This Friday developers finally got their hands on the final software development kit (SDK) for Android 5.0 as well as the latest preview software for Nexus phones.
End users will have to wait a few more weeks (or months depending on their phone brand) to see what Android 5 is all about, but the video below already gives a good first impression of the new features.
The new notification system will interest most users. The biggest change out of the box is that notifications are now visible without unlocking your phone. Even more, you can immediately act on them by answering an email or sharing a print screen.
It does save from you from constantly entering patterns or codes, but it's also a huge inroad on your privacy if you leave the phone unattended on the table for just a few minutes. Sex texting will never be the same once your co-workers join in the fun…..
From the looks of it, the new 'Material Design' is more expressive, richer and it offers a lot of little animations helping in getting feedback from the interface.
The color scheme and contrasts are hugely improved over the earlier Android L preview and there is a welcome choice between a light and a darker look as well as options to go back to the older Holo theme.
It looks much better and more mature than the candy look of iOS8.
Missing are new and updated apps. Google will probably use its Play Store to get these ready for prime time. That's the huge advantage of the new model introduced after the KitKat release.
Have a look yourself. What do you think?
P.S. I have watched several videos so my opinion is not just based on these 7 minutes by fellow Gplusser +Tim Schofield
Well said!
Hi +Tim Schofield could you do me a favor and check if the user can control which notifications show up on the lockscreen for all apps? I know some apps offer this.
So lollipop isn't about the candy but the wrapper around it apparently.
For once I'm not in much of a hurry for the update, thank goodness for theming possibilities, the basic UI is horrible.
Does it support USB audio
+Max Huijgen you can switch off/on all notifications shown up on the lockscreen and also which of them should be hidden (you see a notification but you have to tap and unlock to see the details)
Tnx +Rafa Ramírez and you can organize this per app in the settings menu?
+Jean-Loup Rebours-Smith You are definitely in a very very small minority…almost everyone so far, including me, thinks the new UI is beautiful and groundbreaking. But you are entitled to your opinion; at least with Android you have the freedom of changing the look to your taste.
+Max Huijgen yes, you can choose what kind of notifications you want in each app.
By default, they consider that there are some apps that could contain private information, basically chats (Hangouts, WhatsApp) so it's configured correctly: if you want to receive notifications on the lockscreen but not the content of them, you probably will not need to do anything special
So every app (even if it's not recompiled for 5.0) has something like this? +Rafa Ramírez
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/17/b57bf7b584f9d571c8360540cfdd58ac.jpg
+Max Huijgen exactly! I can confirm you they have implemented a good notification management
Thanks again.
Now start looking for 'User Data Controls' +Rafa Ramírez 😉 See https://plus.google.com/u/3/112352920206354603958/posts/haKeEyEHR55
+Austin Cooper
"almost everyone so far" Please tell me, of the 1.6 or so Billion Android users, how many do you know personally?
I'm not claiming I'm not in the minority but please refrain from using hyperbole when you're probably personally aware of a very very small portion of users' opinions. (or maybe I'm wrong and you do know that many people)
And yeah sorry but when the main feature of a new major release is transitions, coloured backgrounds and animations you start to wonder if you're not looking at a new iOS version announcement. Has Android peaked its possible features? Is there nothing more to add but water effects and bouncing windows? They announced over 5000 new APIs and all everyone cares about is the new design. Sorry for the rant but I'm confused.
Ugly material design sucks. Not looking forward to animation/distraction crap.
You're sure you looked at the attached video as it changed a lot since the earlier Android 5 preview +Chris O'Brien
+Chris O'Brien I agree