In case you somehow missed all the excitement yesterday, the Developer Preview for Android L has been released and is available for download, only if you have either a Nexus 5 or Nexus 7 to hand of course. I had no end of trouble getting the image to work on my Nexus 5, despite fresh download after download and working drivers. I guess I was a little too impatient and I should have waited for those flashable ZIPs to appear, which are now available for Nexus 5 owners over at XDA-Developers. Still, if you’r not running a Nexus 5 or Nexus 7 and still want a little taste of Android L, some enterprising folk have taken the system image apart and dragged out apps, wallpapers and more.
Over at XDA-Developers, there’s a bumper thread getting started that has apps, wallpapers, fonts, ringtones and more from the Developer Preview for those curious looking to install. The main thread has a list of links as well as which apps are working, and which apps aren’t not. You’ll find these at the source link below. Of particular interest to people will be the new fonts, wallpaper and the keyboard. I’m happy to report that the keyboard does in fact work on Android 4.4.4 on my Nexus 5, but it obviously doesn’t have the same effect as it would do running Android L’s material engine. A number of the apps included in the download, like the Play Music app, YouTube and the Camera application are effectively the same version as we have now, or at least there are no visible changes.
The wallpaper is something we’ve all seen before, but it’s also available in the thread mentioned here. As for the fonts, this does include all the new fonts used in the Developer Preview, but they’re not flashable. For those wanting a quick taste, there is a flashable ZIP available here (courtesy of XDA member dwxvi). If you’re familiar with SoftKeyZ on your device, then you can get the new look buttons here as well. All-in-all, these little tweaks and apps should help you get a little taste of Android L, I’ve cherrypicked some of these additions for use on my KitKat ROM and things do look a little more Material-y, as for icons, I’d recommend HeraCon.