Android L, the next update to Google’s operating system, will offer a number of exciting possibilities. The company announced the upcoming release, unofficially named “Lollipop,” at the Google I/O developer’s conference in June, and the next day they released a Developer Preview on Google Nexus devices to give a feel for the Android L upgrade and allow private developers to start working on new apps and versions for L.
What does L have in store for the user?
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Better battery life through Google’s Project Volta. At 15 percent battery, Android L goes into a power-saving mode that cuts off unnecessary power drains like animations. The Battery Historian developer tool tracks how much power is used by individual apps, according to AnandTech.
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Better notifications. Users can choose which apps can push notifications to the lock screen, and some will allow control over the level of information shown (displaying only that you got a message or showing the full message, for example). Notifications will now be directly actionable, allowing users to reply to a message from the original notification rather than by opening the app or a menu, a feature that was also recently added to Apple’s iOS. Finally, the pull-down notifications menu will also feature quick settings.
- A smoother, more intuitive user interface (UI). The Android L update is ushering in a new era of design for Google’s UI, focused around a 3-D structure that gives the sense of vertical space, which Google’s Developer Preview refers to as “material design.” This feature allows developers to control the size of the shadow a UI element casts. The updated interface also features improvements to widgets, animations, and themes.
- Faster response to touch.
Uniting Devices
By allowing developers access to the code early, app developers and third-party accessory producers will be able to optimize their products ahead of the Android update. Hopefully, this will reduce the current rate of fragmentation in the Android realm, where many versions of the operating system are in use. Android Central has released a prediction of which phones they expect to get the Android L upgrade; if they are correct, nearly all recent devices will be updated quickly.
The fragmentation problem has been exacerbated significantly in the past by the custom versions manufacturers like Samsung run on their devices. For new platforms like Android Wear, customization of the UI will be banned entirely, according to ITworld. This means that in the future, Android phones and wearables will likely interact more smoothly.
As a result, Android L will offer better interconnectivity between devices. Don’t be afraid to buy different Android devices; the Android landscape is looking a lot cleaner and smoother. Timing buying a phone with the release of a new Android version will become less important, as most phones will likely get the Android L upgrade quickly, followed by future versions as they become available.
Which Android L feature are you most excited about?
Image courtesy of Flickr
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