Android L: 8 New Features in the Next Major Android Release

Android has grown from a tiny upstart to the world's dominant mobile computing platform with over a billion active users. Google isn't sitting still, though, and has just unveiled what it calls the most ambitious Android release yet. Currently known only as Android L, there's no dessert-themed codename or even formal version number yet. Android L will release later this year, though an exact date isn't known.

We hope to see new smartphones launch around the same time which take advantage of all the new features, and also updates to existing smartphones. HTC is amongst the companies committed to bringing it to its existing HTC One family, while others should announce support soon.

Here are some of the most exciting new features of Android L

Material design
Android will receive a complete visual overhaul aimed at promoting a consistent experience across Android device sizes and types. The new "Material Design" identity is bolder, more colourful, and more animated. Every transition between screens and every user interaction has been refined, down to the system-wide Roboto typeface and the Android navigation buttons.

The change could also be aimed at discouraging third-party vendors from developing custom Android overlays which greatly deviate from Google's vision. A strong enough core UI experience could lead users to reject anything seen as inferior to it.Screen elements will be able to simulate depth, with automatic shadows and scaling, but will also inherit elements of classic magazine typography and layout. There's more emphasis on simple shapes and consistent actions that lead you from one app into another. Google's new design page offers hints of what is to come.

The Material Design identity integrates elements of responsive Web design and will extend to other Google properties including Gmail, which will be redesigned for the Web as well as mobile apps. Material Design takes into account the fact that touch, voice, mouse and keyboard are all equally important input methods, clearly illustrating goals above and beyond smartphone usage scenarios.

Improved notifications

You will be able to interact with notifications more easily in Android L. For starters, you can choose which ones show up on the lock screen and what amount of detail they'll show. You can decide whether snippets of actual messages are displayed when your phone is potentially visible to others, or whether more details will only be revealed when you unlock it. They also aren't necessarily displayed in chronological order anymore - the OS can learn which ones you're more likely to respond to urgently and prioritise those.

There's also a new type of notification altogether - Google calls these heads ups. These appear on top of whatever you're doing and allow you to take action or dismiss them immediately. These are meant to be less intrusive, and can be used for things that can't wait, such as incoming calls.

Trusted environments
Speaking of the lock screen, you'll soon be able to have your phone detect when it's in a trusted environment, which will dispense with the lock code. This could be triggered by the presence of a Bluetooth device such a smartwatch that you wear all the time, a specific Wi-Fi access point, or other factors. When the environment is deemed safe, you won't have to bother with unlocking your phone.

Project Volta, battery improvements
Android L will be able to manage battery life much better, but Google's moves go beyond that to the app development stage, for which new tools have been developed that let developers track battery drain and optimise apps before they ever reach end users. The battery saver mode is similar to those implemented by third parties so far - non-essential services can be turned off or made to run only at intervals in order to save power. Android L will also be able to lower the screen refresh rate, reduce the frequency of data exchanges, or force apps to change their behaviour to match the prevailing battery state.

Google Fit
Everyone's getting into health and activity tracking, and Google is no exception. The new Google Fit framework will take Apple's Healthkit head on, tying into sensors on phones themselves as well as connected accessories to collect data which will be ready for apps to use. Major partners including Nike, Adidas, Runkeeper, HTC, Asus, LG and Motorola are already on board. Google Fit could monitor physical activity and food intake as well as health indicators such as heart rate and breathing.

Greater Web integration
There's also a change to the way individual tabs and documents in apps are handled by Android L. They'll now show up as individual entries in the Recents menu, allowing users to jump directly between them. This pulls the focus away from apps and puts it onto all the things you do with them. For example, Web apps open in Chrome tabs would appear much like native apps running on your device, and you'd be able to jump in and out of them more quickly.

Links on the Web can now also be used to launch apps instead of websites (presumably falling back to the website in case the app is not installed). For example, Google demonstrated looking up a restaurant in Chrome and then tapping a link to not only launch the OpenTable app, but also have it know that it should bring up that restaurant's booking page. Google search results can also now be links that trigger an app, rather than links to websites.

ART Runtime and Android Extension Pack
Google is ditching the Dalvik runtime which has served well for years, in favour of a new one called ART. It can make apps load and run quite a bit faster while using less RAM. ART is 64-bit compatible, and is also engineered to allow apps to work across hardware architectures such as ARM and X86. This also means that Android devices will be able to address more RAM than the 32-bit limit allowed.

With greater diversity in Android hardware obviously envisioned for the near future, the move is a welcome change. Google has worked with major hardware vendors to enable more fluid graphics, potentially paving the way for new Android-based game consoles and set-top boxes. Desktop-class graphics including tessellation, geometry shaders and texture compression will potentially be possible on Android devices.

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Knox

Google also made a few announcements that indicate interesting things on the horizon for enterprise users. The company announced that Samsung's Knox feature for work and personal separation will become a part of Android itself. Knox allows corporate IT administrators to control work-related data and policies on employees' smartphones while letting the employees themselves continue to store personal data and use unrelated apps. This alleviates many of the problems with accessing secure information from mobile devices and could make Android far more attractive to businesses.

Has any phone in 2013 made you switch platforms?

We're in that final stretch of months
before 2013 officially comes to an end,
and it's been a pretty wild year for
mobile all year long.

In the beginning, we saw BlackBerry's
plans and release of BlackBerry 10. In
the following months we saw the
release of two of the most anticipated
Android flagships of the year, the HTC
One and the Samsung Galaxy S4. We
finally found out the dark and
mysterious details of Google's "X"
phone, which turned out to be none
other than the Moto X, which featured
just about none of the things leaks,
rumors and hopes predicted that it
would. Nokia pushed the envelope even
further with their Nokia Lumia line,
famous for its notably good cameras
for a smartphone, by releasing the
Nokia Lumia 1020 with its 41-megapixel
camera. We also have phones like the
iPhone 5s, the Nexus 5, the Galaxy
Note 3 and the LG G2 . Yep, it's been a
pretty good year for mobile.

New phones are released all the time.
But regardless of how many phones
can be produced, each smartphone is
more than likely using one of four of
the most popular mobile platforms that
we have available to us today: iOS,
Android, Windows Phone or BlackBerry.

These platforms are constantly
changing and tweaking in order to
become the best, and I have to say
that this year has had one of the
most interesting combinations of new
hardware and new software I have
seen in a while. If you guys have had
any thoughts like I have, you've
probably considered jumping from
whatever phone it is that you have to
something new - perhaps you even
made the switch.

Did any new phones tickle your fancy
enough to make you switch this year?
One did for me (get it? One ? Ha!)
Actually, I should say two . Initially, I
was more intrigued by the Galaxy S4.
However, just as I had suspected in
previous thoughts mentioned across my
articles, there is such a thing as a
phone that's too big for some people.

It seems that a 5" screen is just too
much for me to be able to hold without
dropping onto the floor, my face, or
whatever else I happen to be holding
my phone over. Aside from that and
some apparent issue with overheating
(as in the phone felt hot - really hot
- but didn't show much adverse
effects from it) the phone would have
been dandy. I really did like the
camera and all of the features. But
the fact that I couldn't even hold the
phone comfortably bothered me more
than anything, and I ended up
switching out for the HTC One.
Switching from iOS back to Android
was a lot easier than I thought it
would be, mostly because I still
remembered Android as being the slow,
buggy OS that it was back in 2010. But
once I decided to make the jump back
to Android from iOS after being mostly
happy with iOS for the better part of
two years, I was honestly surprised at
how well Android had adapted.
Whether
it was the advances that Android made
over the past couple of years, or
perhaps just the fact that I had
lowered my expectations when I
switched to the One and my
expectations were surpassed, I am still
to this day pretty darn happy with my
One. Although I will once again stress
that the purple tint on my camera is
still an issue that wasn't fixed since
updating to the official Android 4.3
build. Aside from that, the phone is
fantastic. Great build, great feel,
great battery life, and runs smooth
like butter.

I even entertained the thought of
switching to BlackBerry or Windows
Phone as well, considering the only
hands-on experience I've had with the
devices are limited to retail store
displays. BlackBerry was intriguing; I
was interested in seeing how
BlackBerry 10 worked on the
traditional BlackBerry form factor of
having a small screen and a full
physical QWERTY keyboard. I was also
intrigued by the Z10, BlackBerry's
first attempt at what might be
considered a more "normal" look for a
modern smartphone. However, the lack
of applications made specifically for
BlackBerry wasn't exactly inviting. I
will admit, it is nice that several what
I would consider "important"
applications that were initially made
for Android can be "sideloaded" onto
BlackBerry 10, but in the end I wasn't
exactly thrilled with the idea. The same
"lack of application" problem stopped
me from Windows Phone, but definitely
to a lesser degree.
I was mostly
interested in the fact that the Lumia,
at the time, had some of the best
cameras that a smartphone could have.
I also dig the minimalistic interface of
Windows Phone.
Overall, I'm happy I switched to the
One. It's not the first time I've
switched, nor will it be the last, but I
am happy that I was able to switch to
a phone that I thought I would like,
and ended up actually liking it, because
I'm not always that lucky.
Readers, did you find a phone this
year that made you switch platforms?
Which platform did you come from, and
which one did you go to? Are you
happy with the decision? Let us know
your thoughts in the comments below!