Android L review

Google has introduced a new look for Android os, which has also been offered to developers for use in their Android apps. Android L brings more depth to the operating system's appearance using shadows, light and also automatically generates touches of colour based on the content being displayed. There are also plenty of new animations making the OS feel different.

The dialer has been moved to the right this shows a great differentiation amongst recent os .....the recents panel has also been been changed to a 3d rotary style view.. Each app has a card and can be swiped off to the side to close it as normal but also tap the 'X'. A new feature here is that apps like Chrome will have individual cards for each open tab....

Notification bar

The drop down notification bar has also had a complete redesign with a different layout as well as the Material Design style. You swipe down from the top of the screen as per usual but instead of tapping a button, you swipe a second time to access quick settings – which now includes a screen brightness slider, notifications (including do not disturb), and cast screen. notifications look quite different on Android L. As well as a new look and getting them in new places, they will be ordered by priority (something which Android L will learn more over time) rather than chronologically. You can swipe them away to the side as per usual but also double tap to open the associated app.

Performance

So design is a massive change in Android L but there are other things too. Google has switched from the Dalvik to ART (Android runtime) which the firm says is up to twice as fast. , it wasn't as if KitKat was exactly slow. We found nothing to get excited about in benchmarks. I doubt the average user will notice any difference but things could change by the time Android L is released. The other big performance upgrade is support for 64-bit processors. We don't have any 64-bit Android devices yet but they will arrive later this year, probably soon after or with Android L and this will boost performance

Security

A new feature which has been announced for Android L is location and proximity based levels of security. it will enable users to unlock their smartphone or tablet without entering a PIN, pattern lock or similar, but only when they are close enough to a device like an Android Wear smartwatch or in a location like their own home...

You can view some screenshots below...

Note: They are all from the nexus