Android lollipop was only officially announced a little over a week ago, but Google has officially named November 3rd as “Android Lollipop Day”. As most of you know, Android Lollipop is the latest sweet to have the honor of being an Android version. Along with the software came the hardware announcements for the Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Nexus Player.
A message was sent out earlier today from Google to app developers stating that November 3rd will be the first day customers will have the Nexus 9 with Android 5.0 Lollipop. The message urged them to test their apps on the Lollipop preview to make sure they are ready for the latest version before uploading to Google Play. Earlier we had heard the OTA updates were to begin on this same date. Most of us were sure November 3rd would be the day, Google just confirmed it.
As we have seen, Google has been working hard to get all of its apps looking unified with the same characteristics and feel (material design). It feels much more polished and refined with clean actions and slider menus. Unifying the way we use each app within Google helps us in our day-to-day chores of searching/accessing emails, using Google docs, playing music, or chatting on Hangouts. I know the similarities in the apps have made my usage better and saves time also. The changes have been more than just visual, jumping from one device to another and continuing where you left off is a feature that most of us can benefit from. I use several devices in a day, and it is nice to be able to access whatever you were just doing on another device. Prioritizing notifications is very welcomed from me. I find that many of the notifications that I receive are unnecessary or not a priority. Setting which notifications I would rather receive will reduce the clutter on my notification screen as well as keep them in front of me instead of being buried in the mess. These features as well as built-in encryption for security, two swipes down for quick settings, improved Bluetooth low energy capabilities, better network handoffs, and a better backup system for devices are all great improvements to Android.
With all these great new features and improvements, which of them are going to impact your use the most? Let us know below.