LOLI POP
check back again in the next few days when we add in phone features and a final score. New release date information for Samsung and Sony devices has also been included.
Android Lollipop is here, and it's brought a raft of new changes. It's got radical new design, 5000 new APIs and it's going beyond the mobile form factor.
Android 5.0 is contextually aware of its surroundings, plus voice is a major input source as the search giant looks towards devices such as Glass and smart watches.
Android Lollipop Material Design
The big news for Android Lollipop is the change to the way it looks - and it's going well beyond the mobile phone to the tablet, TV screen, watch and even the car.
The new Material Design is strange in that it bucks a trend at the moment - yes, it's flat, but it's heavily based on making every animation, every ripple, every shadow look real, which is something that most brands are shying away from.
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Google tells us that this feels more intuitive, which means that there are shadow gradients, 3D tiles that slide over one another and most importantly: access for developers to use this for themselves on their apps.
The idea is obvious: remove the fragmented way Android looks and bring consistency to the app world no matter what device you're on. Google intends to create an expansive ecosystem that will allow you to start a song on one device, move to another room, pick up a separate Android device and continue right where you left off.
The Roboto font has been updated too, so everything from watch to TV to mobile looks the same.
Every animation on screen will be allowed to connect to one another - so there's no 'teleportation between apps'. The home, back and multi-tasking window buttons on Android 5.0 have been refined too, they're now geometric shapes which spin depending on what the app needs them for and overall this is a massive step forward for a cleaner, more intuitive-looking version of Google's mobile platform.
It's full of little flourishes and details too, for example the settings icon will spin round when you pull down the notifications screen. It's clear that a lot of thought has gone in to the changes, it's not just easier to use but is also likely to make you want to use it more, as every screen and every tap is a pleasure.
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If you don't have Android Lollipop on your device yet then to get a taste of Material Design now just head on over to the Play Store on an Android device, as the material design update is available for it and a host of Google's own apps including Chrome, Maps, Calendar, Gmail and many more.
Notifications and lock screen
Notifications on Android Lollipop have been given an overhaul, so only the more relevant information about your apps is presented.
You can even adjust the OS to display notifications from the most important people and apps during the evening hours or an important meeting. The notification panel is being merged with the lockscreen, so you can see what's going on as you pick up the phone and get where you need to be with intuitive gestures- a double tap to open an app or a swipe to clear a notification.
Imagine that the lockscreen is similar to the notifications panel now, and you're pretty much there. That's not to say that the main notifications screen is gone, that's still there too and has undergone some changes of its own.
Android Lollipop will learn from you for example, working out what you look at and interact with more often to prioritise that notification.
As well as getting some notification action the lockscreen on Android 5.0 is also getting smarter - if you've got a specific location set up, or are wearing a Bluetooth device or have an NFC sticker, the phone will recognise you and unlock without a PIN.
Move away or take your watch off and you'll need to tap or swipe in a code when you unlock - or you can even use your voice.
Google has also improved Face Unlock with the Trusted Face feature, which is faster and more accurate than ever. It starts looking for your face as soon as you attempt to unlock your phone, so there's no waiting around and in our tests we found that it even works in poor lighting a lot of the time.
