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Google officially revealed Android 5.1 today… somewhat. The upgrade to Lollipop was introduced alongside the launch of Android One phones in Indonesia, and those phones seem to be shipping with it out of the box. Android One’s Indonesian website also makes passing references to the upgrade.
So what’s new? Unfortunately Google isn’t delivering the changelog we’d all love to see, but a couple of screenshots from folks who have fondled the new devices do well enough to get us started.
The biggest known change is in the notification pane where you will notice two handy dropdowns for Bluetooth and WiFi. These will allow you to switch between devices and networks instead of your standard toggle action. It’s not a huge feature, but it’s small stuff like that coming together that makes Lollipop the big, sweet package it is.
Some of the handsets also seem to be loaded up with battery analysis apps to see if project Volta — Google’s big battery-saving changes — is doing its job. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like much more than your typical battery monitor, and we’re not even sure it’s meant to be accessible to the user as its pre-Lollipop user interface seems out of place.
Of course we could be wrong, but that’d take an actual changelog from Google to confirm. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take too long for the Mountain View giant to make the announcement formal.
So, what changed again? That notification panel in the picture is on Android 5.0. Are you saying something new happens if you select the WiFi or Bluetooth toggle?
If you look closely, you can see a little triangle indicating a drop-down menu under the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth buttons. Supposedly this opens a menu allowing you to change which Wi-Fi network you’re connected to. In 5.0, you can only turn it on or off.
I see it now. Thanks.
Click the word underneath the icon and if WiFi or Bluetooth are turned on you’ll get the same thing under 5.0.x
Not as a drop-down menu. Instead it jumps you to the Wi-Fi portion of the Settings app.
Also, it’s not very discoverable, due to the lack of that little triangle thing indicating that clicking there will do something. For example, I had no idea that clicking there did anything in 5.0 before you pointed it out. :-P
Thanks! Had no idea, very useful
Holding down the icon in the notification pane will bring up the equivalent settings page for both icons on the S5. It works both pre and post lollipop update.
Doesn’t work on my Nexus 6.
Ah, must be a touchwiz feature then. The built in lollipop toggle is better anyways.
Looking forward to the new Lollipop flavor…
cant wait to get these bugs fixed!! AT&T better not block this for too long…or I will do nothing about it.
If you have that phone in your profile you don’t have to worry about what AT&T does.
Awesome me want some candy
So I wonder if they finally enabled the LED? I just flashed the latest DU weekly and it has it baked in now; works well.
That is still a ROM thing and can be unlocked with the root options you have with that ROM. The reason they didn’t include it is because it was not deemed to be necessary with the Ambient display, that is also the reason double tap to wake was not implemented. After living with root and double tap for only one day, the inconsistency of it being able to work led me to get rid of both.
As much as I agree that it is a “root thing” and can be enabled through ROM or applications, I still feel Android is about choice. I feel like it’s a waste of hardware to let an LED destined for notification lay dormant. I think it should be MY choice if I want “ambient notification” or LED, not Google. I just wish I didn’t have to choose to load a custom ROM to get my options. As for function, I have had no issue with the LED notifications.
The LED seems to work nicely. I don’t like it near as much as the ambient display, so again I went back to stock without root and removed the apps that did these things. But that is our choice. You can have the LED without a custom ROM too, though. You only need to be rooted and use Light Flow, or a similar app. It works in stock, but you need root.
Which brings me to another good point. Perhaps it would be good for Google to allow root access through a check box in developer options instead of hacking it with a zip file online. But the problem is supporting this with the average user, though how many average users do you think know how to unlock developer options on their phones? Plus, you could state that it is not recommended to turn it on and make them click twice to assume responsibility if something goes wrong.
And current Android 5.0 phones won’t receive 5.1 typical story on Android
Unless ur a nexus
Good point, sadly more than 60% of Android users will be left out, fragmentation in Android is just too much
And many of those users could care less about the incremental updates brought by Google because they often add nothing to the user experience. Does the average user care about where the WiFi networks or Bluetooth devices are listed? lol
The biggest problem is that with the new releases there are many things going on under the hood that ALL users would get benefit from. Better battery usage, cleaned up processes etc. The new releases aren’t just about what you see, they are more about what you don’t. Newer apps work better with newer OS, etc. That is why so many people choose Iphone, it is uniformed, they know they are getting the best it has to offer. Android has so many different experiences that it is hard for a user to know exactly what they are using. I think that is a huge problem for Android as a whole. It should be more uniformed, there should be less skins. Launchers exist and will be used by everyone to get around the look and feel thing. OEMs are just confusing the process and robbing people of the true benefits of having OS updates.
buy a nexus, or a moto then
Not the point. I do only buy Nexus devices. I will not buy anything else until it has the experience that I should be getting with my devices. I hate this attitude, oh just get this, or just get that. I think Samsung should go ahead and release Tizen then and see if it is successful. IPhone gaining popularity again is something I don’t think is by accident. The multiple ways that Android is implemented by the carriers confuses and clutters the experience and users think that every Android phone is like that. In fact, many people will look at the LG G3 and ask why does Google make their OS so cluttered. They don’t realize that it isn’t Google, that is LG. Same thing with Samsung, the features are great, but integrate them with the OS like Moto X. It is one of, if not the most, popular of all the Android phones on the market with the publications and people who are experienced with Android. Why do you think that is? Whatever, I guess you will just continue your line. I don’t know what phone you have and I don’t really care. I was just making a statement that the experience and lack of updates is a problem.
I still don’t know why people complain about this ….if you want fast updates get a Nexus device. Its not google’s job to make sure the other companies push out updates fast or at all.
I would have, if they didn’t release a tablet sized phone
would be nice if they added a flash light toggle
They already have it on quick settings.