Friday, October 3, 2014

Early, glitchy, unpolished Android L gets previewed on Samsung Galaxy S5

The name is Lollipop, Android Lollipop.



While the flurry of intel bandied around in relation to the purported next member of the Nexus family, N6 or X, doesn’t quite come as a shocker for veteran Google fans, it’s certainly unexpected to see so much of an unreleased Android build so early.

True, Android L technically broke cover months ago, during Big G’s I/O developer-focused presentations, but at the time, the software was mostly experimental. Between then and now, a lot of work was put into ironing out every kink and quashing all bugs, yet until KitKat’s follow-up is to commercially debut, no one expected to get a very detailed look-see.

Certainly not from unofficial sources. But that’s exactly what we’re being spoiled to today. A more than thorough preview of Android Lollipop, aka Android L, as skinned by Samsung to integrate all those polarizing TouchWiz goodies.



And I tell you, if you were torn about TouchWiz and Android’s love affair before, Galaxy S5’s Lollipop firmware is bound to deepen your love-hate relationship with the blend.

First things first, let’s address the elephant in the room. The “alpha” build showcased in the extensive 8-minute hands-on clip is very much a work in progress. We don’t know when it was conceived in this form, but we don’t expect it to be finished until December. Best case scenario.

Also, if you somehow happen to get your hands on it (it’s test build code LRW58J, by the way), do yourselves a favor – don’t flash it. Leave it be, it’s too buggy and unstable to become a daily ROM.





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That said, and fully acknowledging beauty is usually in the eye of the beholder, I must say this piece of software sure looks pretty. In a minimalistic, responsive, productive way, that is, with Samsung entirely dedicated to Google’s “material design” tweaking guidelines.

Forget blue, white is the color du jour now, and every one of Sammy’s proprietary apps, Messages, S Memo and Dialer included, are altered to send a purer, smoother vibe than ever before. Again, it’s all a matter of personal taste and preference, but this writer approves of the direction both Android and TouchWiz are headed to.

Unfortunately, a number of features and functions don’t work as they should on the Android L-powered Galaxy S5 yet, or are absent altogether, so in the end, we’ll hold judgment for when Lollipop officially rolls out over-the-air.

That doesn’t mean we don’t welcome preliminary feedback from y’all on how Android L is shaping up compared to KitKat. Excited or not so much? Sound off below.

Source: Sam Mobile



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