Android Lollipop is the BEST update till date for the Android OS. Read On to know what we felt...
Google's Android Lollipop has finally landed, debuting aboard the new Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 devices, but also rolling out to Google's existing Nexus 5 and Nexus 4, as well as Motorola handsets. It's also being prepped by a number of Android OEMs and is due to hit major 2014 handsets fairly soon. So what's it actually like?
The new 5.0 Android build introduces Google's Material Design language - a complete overhaul of the visual flavour of Android with a flat, paper-like appearance, new transition animations, and an emphasis on a Google Now-like card system throughout. Naturally, Lollipop also boasts a selection of functionality changes, including a revised multitasking carousel, new lockscreena and security options, and much more besides.
One thing that is worth pointing out, however, is that most people –– like a serious, lion’s share-style chunk of people –– won’t ever see Material Design in all its glory. And the reason is custom Android skins, things like Samsung’s TouchWiz and HTC Sense. The majority of Android phones in circulation are not Nexus devices and most, save for Motorola devices, do not run anything close to stock Android. This has always been an issue for us at KYM, something we feel rather passionate about, and now, with the advent of Material Design, it just got a lot worse because this update is gorgeous.
This review was done on a Nexus 5.
Android 5.0 Lollipop Review: Material Design
Regardless of the tinkering Google's engineers have done under the bonnet, the most noticeable improvement has to be the overall look. Google is calling Android's fetching new aesthetic "Material Design" and it's all about giving the OS a more welcoming look. It's mostly flat colours, clever use of shadow and UI elements which look like layers of paper stacked on top of one another. Google has left behind the world of skeuomorphic design –– just like Apple did with iOS 7 –– and the end result is something that looks less cluttered and more eye-catching.
If you're an existing Nexus user then you'll also notice that the three Android soft keys, located at the bottom of the screen, have changed in appearance. Back is now a triangle rather than a curved arrow, while Home has been transformed into a circle. The multitasking button, now referred to by Google as "Overview”, is a square. While it doesn't take any time at all to become accustomed to these changes, the switch does make the UI look that little bit more accommodating; the original soft keys were quite stark.
It's worth stressing this point; once upon a time, Google was happy to promote Android as the mobile OS for power users and geeks, but today the search giant is going after everyday mobile consumers and that means softening the look of the user interface to make it more universally appealing. I think that Google has been successful in this regard; gone are the Tron-like visuals seen in Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich, and in their place we have bold colours and a warm, friendly design.
Nexus 10 UI Dismisses Google's Own Guidelines
Google's got its own pretty clear cut set of guidelines for developers who want to implement its Android software, but the big G seems to have ignored its own advice when it comes to large-scale tablet interface design on the Nexus 10.
As outlined in a report from Ars Technica, Android Lollipop doesn't seem to have done the Nexus 10's UI any favours and has flown in the face of Google's own rulebook.
"The Nexus 10 took 10-inch tablets back to the "blown-up phone" version of the UI, where buttons and other UI stuff was all put in the center of the screen," writes Andrew Cunningham, "This makes using a 10-inch tablet the same as using a 7-inch tablet or a phone, which is good for consistency, but in retrospect it was a big step backward for widescreen tablets."
"The old interface put everything at the edges of the screen where your thumbs could easily reach them. The new one often requires the pointer finger of one of your hands or some serious thumb-stretching."
"If anything, Lollipop takes another step backward here. You used to be able to swipe down on the left side of the screen to see your notifications and the right side of the screen to see the Quick Settings, and now those two menus have been unified and placed right in the center of the screen."
In other words, the Nexus 10 with Android Lollipop is not taking full advantage of its large screen real estate, in fact the opposite is true, it's making the larger expanse of display more difficult to use.
"Our biggest problem is the way apps look on a screen this large and in landscape mode" reads the report, "Basic building blocks like the Home and Google Now screens have big swaths of completely useless space to their left and right. The Settings app is mostly a big, white field with a few buttons in it."
As Ars Technica points out, you can check out Google's own guidelines to see how much it's bodging the UI design: " Read Google's developer guidelines for developing Android tablet user interfaces and then look at these screenshots—Google is breaking tons of its own rules."
Android 5.0 Lollipop Review: Notifications
Notifications have always been one of Android's strongest points, but in recent years iOS has matured to the level where it actually does some things better. To counter this, Google has finally introduced lock screen notifications, allowing you to see events without having to actually unlock your device. Emails, appointments and text messages all appear on your lock screen, and a tap is all that is required to open that app and get straight to business
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Google has also improved the way that notifications work when you're actually using the phone. Should an email or message come in when you're reading a book, watching a film or playing a game, it will merely pop-in at the top of the screen for a brief moment, allowing you to ignore or respond without totally intruding on your current activity.
Notifications can now be silenced using the Priority Mode too, whereby you assign alerts degrees of importance –– dropping to urgent mode means that only alarms will disturb you, for example. Finally, there's also a proper "do not disturb" mode baked into the OS itself. Using this, you can mute calls and messages between certain times, like when you're asleep, for example.
Many of these improvements are already present in iOS, so while Google is undeniably playing catch-up here, they make Android even more appealing to smartphones users. And the two platforms, if we’re honest, are now borrowing features from one another left, right, and centre. There’s no real leader, in this regard, and everybody benefits which is just fine by us.
Android 5.0 Lollipop Review: User Accounts & Pinning Apps
Google knows that our phones no longer stay solely in our own hands; we share them with family members or pass them over to friends when they need to surf the web or make a call because their handset's battery has died. To embrace this new social world Google has introduced user accounts, so you can actually create a safe environment for other users and avoid them ruining your setup or accessing things they shouldn't, like your personal email.
User accounts aren't the only way Google is making things more secure, either. You can now "pin" apps, for example, so that when you hand over your device, the temporary user can't do anything but the task you've assigned them. Pinning apps means that the phone's screen is effectively locked to one application –– be that Chrome, the dialler or a certain game. Exiting the task requires a pin to be entered, and that's something you'll come up with before you hand over the device. Very handy stuff, indeed, especially if you have children.
Android 5.0 Lollipop Review: Smart Lock, Tap & Go
We all know how important it is to make sure our phone has some degree of lock screen security. Given how easy it is to lose them, it's vital that personal details are protected at all times. Even so, having to input a pin or swipe a pattern every single time you want to use your device can become a bit of a chore, but thankfully Google has thought of ways of fixing this, too.
Smart lock is clearly intended to capitalize on the dawn of wearable tech, and allows you to disable the phone's screen lock whenever a trusted device –– your smartwatch, for example –– is connected. This also works with fitness wearables and non-Android Wear devices, like the Pebble.
Another improved smart lock feature is Face Unlock. This was introduced when the Galaxy Nexus was released in 2011, and has been one of Android's most notable gimmicks. The key problem with Face Unlock is that it struggles in low light, and if you wear glasses it often fails to detect your face, mainly because it can only store so many photos to compare your face to…
Well, not anymore!
Google has changed things up by keeping face detection live even when the phone isn't locked. What happens is your front-facing camera constantly monitors your face as you use it (which isn’t creepy at all) and therefore is capable of building up a more accurate picture of what you actually look like in a wide variety of environments. The upshot is that even if you don't rely on connecting a Bluetooth device to make the most of smart lock, your phone is clever enough to know when you personally pick it up, and disable the lock screen accordingly.
Android 5.0 Lollipop Review: Project Volta
Battery life has long been the Achilles heel of smartphones, but Google is tackling this issue with Project Volta. The firm has done some serious tinkering to ensure that apps use as little power as possible, and the move from Dalvik to ART runtime has also helped matters, as ART is much more efficient. Apps can now work with Android 5.0 to ensure that they gobble less energy, although it will be down to app developers to exploit this feature going forward.
Add in a Battery Saver option, which can be configured to kick in when juice is running low, and you've got plenty more stamina than you'll have been used to in Android 4.4 (around 25% to be specific).
I personally found that Project Volta (on a Nexus 5) gave us around an hour or more of additional use on a normal day, which doesn't sound like a great deal but could mean the difference between getting home with some juice in the tank or having your phone die on you before you reach the blessed sanctuary of a charging socket.
The built-in battery saver is also a real boon, as it means you can make what power you have left last that little bit longer. While Project Volta doesn't give the kind of battery stamina we all enjoyed before smartphones came along, it's a step in the right direction. But what is really quite remarkable is that ALL of these savings are achieved with the same size battery, proving once again that software, not specs, is truly king in the mobile environment.
Android 5.0.1 Is Coming Soon
Google is preparing to roll out the Android 5.0.1 update for Nexus devices and a few others already running the first version of Android Lollipop. Both Ars Technica and Android Police are now reporting that Google has pushed Android 5.0.1 to AOSP. There are also factory images of the new software on the Wi-Fi Nexus 9, Nexus 7 (2013) and Nexus 10 tablet.
Google has yet to officially comment but it is thought the update will fix at least two bugs. First is a factory reset bug that some users have come across – it is pretty nerve racking as it can completely wipe your phone without any warning.
You can set up Android 5.0 to wipe your phone automatically if there are too many unrecognised patterns when trying to unlock your device. The problem is some apps within Android 5.0 don’t recognise the unlock pattern and automatically register it as a fail and racking up those failed unlocked attempts.
The second issue prevents video playback on the Nexus 7 (2013). As for a release date it isn’t certain just yet when Google will begin to roll it out. Keep your eyes peeled though as it’ll be in the next couple of weeks at least.
Android 5.0 Lollipop Review: Verdict
Google promised big things with Android 5.0, and on the whole it has delivered. The new Material Design means that Android isn't second-best to Apple's iOS when it comes to appearance, and a vastly enhanced notification system makes it easier than ever to keep track of things. Other new features, such as Smart Lock, User accounts and App pinning, come in very handy too, and we're sure to see them copied elsewhere.
One thing we did notice running the software on the Nexus 5 is that there are occasionally stutters and pauses, and the whole experience is arguably less smooth than Android 4.4. This is perhaps not massively surprising, as Google is launching the shiny new Nexus 6 alongside its latest OS.
Minor grumbles aside, Android 5.0 has changed the game – again. Google's titanic struggle with Apple goes on regardless, but for the time being, it's Android, which should be considered the mobile OS to beat. Android 5.0 is packed with functionality, boasts impressive customisation options and increased security. It really is one of the most impressive –– and satisfying –– updates I’ve ever tested.
The only sad thing is that most people won’t see Google’s beautiful Material Design, as it will be hidden behind some gross, custom UX like TouchWiz or Sense.
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