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Here’s the final, official changelog for Android 5.0 Lollipop
In case you weren’t paying attention to Google I/O back when Android L (now known as Android 5.0 Lollipop) was first introduced, Google’s offered a nice reminder of what’s new in the way of a pretty long changelog. Below you’ll find all the new changes, features and additions to Android 5.0 that Google deems noteworthy. The list doesn’t really throw any surprises our way compared to the update’s first outing earlier this year, but it’s nice to get a refresher.
Obvious highlights are Material Design and the new design language used throughout the operating system, support for Android TV, ART runtime by default, new battery saving features and a lot more. Be sure to read over the changelog below, and have a look at Google’s Lollipop site if you’re interested in seeing more of it illustrated in beautifully crafted renders. Now let’s just hope it doesn’t take long for everyone to receive the goods in update form starting later this month.
Android 5.0 Lollipop changelog:
Material Design
A bold, colorful, and responsive UI design for consistent, intuitive experiences across all your devices
- Responsive, natural motion, realistic lighting and shadows, and familiar visual elements make it easier to navigate your device
- Vivid new colors, typography, and edge-to-edge imagery help to focus your attention
Notifications
New ways to control when and how you receive messages – only get interrupted when you want to be
- View and respond to messages directly from your lock screen. Includes the ability to hide sensitive content for these notifications
- For fewer disruptions, turn on Priority mode via your device’s volume button so only certain people and notifications get through. Or schedule recurring downtime like 10pm to 8am when only Priority notifications can get through
- With Lollipop, incoming phone calls won’t interrupt what you’re watching or playing. You can choose to answer the call or just keep doing what you’re doing
- Control the notifications triggered by your apps; hide sensitive content and prioritize or turn off the app’s notifications entirely
- More intelligent ranking of notifications based on who they’re from and the type of communication. See all your notifications in one place by tapping the top of the screen
Battery
Power for the long haul
- A battery saver feature which extends device use by up to 90 mins
- Estimated time left to fully charge is displayed when your device is plugged in
- Estimated time left on your device before you need to charge again can now be found in battery settings
Security
Keep your stuff safe and sound
- New devices come with encryption automatically turned on to help protect data on lost or stolen devices
- SELinux enforcing for all applications means even better protection against vulnerabilities and malware
- Use Android Smart Lock to secure your phone or tablet by pairing it with a trusted device like your wearable or even your car
Device Sharing
More flexible sharing with family and friends
- Multiple users for phones. If you forget your phone, you still can call any of your friends (or access any of your messages, photos etc.) by simply logging into another Android phone running Lollipop. Also perfect for families who want to share a phone, but not their stuff
- Guest user for phones and tablets means you can lend your device and not your stuff
- Screen pinning: pin your screen so another user can access just that content without messing with your other stuff
New Quick Settings
Get to the most frequently used settings with just two swipes down from the top of the screen
- New handy controls like flashlight, hotspot, screen rotation and cast screen controls
- Easier on/off toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and location
- Manually adjust your brightness for certain conditions. Then, adaptive brightness will kick in based on ambient lighting
Connectivity
A better internet connection everywhere and more powerful Bluetooth low energy capabilities
- Improved network handoffs resulting in limited interruption in connectivity. For example, continue your video chat or VoIP calls without interruption as you leave the house and switch from your home Wi-Fi back to cellular
- Improved network selection logic so that your device connects only if there is a verified internet connection on Wi-Fi
- Power-efficient scanning for nearby Bluetooth low energy (“BLE”) devices like wearables or beacons
- New BLE peripheral mode
Runtime and Performance
A faster, smoother and more powerful computing experience
- ART, an entirely new Android runtime, improves application performance and responsiveness
- Up to 4x performance improvements
- Smoother UI for complex, visually rich applications
- Compacting backgrounded apps and services so you can do more at once
- Support for 64 bit devices, like the Nexus 9, brings desktop class CPUs to Android
- Support for 64-bit SoCs using ARM, x86, and MIPS-based cores
- Shipping 64-bit native apps like Chrome, Gmail, Calendar, Google Play Music, and more
- Pure Java language apps run as 64-bit apps automatically
- ART, an entirely new Android runtime, improves application performance and responsiveness
Media
Bolder graphics and improved audio, video, and camera capabilities
- Lower latency audio input ensuring that music and communication applications that have strict delay requirements provide an amazing realtime experience
- Multi-channel audio stream mixing means professional audio applications can now mix up to eight channels including 5.1 and 7.1 channels
- USB Audio support means you can plug USB microphones, speakers, and a myriad of other USB audio devices like amplifiers and mixers into your Android device
- OpenGL ES 3.1 and Android extension pack brings Android to the forefront of mobile graphics putting it on par with desktop and console class performance
- A range of new professional photography features for Android Lollipop that let you
- Capture full resolution frames around 30 fps
- Support raw formats like YUV and Bayer RAW
- Control capture settings for the sensor, lens, and flash per individual frame
- Capture metadata like noise models and optical information
- State of the art video technology with support for HEVC main profile to allow for UHD 4K 10-bit video playback, tunneled hardware video decoding to save power and improved HLS support for streaming
OK Google
Easy access to information and performing tasks
- Even if your screen is off, you can say “OK Google” on devices with digital signal processing support such as Nexus 6 and Nexus 9
- Talk to Google on the go to get quick answers, send a text, get directions and more
Android TV
Support for living room devices
- User interface adapted for the living room
- Less browsing, more watching with personalized recommendations for content like movies and TV shows
- Voice search for Google Play, YouTube and supported apps so you can just say what you want to see
- Console-style Android gaming on your TV with a gamepad
- Cast your favorite entertainment apps to your big screen with Google Cast support for Android TV devices
Accessibility
Enhanced low vision and color blind capabilities
- Boost text contrast or invert colors to improve legibility
- Adjust display to improve color differentiation
Now in 68+ languages
15 new additions
- Basque, Bengali, Burmese, Chinese (Hong Kong), Galician, Icelandic, Kannada, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Sinhala, Tamil, Telugu
Device set up
Get up and running in no-time
- Tap & go: instant set up of your new Android phone or tablet by simply tapping it to your old one (requires NFC)
- Whenever you get a new Android phone or tablet, you can bring over your apps from Google Play automatically from any of your old Android devices
And a whole lot more
Tap & pay: easily manage multiple payment apps by quickly switching between them
Print preview and page range support
Revamped display for battery, Bluetooth, data usage, and Wi-Fi settings and new search functionality
New device level feedback for Nexus devices in Settings > about phone > send feedback
Easier sharing with
- Improved ranking of your options within the share menu
- Android Beam: lets you share a file with someone nearby by gently tapping the two devices together
Where supported by the hardware, your device will wake up as soon as you pick it up or tap the screen twice
Improved hardware keyboard accessory support including support for multilingual, emoji input, search key, and improved app and system key chords
Motorola commits to bringing Android 5.0 Lollipop to the Moto X, G, E, and DROIDs
After Google’s big Android 5.0 Lollipop announcement this morning it’s no surprise to find OEMs (and soon, carriers) voicing their support for Google’s latest and greatest update. In a blog post, Motorola is now officially first out the gate, committing to bring Android 5.0 to their vast product portfolio, covering flagship, mid-range, and even their low-end devices.
Here’s the full list of Motorola handsets you can expect to receive Android 5.0 Lollipop in the coming months:
Moto X (1st Gen. & 2nd Gen.)
Moto G (1st Gen. & 2nd Gen.)
Moto G with 4G LTE
Moto E
Droid Ultra, Droid Maxx, and Droid Mini
Motorola’s strategy of offering a near stock Android interface — as well as unbundled Motorola apps and features — seems to be working in their favor. As we saw with last year’s KitKat release, Motorola wasn’t too far behind Nexus devices in updating many of their handsets, even those on Verizon.
Of course, Google hasn’t publicly made available the Android 5.0 Lollipop SDK (it’s not available until October 17th), so Motorola’s hands are tied at the moment. Stay tuned.
Watch the Android Lollipop statue go up on Google’s lawn [VIDEO]
It wouldn’t be the launch of a new version of Android without the unveiling of the corresponding statue. For those of you unfamiliar with this tradition, Google has statues for every version of Android on the lawn in front of building 44. Every dessert from cupcake to KitKat has been captured in the form of a statue, and now it’s Android 5.0 Lollipop’s turn.
The statue is simply a green bugdroid holding a lollipop while making a “peace” sign. Google has used the same bugdroid their new “Be Together. Not the same.” campaign videos, and in all of their social media logos. We expected to see something more like a lollipop with eyes and antennas, but this is cool too. Check out the video below to see the unveiling of the statue on Google’s campus.
[via Alex Ruiz]
Will you buy the Nexus 6? [POLL]
It wasn’t the flashiest of unveilings, but the long-awaited Nexus 6 is finally here. We won’t be able to get our hands on it for a few more weeks, however, which gives us plenty of time to decide if it’s the next must-have Android handset.
The latest Nexus has a lot going for it in that area, the most prominent being its massive 6-inch AMOLED display with its crisp QHD resolution. The phone also includes a powerful Snapdragon 805 SoC with Adreno 420 GPU, a heaping helping of RAM at 3GB, and a 13MP rear camera with such enhancements as optical image stabilization. Throw in Turbo Charge for a quick battery boost and the pièce de résistance, Android Lollipop, and it would appear there is a new king in the Android realm.
Not so fast. The Nexus 6 won’t be for everyone. Its phablet form factor could turn away buyers wary about upgrading to a phone with such a large footprint. And for fans of low-cost unlocked devices, the N6 seems ready to buck the trend with Motorola revealing an off-contract price of $650. All major US carriers have plans to host the Nexus 6 on their networks, however. This fact, at least, will give buyers subsidized options to alleviate the high cost of going unlocked.
The handset won’t go up for pre-order until later this month (a specific date hasn’t been announced), but we want to get your knee-jerk reaction to Google’s announcement. Is the Nexus 6 your next Android device?
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