Google officially launched its latest operating system, the Android 5.0 Lollipop, on Monday, NDTV Gadgets reported.
Android Lollipop is centered around Google's new Material Design philosophy which Google described in Android's official website as a "bold, colorful, and responsive UI design for consistent, intuitive experiences across all your devices."
"We unveiled material design earlier this year: one consistent design language flexible enough to span devices across mobile, desktop, and beyond. Design is a major focus for Lollipop-the latest version of Android-which begins to roll out today," Nicholas Jitkoff, an Android Designer at Google, wrote on the official company blog post on Monday.
Aside from Material Design, Android 5.0 Lollipop's new features allows users to copy data from other devices and use three different types of accounts, according to CNET.
Android Lollipop has a copy data feature that allows users to copy apps to a new device without the need to search for it, either through a tap-and-go method by authorizing Bluetooth data transfer or through a log-in-and-select option of signing into devices and selecting which ones to share.
Three different account types are also available, especially for those sharing devices.
The Guest account is similar to the Incognito mode used in browser Google Chrome, temporarily storing data and information and deleting them after each use. The Profile account allows parents to limit their children's access to apps and services. The User account on the other hand, provides full access to apps and services on the device.
Android Lollipop also provides users with an informative lock screen and a multitasking view, Gizmodo claimed.
The new lock screen allows users to access notifications without the need to unlock their smartphone and also doesn't affect battery usage. Shortcuts are also available to make it easier and quicker to access apps.
The multitasking view, called Overview, has been redesigned and allows users to see and access their app history like the tabs on a Google Chrome browser.
While Google has offered up their new operating system, it is up to developers to update their apps to match Android Lollipop's new material design guidelines, GEEK claimed. Some apps however, managed to provide updates ahead of time to match Lollipop's Monday release.
Talon Plus' developers started from scratch for their new material makeover, showing off translucent system bars, a slide-out navigation menu, a floating action button for making new posts, and allows their users to change theme colors.
Pushbullet, which allows users to push text, links and files between devices, gave their app a facelift by changing their icon, animations and navigation menu, and by providing floating action buttons. The file managing app, Sliding Explorer, is not completely materialized yet, but changed its theme and allowed configurable colors.
Battery Widget Reborn app tracks battery performance, and has been given a new navigation menu, icon animation and action bar. Today Calendar has a colored status bar, navigation slide-out, floating action buttons, plenty of animations and split viewing.
Android 5.0 Lollipop rolled out first to the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. Android One smartphones are next in line to receive the update. Users can manually check for updates by going into Settings > About Phone > Software Updates > Check Now to see if the update is available for their devices.
