Riding high on the wave of hype following the LG V20‘s unveiling as the first commercially available smartphone to ship with Android 7.0 Nougat, LG has released a new video that shows off some of the special features of UX 5.0 based on Android 7.0 Nougat, as well as some of the special features of their new flagship device. Rather than a radical visual overhaul, the newest version of LG’s custom UI chooses to integrate a number of new features to appeal to the kitchen sink crowd, while keeping things simple enough for the average smartphone user to comfortably operate a device driven by it.
While heads up notifications have shown up in a number of different versions and takes on Android, both company built and community built, LG is taking them a step further here by allowing users to relegate notifications to the second screen, a trademark of the LG V lineup, until clicked. At that point, the notifications interact as any others might. SMS and Hangouts quick reply is available while still engaging with the content you had on the main screen before. Users also have access to a suite of quick tools, accessible from the second screen even while the main screen is off. A new feature called In Apps allows you to use the second screen to launch a search while still looking at the main content.
A suite of professional audio tools aimed at musicians and movie makers is on board, with the ability to control the audio in the recording with an equalizer, and splice in vocals separately. When shooting video, a zoom lever on the far left allows users to zoom in and out smoothly, which should help a bit with shifting focus between subjects in a video. Naturally, a number of Hi-Fi audio tools are available to enhance the audio in videos while they’re being recorded, making the V20 the perfect phone for concert freaks or aspiring musicians. Full-system themes, reminiscent of options present in custom ROMs and Samsung’s TouchWiz, are also on board, as is an option to reduce eye strain by controlling the tone of the display. A “Smart Doctor” helps to diagnose device health issues and recommend fixes. Multi-window has been made dynamically resizable, and the “Display Size” DPI scaling option from stock Nougat is on board. Rounding out the new features in the UI, LG Health also gets a few new tricks in the form of monitoring and setting reminders for drinking water, and a fun “Jumping Rope” mode that allows you to exercise anywhere.