Android 5.0 Lollipop Preview: Everything New in the Announcement

Preview timing

Google’s developer team announced that the Android 5.0 SDK and updated Nexus preview images would be posted on October 17. Owners of the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 could try the preview, and the final version was expected within weeks. This is history now: Lollipop is long outdated.

Design and notifications

• Material Design. Responsive motion, realistic lighting and shadow, vivid colours, new typography and edge-to-edge imagery across devices.
• Lock screen notifications. Read and answer messages there, with sensitive content hidden.
• Priority mode. Switch it on from the volume button so only chosen people and apps get through, or schedule recurring downtime such as 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
• Calls that do not interrupt. An incoming call no longer takes over a game or video. You answer or carry on.
• Smarter ranking of notifications by sender and type, plus per-app controls.

Battery, security and sharing

• Battery saver extends use by up to 90 minutes, with time-to-full shown while charging and time remaining in settings.
• Encryption on by default for new devices and SELinux enforced for all apps.
• Smart Lock unlocks the phone with a trusted wearable, a car or your face.
• Multiple users on phones, a guest user on phones and tablets, and screen pinning.

Performance and hardware

• ART replaces the old runtime, with a smoother interface and compacting of background apps.
• 64-bit support for ARM, x86 and MIPS chips, as on the Nexus 9, with 64-bit versions of apps such as Chrome and Gmail.
• Connectivity. Better handoff between Wi-Fi and cellular, connecting only to Wi-Fi with a verified internet link, and low-power Bluetooth scanning with a new peripheral mode.
• Media. Lower-latency audio, USB audio, up to eight channels of mixing, OpenGL ES 3.1, raw camera capture and HEVC video for 4K playback.

Everything else

• New Quick Settings reached in two swipes, with flashlight, hotspot, rotation and cast controls.
• Android TV support for living-room devices, with voice search and gamepad play.
• Accessibility options such as text contrast and colour inversion.
• Support for more than 68 languages, 15 of them new.
• Tap and go setup between phones over NFC, and automatic app restore.
• “Ok Google” with the screen off on supported hardware, tap and pay app switching, and print preview.