Evidence mounts for Android ‘L’ to be Lemon Meringue Pie

Android “L” is of course official and on its way, but we still have no way of knowing for sure what that mysterious L is going to stand for. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun speculating what kind of sugary goodness will be the name of the next major Android release. New evidence (via Android Police) pits LMP—which would stand for Lemon Meringue Pie—as the key to knowing what direction Google is taking this time around.

As a quick disclaimer, it’s worth pointing out that none of the following pieces of evidence are conclusive. The previous big release of Android, K, was internally referred to as Key Lime Pie and there were many references to “KLP” throughout various documentation. As we all know, Google pulled a fast one at the last minute and decided to go ahead with a deal with Nestle to give the software the name KitKat. So while the evidence is definitely there for LMP, there’s always a chance that Google could go with Lemon Drops.

First, the Wi-Fi certification for the HTC “Volantis” tablet—which is much rumored to be making an official debut as the Nexus 9—includes the string “LMP” clearly in its device firmware description (although the “Operating System” is listed as “version: L”).

Secondly, if you do a quick search for “lmp” on the Android Open Source Project repository, you’ll see 9 results, one of which actually makes reference to “LMP” in the title. This piece of evidence probably holds the least weight of the three because it wouldn’t be all too surprising to find the string LMP in these even if they have nothing to do with the name of the OS.

On the other side of the coin, perhaps one of most convincing pieces of evidence is a segment of code found in the latest Android SDK. As you can see below, there are clear references to the current developer builds of “L” labeled as “”lmp-preview-release.”

<!– From: file:/usr/local/google/buildbot/repo_clients/https___googleplex-android.googlesource.com_a_platform_manifest.git/lmp-preview-release/frameworks/support/v7/cardview/res/values/colors.xml –>

<eat-comment />

<color name=”cardview_dark_background”>#FF202020</color>

<color name=”cardview_light_background”>#FFFAFAFA</color>

<color name=”cardview_shadow_end_color”>#03000000</color>

<color name=”cardview_shadow_start_color”>#37000000</color>

<!– From: file:/usr/local/google/buildbot/repo_clients/https___googleplex-android.googlesource.com_a_platform_manifest.git/lmp-preview-release/frameworks/support/v7/cardview/res/values/attrs.xml –>

<eat-comment />

<declare-styleable name=”CardView”>

<!– Background color for CardView. –>

<attr name=”cardBackgroundColor” format=”color” />

<!– Corner radius for CardView. –>

<attr name=”cardCornerRadius” format=”dimension” />

</declare-styleable>

<!– From: file:/usr/local/google/buildbot/repo_clients/https___googleplex-android.googlesource.com_a_platform_manifest.git/lmp-preview-release/frameworks/support/v7/cardview/res/values/dimens.xml –>

<eat-comment />

<dimen name=”cardview_default_radius”>2dp</dimen>

<dimen name=”cardview_elevation”>2dp</dimen>

<dimen name=”cardview_shadow_size”>2dp</dimen>

<!– From: file:/usr/local/google/buildbot/repo_clients/https___googleplex-android.googlesource.com_a_platform_manifest.git/lmp-preview-release/frameworks/support/v7/cardview/res/values/styles.xml –>

<eat-comment />

We aren’t too far off from the release of L, so it’s only a matter of time before we know whether or not pie will finally be making its way to Android.