Funny Android Terminologies You Didn't Know About

Image source: Appzoom

Okay, seriously I don't know if I'm the only one that have come across several Android terms that are just too hilarious. Whoever suggested such terminologies must either be a comic star or something like that. 

Believe me, Android is not just an operating system, when you begin to explore Android very well, you will understand what I mean. 

Without much waste of time, let us dive into the comic side of Android. 

1. Zygote

Image source: Human Embryology

For your information, this is not a Biology class, this is pure Android. I really don't know the idea behind this term but what I definitely know is that, a comedian somewhere must have suggested this term. Zygote literally  is a biological term, how it finds itself in the Android ecosystem is something I don't know. 

Android Zygote, by definition according to Anatomy of Android is  a daemon whose goal is to launch Apps. The startup of the process is triggered by Init.rc after Service Manager and others but it is actually started by app_process. 

Now basically what zygote do is to launch apps. So whenever you want to start an app in your Android phone, know that Zygote is what triggers the app to start. 

2. Daemon; pronounced as DEEmun

Image source: Wikipedia

One of my friends saw this and he told me that Android is invented by the illuminati. I told him to throw away his phone and he said “you dey craze”.  But seriously, of all the names on earth, Daemon is what they choose to name a certain component of the Android operating system? Okay no problem, we have accepted it in good faith. Though Daemon is not just an Android term. It is more like a general computer term.

Also read: 30 Incredible things you didn't know ES File explorer can do

Daemon according to Webopedia is a process that runs in the background and performs a specified operation at predefined times or in response to certain events. The term daemon is a UNIX term, though many other operating systems provide support for daemons, though they're sometimes called other names. Windows, for example, refers to daemons as System Agents and services.

Now you know what a daemon does. It's not just an Android thing as most other Unix like systems are using it. Even Windows, just that the name is different here. 

3. Tilapia 

Image source:Lift you up

Before you begin to think this is a recipe for pepper soup. Tilapia is a Codename for Google Nexus 7 2012 3G. Sometimes called Tilapia/Nakasig (nakasig is the build codename while Tilapia is the device codename). The idea behind the name? That's what I don't know. But what I do know is that, whoever Codenamed the device  Tilapia might be diehard pepper soup eater.

4. Gandalf  Exploit 

Image source: Image filtr

When you first saw Gandalf what came to your mind? Lord of the Rings right?. For those who may not know, Gandalf is a fictional character in the movie Lord of the Rings. He's a wizard member of the Itsari order. You can find out more about Gandalf on Wikipedia. Gandalf in Android is a different thing entirely. Gandalf exploit is an application that is use to root devices running on Qualcomm chipset. Basically, it doesn't work independently, you will need to have framaroot installed on your device before you can use it to root your phone. More info can be found here

5. Fork

Image source: Tumblr

Fork as we all know is a kitchen utensil, but in Android, it is entirely a different thing. Android is an open source operating system. This mean that Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are free to download the source code and deploy it to their devices without paying a dime to Google. These manufacturers download the original Android Operating System and make changes to it. That is why you see Samsung, HTC, LG,  Lenovo, Tecno, Gionee, Sony etc having different kind of UX design, though they are all Android. The whole of this process is what's referred to as Forking. Anyone who takes an existing code, and starts an independent (that's an important distinction) project based on it, they've created a fork.

6. TINY_ANDROID

Image source: RemObjects

More like a baby Android (that's if Android is a Human being). A tiny Android is not a small or tiny Android phone.  A TINY_ANDROID is a super minimal Android build that can be used for kernel development, toolchain work and other development where users only need a console. You can learn more about TINY_ANDROID here

7. isUserAGoat

Image source: Amusing time

I was searching for something on the net then I came across this on Stack Overflow and I was like WTF? User a goat again?. If you are not an Android developer you'll hardly come across this term.

The guy at Stack Overflow was asking of the the proper use case of isUserAGoat. This is one of the responses that got me laughing.

Theory: Goats are found in all kinds of precarious places, like sheer cliffs, possibly bucking location trends they get from regular non-goat users. Might explain "teleportations", which could be goats appearing to wildly relocate as the software tries to determine their location with algos designed for non-goats.

So I tried to do some searching about what exactly isUserAGoat does and this is what I got from Android developer website

public boolean isUserAGoat ()
Is used to determine whether the user making this call is subject to teleportations.
As of LOLLIPOP, this method can now automatically identify goats using advanced goat recognition technology.
ReturnsReturns true if the user making this call is a goat.

So far what I've been able to know is that isUserAGoat is a boolean operation found in the core Android operating system. It is found in the user manager class of the Android operating system. And it's not the goat use for barbecue.

Now you see that Android also have its own comic side. Please pass it to your friends so they should also have a laugh.