see how Google christened their next version of Android.

Torchie 2.0 is ready

It's about 76 days since the last release of Torchie (Torchie v1.2.0). I'm sorry that, I wasn't able to work for Torchie these days, because I got academic works to do and did an awesome project along with my friends as part of my Engineering course, called 'Vector Image Drawing Robot', which can actually draw an image provided a decent vector (.svg format) image. I'll brief you about that in later posts. 

Got some time to work for Torchie now. Actually I should say, study holidays meant for preparing for semester exams, are the best times to spend on non-academic things. Lol. Coming back, Torchie got some serious updates right now. Based on user feedback and suggestions, some improvements and features have been done.

1. 'Proximity Sense' feature

Sometimes you may be put in a situation to find your phone dead in your pocket. After doing some autopsy (kind of), to find 'Torchie killed it'. You would have yelled "Argh! youuu Torchieeee again grrr". 

How did Torchie killed your phone actually? The physical volume buttons might get pressed, while in your pockets or in bags etc. and turns on the powerful flashlights in your phone, without your knowledge.

We heard your thoughts and words and improved Torchie, to sense where your phone is when both volume buttons are pressed, via proximity sensors. Proximity sensors? Yea exactly. The sensors which turns the display off, when you bring your phone near your ear while you are in call.

2. Flash Time out

Lots of you were requesting this feature to turn off flash/screen light automatically after set time. Here, it is. Just enter the number of minutes and/or seconds to wait before flashlight goes off!

3. 'Torchie Quick service not running' notifications

Many times, some ROMs (specifically Sony's and Samsung's) tend to forget, to enable the 'Torchie Quick' accessibility service automatically at boot time. Relax! Torchie reminds you via notifications when your device forgets to enable the service.

4. Choose your desired language

At the time of writing this article, Torchie has been translated to 26 different languages. Huge thanks to those great hearts who helped me, translate Torchie. 

Some strings may not have been translated, because of 'me', who added those as part of latest release! You can help fix that here.

Now, there is an option to select your desired language from Torchie settings. 

Beware! If a particular locale is not supported in your phone, the app may crash. I suggest you to clear the app settings or just reinstall the app.

5. Screen off - persistence

You may have experienced, if the functionality is disabled for screen off, for turning on/off flash, you should to get your display turned on to make your volume buttons work. In this release, even if the screen off functionality is disabled, at the time when your screen goes off, if flash is turned on, you can again hold both the volume buttons to turn off, without turning on the display. This feature is worthy right?

Torchie is currently in beta! You can test it now by joining 'Torchie Beta Community' here and follow the instructions there to download the latest versions of Torchie every time!