The latest android is finally out of the bag!! Developer’s preview, leaked specifications, subtle revelations, even casting videos(Oreo seriously?) The world is going berserk over the latest release of the open source operating system intriguing developers and users since its inception. With over 900 million activation on unique devices it is the deepest penetrating OS in the world.
The one question that bugged me was, what was Google going to do next after KitKat. Memory optimizations were already at an all time high. Every thing just seemed perfect with Kitkat. One thing was missing though- “The WoW factor” . With lollipop Google has literally amazed everyone. Every new release comes with it’s regular quirks, new gestures, features for users, API’s for developers, security improvements but one thing that blows away everyone mind is the material design. Lollipop with it’s material design is on the driving seat. Every OS is bound to bow to the pressure and developers have to update apps to keep up.
Material design is really an extremely intuitive way to interact with apps. The basic principle is to allow the user to understand how he is interacting with the app. It makes use of bold colors, shadows to indicate what element is beneath what, motion and animation to display which element came out from where and where does it disappears back again. Over all it makes the user feels he is in control and helps him to understand the flow of the app. This is an intellectual step in the direction of user experience which up till now android was neglecting.
Google has also show cased the beautiful implementation of material design in the its apps such as Gmail, Google+, Hangouts, Google Now, it feels fluid and awesome. It will encourage other developers to improve the look and feel of their apps.
Google has also indicated its plans for future expansion of android. It ranges from the low priced Android One platform to industry horsepower nexus 6. ART is the default run time now and it is closely related to Project Volta for the improved battery life. 64 Bit chip-set support highlights how android is planning to take on enterprise and making it actually productive, useful and profitable. Chrome running android apps is just a step in the direction of closely integrating all Google services with android as the platform and cloud as the service. This is in stark contrast with offline YouTube for Android One. Google understands the bandwidth and data availability of India- its biggest market.
Kudos to Google and the Android team for releasing a fantastic OS not only in terms of functionality but also in terms of overall design, feel and vibrancy. Hope to see even non power users flaunting nexus devices this year! Need less to say much more ports are going to follow, numerous ROMS are going to pour in, theming and customization may be reaching a whole new level, benchmarks, impressions, reviews, unpacking, drop-tests, updates, new flagships.
I am ready with my arsenal! Are you?
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