Material Design is one of the most important new features

Oct 16, 2014 09:08 GMT  ·  By

One day after Android 5.0 Lollipop was made official, Google detailed some of the most important new features and improvements the new OS will bring to compatible devices.

First of all, let’s emphasize on the fact that Google is trying to put Android on as many devices as possible. With Lollipop, Google is one step closer to convergence, a term that every major company developing an operating system likes to use.

Windows, Ubuntu and Android all focus on compatibility with different screens and the possibility to continue to work from where users left off even if they change devices.

Android 5.0 Lollipop is trying to do just that for smartphones, tablets and TVs. One of the major improvements that bring Android closer to convergence is called Material Design.

Material Design

Material Design is a design concept that all Lollipop compatible devices will have in common. Moreover, the new UI created by Google is more responsive and intuitive than any other previously developed by the search giant. It also helps that Material Design is consistent on all screens.

Design-wise, the new UI features a more natural motion, realistic lightning and shadows, as well as familiar visual elements that make it much easier to navigate devices.

The Material Design environment also brings a new set of colors for the UI, more vivid, bold and colorful, which are supposed to make it easier for users to focus their attention.

The new UI will be available to all Nexus and Google Play Edition devices, but handset makers with proprietary UIs will have to tweak their own to meet the new design vision.

Google also confirmed that Material Design was not the only major improvement that comes with Android 5.0 Lollipop, although it’s clearly one of the most important.

Material Design UI
Material Design UI

Enhanced Notifications

Moving on to notifications, Google improved this aspect by adding new options that allows users to control when they want to receive messages, so they won’t get interrupted when in a meeting or sleeping.

The improved notifications will allow users to read and reply to messages directly from the lock screen. In addition, Google also included the ability to hide personal content for these notifications.

There’s also a new Priority mode which can be enabled from the volume button. When turned on, this mode will only allow notifications from certain people to get through. Users will also be able to schedule recurring downtime when Priority mode is enabled.

Another interesting tweak in the notifications area would be the fact that you can now continue to watch a video or play a game even when someone calls you, or you can choose to take that call.

The new notifications system is more intelligent than the previous one in the fact that it can rank all notifications received based on who they’re from and the type of communication.

With Android 5.0 Lollipop, smartphone and tablet users should enjoy better battery life. The latest version of the operating system brings a new battery saver feature, which provides users with the option to extend the device use by up to 90 minutes.

Better battery life

Google also added some battery-related tweaks, such as the ability to see estimated time left to fully charge, which is displayed when the device is plugged in.

Moreover, you will also be able to see the estimated time left on the device before you would need to charge again, which can be found in the battery settings.

More security features

Then there are the usual security improvements that Google adds almost in every major or minor new version of Android. Lollipop comes with a “kill switch” that will allow device owners to prevent others from using their phone or tablet in case of theft.

Users will also be able to take advantage of the Android Smart Lock to secure their phone or tablet by paring with a trusted device like a wearable or car. All new devices with Android 5.0 Lollipop now come with encryption automatically enabled, so that Android users can have their data protected on lost or stolen devices.

Google’s Android 5.0 Lollipop comes with multiple accounts sharing, which allows more than one user to access the same phone. You just need to call a friend by simply logging into another Android phone running Lollipop.

There’s also a new Guest mode for phones and tablets, so you can even lend your device in case someone needs it, but without giving access to your personal data as well.

Another nifty feature provides users with the option to pin their screen so that another user can access only the content pinned preventing him/her from accessing personal data.

Android devices
Android devices

Improved Quick Settings

Android 5.0 Lollipop also brings improved Quick Settings, such as improved controls like flashlight, hotspot, screen rotation and cast screen. The on/off toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and location are now easier to reach.

You can even manually adjust the brightness of the display for certain conditions, so when the adaptive brightness turns on, it will set the display’s brightness based on ambient lighting.

As expected, Lollipop also brings better connectivity options and features. Google claims Lollipop adds “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.”

Equally important is the fact that Android 5.0 Lollipop improved Bluetooth connection with power-efficient scanning for nearby Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) devices such as wearables or beacons. In this regard, Google also added a new BLE peripheral mode.

ART (Android Runtime) and 64-bit support

ART (Android Runtime) is another major feature that considerably improves Android’s performance. With support for 64-bit devices, the computing experience will be more powerful, faster and smoother.

According to Google, the new ART runtime should improve application performance by up to 4 times. In addition, the UI will be much smoother for graphically enhanced apps.

Enhanced audio, video and camera features

Android 5.0 Lollipop comes with enhanced media features, both performance and visual related. For example, the latest version of the OS should offer lower latency audio input for better experience of music and communication apps that have certain delay requirements.

The multi-channel audio stream for audio apps can now mix up to 8 channels, including 5.1 and 7.1 channels. Android 5.0 Lollipop comes with support for USB Audio, so users will be able to plug USB mics, speaker and other USB audio devices (amplifiers, mixers) directly into an Android device.

Lots of camera specific improvements have been included in Android 5.0 Lollipop as well, such as the ability to capture full resolution frames around 30fps, as well as support for raw formats like YUV and Bayer RAW.

There’s new video technology inside Lollipop as well. According to Google, Android 5.0 supports HEVC to allow for UHD 4K video playback.

Nexus 9, Nexus 6 and Nexus Player
Nexus 9, Nexus 6 and Nexus Player

Support for Android TV

Along with Nexus 6 smartphone and Nexus 9 tablet, Google also announced the Nexus Player set-up box, which seems to be Google’s answer to Apple’s TV.

Android 5.0 Lollipop brings support for Android TV. The UI has been especially created to fit bigger screens, but Google also added voice search for Google Play, YouTube and other supported apps.

The new version of the mobile platform also brings console-like Android gaming on the TV with a gamepad. Moreover, you will also be able to cast apps to a bigger screen with Google Cast support for Android TV devices.

Even more features

While these are some of the most important new features and improvements in the new Android 5.0 Lollipop, there are a lot more included and some of them are worth mentioning.

For example, the tap & pay new feature that allows users to manage multiple payments apps by switching between them. The print preview and page range support are worth mentioning as well, along with revamped display for battery, Bluetooth, data usage and Wi-Fi settings.

Double tap to wake is another new feature included din Android 5.0 Lollipop, but it will only work on those devices with compatible hardware.

Last but not least, there’s also better hardware keyboard accessory support, including support for emoji input, search key and multilingual.

Android 5.0 Lollipop will be delivered as an update to Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 smartphones, as well as Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets, in the coming weeks.

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