Even though Android’s Lollipop 5.1 update has been quite heavily anticipated by the community, Google ended up releasing the new version of the operating system pretty much quietly – the update is now available, and the company is already advertising it for a few of their devices, but there has been no major announcement stating that the update’s been released. However, visiting the company’s Android One website, a statement can be seen which claims that all new devices are running the “latest and fastest version of Android (5.1 Lollipop)”.
While it was initially believed that this was a mistake by Google, it was eventually confirmed that the new update is in fact a reality, and Google are moving forward with its release. It’s not known what the full list of changes is yet, as Google have not published a changelog for the update at this point, but various members of the community have been working hard to compile an unofficial list of introduced changes, and so far the picture of the new update is shaping up pretty clearly.
Silent mode has been brought back, marking the fixing of one of the most annoying issues introduced with Android 5.0, something that users have been complaining about very vocally. The system has been made more stable as a whole as well, and users have been reporting fewer crashes and performance issues, while on the other hand the OS now handles its memory much more efficiently. Previously, there used to be many problems with apps closing down unexpectedly, especially on some particular devices, but those seem to have been resolved now, as users are reporting that all crash-related problems have been addressed with this version.
Google have also been working hard to improve their “Material Design” style, after they introduced it in Android 5.0. The new visual style has been received very positively by most users of the operating system, but at the same time, there were some common complaints about its choice of colors, and the overall arrangement of some visual details. Now, Google have apparently listened, as the revisions to their design have made it much closer to what people seem to want, judging by the most common comments.
Android 5.1 is shaping up very nicely, and the operating system will likely remain in its leading position for a while now, judging by the hard work Google have been putting into it, and the amount of attention they’ve been paying to user feedback. This is where some other companies have been falling short, and it’s always been the area where Google have been able to shine the most – so it’s no surprise that they’ve been listening more closely lately.