The update brings lots of new features and improvements

Jun 3, 2015 01:40 GMT  ·  By

Motorola kicked off an Android 5.0 Lollipop soak test for Moto E (1st Gen) in India a while ago, but the company did not announce when the update might be available to general public.

Well, that doesn't matter anymore since AndroidOS reports Motorola Moto E (1st Gen) is eligible for an Android 5.1 Lollipop update beginning today.

Those who participated in the soak test and have Android 5.0.2 Lollipop installed on their smartphones should receive an additional update, which is smaller and contains the rest of the improvements included in Android 5.1 Lollipop.

The rest of Motorola Moto E (1st Gen) owners in India should be able to upgrade from Android 4.4 KitKat directly to Android 5.1 Lollipop.

Keep in mind that the update is pushed OTA (over the air), so you should be notified when it's available for you. However, you can also check for it manually by heading to Settings / About phone / Software update. If it's not yet available, you can try again later.

Get a taste of Google's Material Design

Moving on to actual changes, Android 5.1 Lollipop brings Google's new Material Design, as well as lots of improvements to Notifications UI and Priorities.

For example, after upgrading to Android 5.1 Lollipop, you will notice that notifications will appear on the lockscreen and will be intelligently ranked by type and sender.

In addition, you will now be able to double-tap to open one, swipe left or right to clear one, or clear all notifications from the bottom of the list. You can also set the priority and privacy of notifications for each application.

Android 5.1 Lollipop also brings a new security feature called Smart Lock. This will enable trusted devices to keep your smartphone unlocked (Moto 360, Bluetooth car kit, headset, etc.).

Lots of performance enhancements will be implemented as well, such as the new Android Runtime that helps optimize app performance even though that will require more space.