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My guess it that the lightweight notifications in Android are called Toast because they popup like toast from a toaster. Can anyone confirm this or provide a better explanation? I am teaching a course on Android development and would like to edit the wiki, so I want to be sure to get it right.

Ellen Spertus
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    That would be a reasonable assumption, it was mine too :) – Jimmy Feb 27 '11 at 16:57
  • I thought it was the drink toast idea too, and even if that's not the origin it's a better explanation and should be the official metaphor of toasts. – Geeks On Hugs Jun 02 '12 at 19:22

2 Answers2

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Quoting wikipedia :

An ex-Microsoft employee of Google is credited with coining the term during the development of MSN Messenger, since Messenger's small notification windows slide upward into view, like toast popping out of a toaster

George Stocker
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Pascal MARTIN
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    Thank you for this clarification. I personally do not like the name, but now I at least understand where it comes from. When you consider that a toast message can be anything that "pops up", it makes more sense than when you just consider the acknowledgement aspect of it. – Daniel Saidi Aug 02 '13 at 10:54
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    The link to wikipedia is out of date, since the quoted article was merged into antother. Here is a permanent link: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Toast_%28computing%29&oldid=459336160 – MyPasswordIsLasercats Jun 04 '14 at 07:30
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    [citation needed] … I wonder *where* he is credited. – dakab Nov 08 '19 at 07:15
  • a toast to being toasty – Joe DF Jul 21 '20 at 02:08
  • Makes a lot of sense. Now I wonder, what about the Snackbar? – Marcelo Ludovico Apr 14 '22 at 18:28
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And I always thought it was like a toast with a glass of wine, where you give a short message like "to your health" or "happy birthday" or "contact deleted".

But a toaster make more sense.

dhaag23
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    A friend of work remembered the "Toasty!" from Mortal Kombat videogame. We both thought the "Toast" came from that reference :) http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130113213400/mortalkombat/pt/images/6/6e/Zzzxxxtoasty.png – Lucas Reis Dec 01 '15 at 20:58
  • Pretty sure it was spelled "Tooaasttyyy!", but still a solid point. – MinneapolisCoder9 Mar 30 '23 at 17:28