Google Announces Android 5 Also Known As Lollipop

Last week, the new version of mobile operating system Android Lollipop was revealed last week. The main objective of Lollipop is to standardize devices of any type from smartphones to tablets, from small display of smartwatch to the large panels of the TV– thanks to Google’s new design paradigm aimed at user experience.

Google has change the look of the interface, how it handles notifications, the Quick Settings parameters, and how information is displayed on the lock screen. These interface changes have also come alongside numerous performance boosts that affect the operating system to increase responsiveness.

Interface with Material Design

For many users, the most striking new feature of Lollipop will be your new look, based on a new paradigm that Google has defined as material design. This concept places a renewed emphasis on the use of graphic animations and color changes in response to user actions.

This is set of visual clues that help the user to understand what is happening in the app with very little screen real estate to work with. Another change is that Lollipop offers greater customization of how users want to receive notifications. This will help developers build apps for users to choose which ones should be prioritized and show up in the list. The idea behind is that the user can handle the volume of information according to preferences.

Google also introduced heads-up notifications that allow developers to add a small box that appears above full-screen apps. A user can then expand, act on, or dismiss the notification without leaving the app they’re in or opening the full notification shade.

Design developers will find Google has provided a simple resource page for numerous elements of design from templates, sticker sheets, the newest Roboto font, and color palettes.

ART runtime system

Google intends for the principles of this design to extend across a multitude of devices, uniting them into something of a cohesive whole. To do this Google replaced Dalvik with the new ART Ahead-Of-Time (AOT) compiling virtual machine. Dalvik is what’s called Just-In-Time (JIT) code compiling, while ART uses Ahead-Of-Time (AOT) compiling.

With ART, developers can create code to reduce the load time for apps and make things like scrolling and multitasking much faster. ART will not only improve app autonomy, but give more fluidity and smoothness. It also means that the Android OS can take advantage of 64-bit processors, which have the potential to support more RAM.

Apps written in the Java language run as 64-bit apps automatically—no modifications are needed. If app uses native code, Google extended the NDK to support new APIs for ARM v8, and x86-64, and MIPS-64.

Developer preview and SDK

The Android 5.0 SDK allows developers to start working on getting their apps ready for the new OS version. Lollipop comes with 5,000 new APIs and new Framework, including the new “Expansion Pack”, which will allow game developers to take advantage of the geometry shaders to create games of the level of a PC. It extends Android even further, from phones, tablets, and wearables, to TVs and cars.

Developers will therefore be able to begin modify their applications so that they can take advantage of all the technical innovations introduced by Lollipop – 64 bit support, new APIs for performance, taking pictures and videos or to improve the autonomy of devices.

Google says Android 5.0 adds new APIs that allow apps to perform concurrent operations with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), allowing both scanning (central mode) and advertising (peripheral mode).

In addition to reducing consumption energy, support for 64-bit devices, improved graphics rendering, the SDK supports OpenGL ES 3.1, the management of audio output devices via USB, as well as support for 15 new languages. This makes a total of 68 languages ​​supported on Lollipop.

OpenGL ES 3.1 and Android Extension Pack (AEP) brings Android to the forefront of mobile graphics putting it on par with desktop and console class performance. State of the art video technology with support for HEVC main profile to allow for UHD 4K 10-bit video playback, tunneled hardware video decoding to save power and improved HLS support for streaming.

Google is also encouraging developers to go ahead and publish their updated apps with support for Android 5.0 Lollipop to Google Play.

Save battery with Project Volta

Google introduced the power saving mode (Project Volta) in the last developer preview. Android now integrates Project Volta as the next big thing to squeeze more battery life on phones and tablets. With this feature, developers can better understand how apps impact device battery life and allows them to schedule code execution so that applications are optimized using the limited battery in the most appropriate manner.

Android Lollipop 5.0 also includes a new battery saving feature that promises to extend the length up to 90 additional minutes. Likewise, it will now be easier to see how much time is left before you have to charge your phone or tablet again; also shows you the time remaining to complete charging the device.

Enhanced security

New devices on Lollipop come with encryption automatically turned on to help protect data on lost or stolen devices. Developers can force SELinux enforcing for all applications means even better protection against vulnerabilities and malware.

Moreover, developers have the option to use Android Smart Lock to secure the phone or tablet by pairing it with a trusted device like your wearable or even your car.

Enhanced multimedia experience

Google says Android 5.0 introduces all new camera APIs that let you capture raw formats such as YUV and Bayer RAW, and control parameters such as exposure time, ISO sensitivity, and frame duration on a per-frame basis.

New MediaSession APIs for controlling media playback now make it easier to provide consistent media controls across screens and other controllers. Android 5.0 also adds support for multimedia tunneling to provide the best experience for ultra-high definition (4K) content and the ability to play compressed audio and video data together.

Developers can learn more about what’s new in the Android 5.0 platform highlights, download the SDK from here and get started here.

photo credit: Sister72 via photopin cc