Android 5.0 announced as Android Lollipop with Material Design, Improved Security & Features

Finally today Google officially announced their much awaited Android 5.0, the Android L or Lollipop along with the new 6-Inch QHD Nexus 6 device. Back in June, when Google previewed the new Android OS at the Google I/O event and released the developer version, it was called as Android L. Today Google officially confirmed that the new Android OS will be named as Android Lollipop and will come as version 5.0.

The new Android Lollipop has tons of new features and improvements. It looks better and performs way better than the previous versions. According to Google, Lollipop is their largest and most ambitious Android release as of yet with over 5,000 new API’s for developers. It is more flexible and is designed to work on most of the devices.

Google also said that the New Android Lollipop will be more customization friendly, people can customize it the way they like. This all sounds cool, let’s see what other things it has to offer. What New it has to Offer?

More than Phone & Tablet

The previous Android versions used to support Phones and Tablets but the Android Lollipop will break the barriers. Lollipop will be the first Android OS which will also support Smart-Watches, your TV and even your car.

Material Design

Android Lollipop flaunts material design which is more responsive, colorful, bold, fluid and attractive. The use of realistic lighting & shadows along with the UI makes the interface so fresh yet so familiar. Lollipop uses new fonts, vivid colors, attractive icons, new sounds and immersive imagery which helps you focus on main content.

Pick Up from where you left

Android Lollipop syncs with multiple devices and makes your content available across multiple devices, be you watch, tablet or smartphone. Not only that, you can also continue your work from where you left on multiple devices. For example; suppose you were listening to music, searching internet or going through photos – You can simply continue doing it from where you left on multiple devices.

Better Battery Life

Android Lollipop comes with a battery saver feature which can help in extending battery life up to 90 minutes. With the help of this new battery saving feature, you can squeeze until the last drop of juice remaining and get some extra minutes in certain situations. The Android Lollipop also brings a fresh new battery stats menu where you get some extra data and statistics. You can easily manage the power usage and see the estimated time before the battery runs out. You can also see the estimated time in which the battery will hit 100 percent, when charging.

Improved Security

The new Android Lollipop brings a new security feature known as Android Smart Lock. Using this feature you can pair your Android device or tablet with your smart watch or even your car. Once paired, your device will lock itself – You can only access the device either by entering the password / patter or by bringing your smart watch near your device. If you are wearing the smart watch, your phone or tablet won’t ask for passcodes, they can detect the watch and recognize the owner, but if someone else picks up your device or even you pick it up (when not wearing the watch) if won’t allow the access unless you enter the passcode. Not only that, Android Lollipop uses the SELinux enforcing on all apps, it protects your device from malware and security threats.

Quick Settings with a Swipe

Two swipes down from the top of the screen and there you get the most frequently used settings. Quick on/off toggles, handy tools and other controls in your finger-tips. You can access Flashlight, Hotspot, Screen Rotation, Adjust Brightness, Toggle on/off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Mobile Data etc. You can enable / disable adaptive brightness function which will automatically adjust the brightness according to the ambient light of surroundings.

Better Connectivity

Android Lollipop brings the Bluetooth low energy capabilities or the ‘BLE’ to your smartphones, this helps in saving power as it uses low energy for nearby device scanning and pairing for wearables, It also includes a separate BLE peripheral mode. Android Lollipop also promises better internet connectivity and limited interruptions when switching from home networks to cellular networks.

Supports 68+ Languages

Android Lollipop supports 68+ languages with new 15 additions to it, they are: Basque, Bengali, Burmese, Chinese (Hong Kong), Galician, Icelandic, Kannada, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Sinhala, Tamil, Telugu

‘OK Google’ Anywhere

If you are using the new Nexus 6, Nexus 9 or any device with the digital signal processing support, simply say ‘OK Google’ even when your screen is off and Bingo, your device will come to life and you can throw orders at it. You can simply talk to Google and get search results, texts, quick answers, directions and a lot more.

Overall Better Performance

The Android Lollipop UI is blazing fast and smooth. It uses ART which is a new Android runtime system, which improves the responsiveness, app performance etc. Android Lollipop is also good at multitasking, you can easily manage multiple tasks at once. It also supports 64-bit SoCs using ARM, x86 and MIPS based cores.

Better Photography & Video Playback

You can now capture full resolution frames at 30fps, control capture settings for the sensor, lens and flash as per your shot. You also get support for formats like YUV and Bayer RAW.

Guest Mode

You want to lend your device to a friend or relative but are afraid that he might access your data? Not anymore, with the new Guest Mode you can share your device with your friends without sharing your data.

And much more.

So these were some of the new additions to the Android Lollipop, there are many more features which you can experience on the new Android OS. By looking at the above listed features, one thing is sure that the new Android surely gives more control over your device. You can customize the settings as per your need, you can adjust the setting so that only notifications from certain people show up and you can access the notification directly from your lockscreen.

[Input by Jim Luthra]