DeV Blog: October 2014

Hungry ? Get ready for the next desert !!

Charge your smartphones and beam up your WiFi !

Android 5.0 Lollipop will be Officially announced on 3rd November after waiting so long. Yes, Google confirmed it to be ' The Android Lollipop Day ' .

SDK ( Software Development Kit ..since android is open source ) was already release on 17th Oct for those who would like to settle with emulated virtualization.

We will see many under-the-hood changes that will make this OS even more complete than it is today. Google made efforts to reduce the fragmentation and implement some exciting features.

Some of which would be :

The 'materiaL' Design

The Kill Switch

Hell yeah.. Now that's somethin' cool !

U get this power of KILL SWITCH just in case you go victim of a snatch ( like the one i recently underwent ) or a theft maybe, you can remotely FACTORY RESET your phone like a brand new one with all your private data gone forever.

There are 3rd party apps on play store which provide this kinda anti-theft and after-theft fail safe security apps like Plan B, Android Lost, Where's My Droid and many other anti-virus apps like Avast, Avira, Dr. Web and what not.

But having this feature uniformly embedded in all android phones will be a great comfort.

Basically, it is kinda "Factory Reset Protection" which can make a phone to require a password is entered before it is reset. By a brilliant combination with the ability to remotely lock your phone by Android Device Manager, introduced by Google since last year, the Androids have now got a cool "Kill Switch" that can make a phone useless when stolen and then bring it back to life should it be recovered.

San Francisco district attorney George Gascón and New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman quoted

"We applaud Google for including a ‘kill switch’ solution in its new version of Android, one of the most popular smartphone operating systems in the world. The majority of smartphone owners now have access to a theft-deterrent solution." That said, he added that there's still work to be done, as they want to see all smartphones enable this solution by default so "violent criminals lack the incentive to steal any smartphone."
The kill switch could come to make a big difference for owners of Android smartphones: since Apple added various theft protections to iOS, Gascón and Schneiderman said that they've seen thefts of iPhones plummet. On top of all of that, Android Lollipop also encrypts user data by default, which adds another major layer of security. Of course, Android users will have to actually update to Lollipop — which could take a while — so the results may not be so widespread and immediate. Microsoft is also preparing a kill switch for Windows Phones.

Multi-User Support for Phones

Multi-user support has been available in Android ever since Android 4.2. Unfortunately, it was available only for tablet users. Bringing this feature to phones has been highly demanded by the community, and Google finally decided to give the users what we want. The core functionality is pretty much the same. The first user is considered the owner of the device and controls who else can use the device. Every profile has its own welcome screen, application settings, wallpapers, and such. Profiles can be switched by pressing the head button into top right corner of the screen.

Phew !! Now, you won't have to fight for wallpaper with your siblings or for apps with your friends !

Unbundling of WebView from the OS

WebView is a component that is used by third party applications to display Web content without launching the browser. One of the most important new features spotted so far is that WebView is now a separate package, which can be updated straight from Google. This means that a larger number of users will have access to an updated WebView, leading to greater security that the built-in variant. Separating WebView makes the update process independent from OEMs' ( Original Equipment Manufacturers ) update schedule. This is definitely good news to all users having smartphones whose companies do not provide software updates regularly, which is usually the case ( at least in India ).

Google Search in Recent Apps

Google also added its Search prowess to the Recent Apps screen. Android developers are really trying to make Google Search accessible from every screen. As such, you are now just one tap of your Recent Apps menu away from search at any time. Even the “OK Google” function can be used from that screen ( if you haven’t already enabled it from all other screens ). The motivation behind this feature addition is clear, as the Search engine was Google’s original claim to fame and still one of its major revenue sources.

Application Pinning

Speaking of children and friends… Starting with Android 5.0 Lollipop, users can now pin to lock the currently running application. This is a very convenient way of protecting your data.

There have been historically humorous apps ( rather, jokes ) for the purpose like AppLock which could simply be uninstalled without even having to know the PIN !!

Two Factor Authentication from Initial Login

If you use two-factor authentication or two-step verification, you are probably familiar with how the account login screen opens up a browser window in order to enter your time-sensitive security code. Android Lollipop changes this, as you can now enter the code right from the login screen itself, which will undoubtedly make security-conscious users happier.

Cloud Backed Up Applications WITH their preferences

If you are purchasing a new Android device, you likely already have your own favorite set of apps and more. Google has for a long time backed up your list of applications and WiFi networks, but importing this has never quite worked as it should. For example, some applications are automatically downloaded even when you haven’t used them for ages. With Lollipop, Google refined the system considerably. You can now transfer all relevant settings and applications (even Google Now Launcher settings) through NFC at the time of initial login or selectively through the Internet connection. While unavailable, applications that are to be downloaded will be shown as gray icons that launch their Play Store listing when clicked ( reminds me of iphones )f. After they are restored, they will look and behave like they did before. Furthermore, since Android has offered cloud backup of app data for some time, applications that are coded to use this feature will behave just like they did on the previous device or installation, without the need for third party app data backup and restore apps!

Flappy Android Easter Egg

Last but not the least, we have a brand new Easter Egg !!

Easter Eggs are the games and goodies you can access from Settings--> About Phone --> Android version. Click it several times quickly to see a lollipop. Tap again to change its colors and tap quicker to play the Flappy Android game !

The funky folks over at Google have once again proven that they have a pretty good sense of humor. Do you remember the Nyan Cat Easter Egg back in Ice Cream Sandwich? If you don’t, you can brush up here. With Android 5.0, Google decided to make its own version of the immortal Flappy Bird. This time, you have a chance to tap your screen like crazy to control the bugdroid to squeeze it between two giant lollipops.

Beware: Lollipops are sticky, so your small flapping buddy can easily lose its flying abilities. Let's see who beats my highSCORE