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| Android 5.0 Lollipop |
Android Lollipop has been a long time coming. There were worries this would be an iterative update, but this is a new level for Google's OS. One that was needed.
This is Android 5, and it feels like a really big step up from Android 4.4.
The key messaging here from the search giant is not that it's just 'a bit better' – it's that it's been overhauled visually and combines well with more than phones and tablets, with watches taking centre stage too.
Note: I'm writing this as a hands on review of the software as I've not had a chance to fully test it with a phone as well, just the Nexus 9. Once I've run it through some tests there, I'll be in a position to score this OS properly.
This is arguably one of the most important releases of Android yet for Google, as it struggles to keep a leash on the myriad manufacturers trying to create something that doesn't look a thing like the stock operating system.
To that end, new Android Lollipop is slicker, faster, more beautiful and, importantly, kinder on the battery than ever.
The new interface is clean and simple, and the whole platform is designed with little flourishes that make it seem premium and useful, which is something that Google will be hoping entices the manufacturers to bring in more recognisable elements of it when they upgrade their handsets to the new platform.
The other important thing here is to make Android 5.0 a really simple tool to build on top of, thus enabling faster upgrades for users.
Apple delights in showing how many of its users are on the latest version of the software compared to the forked Android playground, so if Lollipop appears quickly for all consumers then the platform will become a lot more appealing to developers too.
On top of that you've got the new abilities baked in to compete directly with Apple while improving the experience for users. Running a 64-bit architecture might seem a little redundant now, given there's no phone with enough RAM to support it (although it does lead to slight performance enhancements in some apps), but Google knows what it's doing here and it wants to – like Apple – future proof its platform.
But enough of the strategy – is this new platform actually any good? You're probably going to upgrade no matter what happens, and if you're using a Nexus device you should already have that opportunity, but will the two dimensional interface flatter to deceive?