Android 5:
Lollipop – the sweetest Google
OS? Really? Bitter-sweet at best!
by KUW (posted 11/23/2014)
by KUW (posted 11/23/2014)
You can read it all over
the internet: Lollipop, the sweetest Google OS – get it as soon as you can….
Well, here is my opinion after having this “sweet thing” on my phone, and
verdict is: not sweet at all – it’s more bitter-sweet (with emphasis on the
first word).
At first, I got excited
about the promises that were made. According to CNET, “the update is packed
with exciting features, including a new design, revamped notifications,” etc.
You can see videos with Sharon Profis explaining some of the features. It all
looked good; but I decided to wait and to upgrade right away. Lately, some of
the programs like the Android Email app started to act strangely with constant
crashes; but then, a notification appeared: Android 5 is ready for download and
installation. So, I said to myself “OK, let’s do it, how bad could it be? It
should be better than the current version, right?” Oh boy, I was so wrong. I
wish I had a flux capacitor in a DeLorean to go back in time.
After 3 hours, the OS
was downloaded and installed on my Nexus 4. I have to admit, the whole process
went quite smoothly. After turning it on, the first impression was good, clean
look, and all apps – thank you – still in place with the same home screen look
and background settings.
So, why am I
disappointed? Well, first of all, connecting to the WiFi network took forever.
When I wanted to look for available networks under Settings, nothing happened.
The Settings crashed constantly. I don’t know how many reports I already fired
off each time that happened and it still happens when I restart the phone. I
actually gave up looking for networks, and the phone had finally found it when
I picked it up much later. The second thing I don’t like is the new
Notifications screen that you swipe down. OK, the cards now look like Google
Now, albeit in a smaller format. I don’t care for the white background, not a
big deal to me; but you have to swipe down twice to see the screen where you
can toggle things on or off. Was that really necessary? A third party app like
“Extended Settings” still does a better job. Using the latter app, you can see all
toggles in one or perhaps two rows right after the first swipe. You can put the
toggles on top or below the notifications, so why would I need the new A5
feature? I don’t! To get into the Settings from the Notification screen, you have
to swipe down twice now and then hit the settings icon. Well, one more swipe to
exercise your fingers. Great!
The biggest thing
advertised about A5 is the inclusion of the Notifications on the lock screen –
a nice feature …. two years ago, perhaps….If you have an Android Wearable
device like a Moto 360, then you will likely not care much about that feature
anymore. I do no longer whip out the phone to see why it is making a noise or
why it’s vibrating. I look at the watch to see notifications or who is calling.
So, on my phone Notifications on the Lock Screen feature?… Disabled…I bet, you
will do the same once you have an Android watch on your wrist.
After you get over the
issue why Google still doesn't allow additional home screens on an older Nexus device
with the new OS, you will be negatively surprised again about another thing: the
Lock Screen. OK, get rid of the Notifications, and what you get is a pretty
naked look. Now, you have to swipe up to show the pattern look or whatever you
use to lock your phone. Great, one more unnecessary swipe after you turn on the
phone. It seems that the days are gone when you were able to put widgets on the
look screen, or maybe I just haven’t figured it out yet; but all widgets that I
had on the lock screen(s) (yeah there were more than one in KitKat) are gone.
Emergency call and camera are the only ones left. I now realize how much I had
used those widgets, and if there weren't enough other issues, Lollipop would
not have been installed on my phone because of that issue alone. One thing that
is good in A5 is the new pinning feature, which allows you to pin an app
temporarily in front of the lock screen. This is something I will have to use,
now that the widgets are gone.
Another thing I noticed
is battery drainage. I don’t know why the battery is draining faster. Perhaps
it’s just an imagination, but I can’t figure it out from looking at the battery
usage information screen. Someone needs to explain to me what the percentages
on that screen actually mean. For example, if 55% of the battery is left, the %
usage of the individual apps combined does not add up to 100%. I don’t even
know what the % means behind each app. Looks like I am not smart enough – I am
just a user (a god damn customer – if you get my reference to Office Space).
Now the new Overview feature: WOW!!! Well, good luck flipping through all those open apps. You might be faster to find what you want if you just go to the entire apps list. When you liked the feature on the old iPod where you flip through album covers, you will like this; but I want to see how long you will play around with this. For me, this is too cluttered. To simply jump to a particular app, it is probably easier to find it on your home screen.
Email and photo apps:
The email app is gone! So is the photo app, RIP! Now every email goes through
the Gmail app, and there is no way to select particular email accounts to be
shown. It is everything or nothing. The photos are now in the Google+ app. If
you simply want to look for your pictures on the phone - well, good luck with
that app, or perhaps you like the big inviting button on top of the app to turn
on the autosync feature. What’s next? Auto-Share? I wasn't, and I still am, not
a big fan of turning things on my phone over to a G+ environment. Google+ is
not like Picasa or your Gmail. Next thing you know, hit the wrong button and
everything on your phone is publicly available? Great move, Google! Why do you care
about making efforts to encrypt an Android phone if you want us to move every
piece of information to Google+, pictures, location…? FYI, an OS is not a
social network tool! Was the government telling you to do that? Do you think Apple’s
iOS is becoming Facebook? What is your business model, Google? In my opinion, it
all started when you got rid of your excellent Latitude app and integrated that
service in a low-key manner into G+. Instead of reversing that trend in A5, you keep
steaming on, like the Titanic.
There are certainly a
lot of improvements to be made, and I am sure they will be an upgrade soon to Android
5.1 (I hope). I might be alone with my assessment, but what I would like to
have on my Nexus right now is Android KitKat with the screen pinning feature
added. Are you still
undecided whether to upgrade to A5 or not? I can only suggest
that you wait!
Epilog
Do you like automation on your Android phone? I do, and that is why I still prefer Android over iOS. I use Tasker for quite some time, with or without NFC tags, its adaptation to change settings depending on geo location. That isn’t working any more so smoothly in A5. With the new Priority Mode baked into Android, the Tasker sound settings are way off. Tasker will still function and to turn your sound to silence if you programmed it that way, but I guess the Priority Mode is overriding these settings. So, despite setting the phone to silence with Tasker, mine still makes noises when messages or phone calls come in. I hope I have you convinced now to wait with the upgrade if you use automation to change settings on your phone. If you rely on them, stay with KitKat. As appealing as it is that Android integrates many good features like priority mode, location settings, quick settings into the notification screen etc., I am a bit concerned about the ability to automate the phone in the future. Why do I say this? For example, why shouldn’t it be possible to change the location settings from full mode to battery safer mode and vice versa with a third party app like Tasker? If I plug the phone into my car’s USB for extra juice and it automatically connects to Bluetooth, why shouldn’t I be able to automatically change the location settings as well so can use the GPS whenever I tell the phone or my connected Android watch to do so? I foresee the trend of automation to get harder instead of easier with Google’s attempts of integrating more features into Android and locking them up; but please don’t tell me to root the phone (whatever that is) to get those things done. I am not a programmer. If that general trend continues, Android will look and feel like iOS.
I apologize for being so negative, and I’ll make it up, perhaps by writing more upbeat reviews on some other things in the future that I like a lot, like the Moto 360. That watch is not perfect like the other wearables, but it is a lot of fun. Get it!
Do you like automation on your Android phone? I do, and that is why I still prefer Android over iOS. I use Tasker for quite some time, with or without NFC tags, its adaptation to change settings depending on geo location. That isn’t working any more so smoothly in A5. With the new Priority Mode baked into Android, the Tasker sound settings are way off. Tasker will still function and to turn your sound to silence if you programmed it that way, but I guess the Priority Mode is overriding these settings. So, despite setting the phone to silence with Tasker, mine still makes noises when messages or phone calls come in. I hope I have you convinced now to wait with the upgrade if you use automation to change settings on your phone. If you rely on them, stay with KitKat. As appealing as it is that Android integrates many good features like priority mode, location settings, quick settings into the notification screen etc., I am a bit concerned about the ability to automate the phone in the future. Why do I say this? For example, why shouldn’t it be possible to change the location settings from full mode to battery safer mode and vice versa with a third party app like Tasker? If I plug the phone into my car’s USB for extra juice and it automatically connects to Bluetooth, why shouldn’t I be able to automatically change the location settings as well so can use the GPS whenever I tell the phone or my connected Android watch to do so? I foresee the trend of automation to get harder instead of easier with Google’s attempts of integrating more features into Android and locking them up; but please don’t tell me to root the phone (whatever that is) to get those things done. I am not a programmer. If that general trend continues, Android will look and feel like iOS.
I apologize for being so negative, and I’ll make it up, perhaps by writing more upbeat reviews on some other things in the future that I like a lot, like the Moto 360. That watch is not perfect like the other wearables, but it is a lot of fun. Get it!
