14 DAY TRIAL // Verizon is one of the last US-based carriers to offer the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for Samsung Galaxy S4. The international version of the smartphone received the upgrade back in February, but the rollout may have taken more than a few months.
AT&T released the same update in the first week of April, and Verizon has just confirmed that Android 5.0 Lollipop is now available for customers who purchased the Samsung Galaxy S4 through its official channels.
Among the most important changes that Samsung Galaxy S4 owners will get is the new Material Design concept, along with complex animations, 3-D views and improved runtime.
Owners of Galaxy S4 that upgrade to Lollipop should expect more fluid animations, vivid colored-themes and a more pleasurable experience overall.
The official changelog that's already been published by Verizon also mentions some basic interaction improvements, such as bolder color and the on/off toggle button style update based on Material Design.
New shortcuts on lock screen and notifications improvements
Shortcuts for both Phone and Camera are now placed on the lock screen for easier use. Notifications have received a Material design-like layout.
Users will now be able to set priority and privacy for notifications on lock screen. Also, music control is now provided as a card in order to utilize the real estate of the lock screen UI.
Concerning the KNOX security package, the update should add an optional folder-based UI for the container. In addition, the user interaction is reduced and the UI is now simpler, so it will consume less memory.
The update also brings multi-window icons for easier use during multi-tasking, as well as quicker access to Chrome tabs right from the Recent apps page.
Keep in mind that the update is pushed OTA (over the air) in stages, so it might take a while until it reaches all Samsung Galaxy S4 devices. Make sure your phone's battery is at least 50% charged before attempting to upgrade to Android 5.0 Lollipop.