Slashdot Mirror
Google Announces Android 5.1
An anonymous reader writes: Google has officially announced Android Lollipop 5.1. This is a small update to the mobile operating system, and focuses on stability and performance. The main new features include support for multiple SIM cards, high definition voice calls on supported devices, and the ability to join Wi-Fi networks and manage Bluetooth pairings through Quick Settings. The biggest new feature is "Device Protection." They say, "With Device Protection, your lost or stolen device will remain locked until you sign in with your Google account — even if someone resets your device to factory settings. This feature will be available on most Android phones and tablets shipped with Android 5.1 in addition to Nexus 6 and Nexus 9."
I think the better question is "Does systemd include Android yet?".
How about a Jolla with a slide out keyboard...
It's my plan to finally replace my beloved N900. :)
Boo.
I hope the Device Protection feature is optional.
Of course it is. You can't use it unless you put a Google account on the device.
Right, but I have put a Google account on the device. I hope the device protection is still optional. Since I'm already using encryption, I'm not sure the device protection will add much security. Will a thief return my device when they discover they can't use it?
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
I made the mistake of updating my original Nexus 7 to 5.0. What a buggy mess! I quickly put it back to 4.4 and have no intention of updating it any further. Granted that the original 7 is getting very long in the tooth and I don't really expect google to maintain backwards compatibility to old hardware.
AFAIK, you can turn off the Device Administrator function, and that functionality will be removed.
I own a OnePlus One. Don't have any issues with BS "carrier apps" or anything like that, because there are none (in general, some of the Cyanogen bits are a little 'special' at times).
Sucks that Google hasn't made a requirement for a "clean" version of Android to be made available for major devices. That's where probably 75% or more of the issues come in.
It will, as soon as systemd assimilates Java.
systemd = The Borg
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
https://code.google.com/p/andr...
This is ridiculous.
I'm fed up with issues I've had with Google Nexus line Android devices:
1) Nexus 7 first gen. Enable encryption and device becomes superslow due to not having a proper fstrim support.
2) Galaxy Nexus. No more updates after 4.3, not even security updates.
3) Nexus 4. This recent dialer issue. I'm still getting updates but what good are they if they only break things that worked before?
Great idea... if we could get handsets in the US that supported it.
Reprise the theme song and roll the credits!
"Thefts of Apple's smartphone have plummeted in San Francisco, New York and London following the debut of the company's Activation Lock feature in fall 2013". Source: http://www.cnet.com/news/smart...
Perl Programmer for hire
Sucks that Google hasn't made a requirement for a "clean" version of Android to be made available for major devices
you can disable any app, including apps packaged in the firmware. it won't even show up in the launcher after that. that's been in place since 4.0 (or so).
Google's Iron Grip on Android
Will a thief return my device when they discover they can't use it?
no, but if thieves understand that modern smartphones, including android 5.1 devices, are worthless if stolen, they aren't going to bother stealing them in the first place. sure, until a sufficient % of the devices out there support this it's not as useful but you have to start somewhere right?
also, don't you feel a little better knowing that the thief didn't get compensated $300 for stealing your phone?
From my experience with the Note3, yeah you can "disable" apps from showing, but not completely. They're still resident in memory most of the time and a number that I wanted to disable, the option to disable was disabled.
After rooting I found that they had cross-linked dependencies. Some of the apps I wanted to keep were dependent upon stuff in apps that I wanted to remove. Freeze/remove some of the carrier crap-ware and other things that weren't so crap broke. :(
My Nexus 7 is quite a bit worse after the 5 upgrade. I need to reboot every couple of days or it will slow to a crawl. Wifi is also dodgy - takes forever to come up after being switched off, and takes a *long* time to connect to new APs.
I'm hoping 5.1 will be better.
My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
http://xkcd.com/619/
For goods sake stop removing features and disabling stuff.
Please cite. What is being removed in 5.1?
AFAIK, you can turn off the Device Administrator function, and that functionality will be removed.
I have used Prey for years. It is a known quantity, it works well, and doesn't come with the inherent problems of a Google app.
Would it work after a factory reset? No. But that difference isn't enough to get me to switch.
From my experience with the Note3, yeah you can "disable" apps from showing, but not completely. They're still resident in memory most of the time
the "disable" feature that's available on any firmware-based app completely stops the app from running. i use it on my nexus 6 to disable the exchange crap from running in the background. works fine.
if samsung did something to mess with how that works (i'd be surprised if they did, but if you say so), then well, why the heck did you buy a samsung device? that's called just deserts. don't blame android for some terrible crap done by samsung. by the way, you paid 50% for samsung, right?
if people don't support the delivery model they want, how do you expect anything to change? carrier bloated, manufacturer bloated malware infested devices. why? stop falling prey to samsung, et. al's marketing barrage. you're a nerd, you know nexus exists, what's your excuse?
Then I began to experience UI lockups and Chrome browser crashes for the first time. Performance was so bad I had to only run one app at a time so it would crash less often.
So, I had to download 4.4.4 and the SDK to re-install the OS. Some people call that a downgrade, but it was a hell of an improvement over 5.0.2. That was my first time to do that to an Android device and I was fearful of ruining it, but it worked. After the first night, the device notified me it had an upgrade (5.0.2!) downloaded and ready to install. I guess I'll learn to live with the occasional "nag", because I'n not going back to that version.
"have put" and "have to put" are two different things
It makes sense; it's like herd immunity for smartphone theft.
Hey now, you (and I) may be stuck at 4.3 but we're still getting updates on the stuff that matters. Other than the vulnerable web browser, that is.
Of course, Google Apps updates have made the phone practically unusable, I mean, it was a really fast really slick phone when it was new. Now it's a laggy thing that takes seconds to do anything. Typing on it is not an exercise in frustration as it stalls, catches up, stalls, etc.
And I thought it was only Apple that did that to make you update from your 2 year old iPhone.
So when did Apple start shipping a filesystem explorer? Oh, right, they don't -- you aren't supposed to look at the filesystem. And there are numerous crap-applications Apple installs and constantly updates that I (and others) simply don't care about. They cannot be removed (system app), nor can they be disabled/hidden; the best you can do is put them in a folder sort-of out of sight.
There are plenty of Android APPS that piss me off, too. Like I need every app I've ever installed to wake up and "check in" when ever I turn on my tablet. That's not Google's fault; that's all on the asshats that wrote the apps.
Lollypop has so many GUI issues, and none are addressed.
For example, the stock appearance of the settings menu with ultra bright white background cannot be changed. So if you open Settings in any kind of dark place like a movie theater, your car at night, or a bedroom, you eyes GET BLASTED BUT FULL ON ULTRA BRIGHT BULLSHIT that cannot be toned down. Compare to 4.2 and before where the menus where white text on a gray or black background. Worse, there is no way to change this. You are stuck wincing if you need to use the menus in the dark. And you lose all ability to remain private or avoid disturbing others.
The automatic dimming feature -which you might suspect would fix this complaint- does not actually work. In a bright environment, auto dimming dims the screen to unusable. And in a dim environment, it actually makes it so dim you can't see to undo it. But if you turn it off, you get BLASTED by that damn GUI with all it's bright white crap. Auto dimming USED to work.
The "battery is fully charged" info box appears even when the screensaver is running, and you need to do that because the super bright menus and status bars now leave significant image ghosting on the screen. For the first time ever on a mobile device, I have to run the multicolor screensaver AND a burn-in removal app periodically just to remove the hole in the screen where the status bar normally appears. Again, the issue is the overall brightness of the GUI contrasting with the rest of the visual elements.
Those things plus apps crashing, loss of root, needing to be rebooted twice a day which takes about three minutes before the desktop is actually working and usable, awful plummeting battery life, sluggish performance trying to open the dialer -Look, I hate Lollypop. 4.2 and 4.4 were very good versions. I expected better from 5.0. I expected more of the same Android UI. I got some misguided experiment in casual blinding.
For me, iOs is not an option. But instead of feeling like a big Android fan and supporter, I feel like I am getting shafted, And without root and access to the bootloader, I can't even DO anything about it. I am stuck with this thing rather than being a fan in love with it.
Maybe the S6 will be decent and somehow manage to fix these things but nothing I've read mentions any GUI fixes. I'm not sure Google even wants to fix it. Afterall, they have had years to fix the contrast problem in Gmail -look at your inbox from more than few feet away and see if you can tell read and unread messages based on color. Pretty much cannot because new messages are in not very bold black over white and read messages are a slightly less black black over almost the same white. There is almost no contrast difference. You cannot tell at a glance what is going on. This problem is awful on desktop Gmail and only a little less awful on mobile mainly because you are obviously closer to the mobile screen.
Google supposedly has GUI scientists and such but they don't see to put any thought into these things. It is frustrating. Yes I will keep using Google. They are wiring my neighborhood for Google Fiber so, yeah, I am on board. But I may not be using any Android devices by the time they get to my house this year.
Sig for hire.
Vendor stores like Google, for example? So what you're basically saying is:
"There are no apps, apart from all the apps!"
Not specially in 5.1 but in all versions. What has been removed/disabled:
- Ability to control Airplane mode programmatically
- Ability to control Data mode programmatically
- Ability to control interruption/silent mode programmatically
- Ability to control system volume programmatically
- No control of how lock screen icon appear programmatically
- No write access to SD card from apps
These are just the ones from the top of my head.
you're a nerd, you know nexus exists, what's your excuse?
My pockets are too small.
AFAIK, you can turn off the Device Administrator function, and that functionality will be removed.
I have used Prey for years. It is a known quantity, it works well, and doesn't come with the inherent problems of a Google app. Would it work after a factory reset? No. But that difference isn't enough to get me to switch.
Prey solves a slightly different problem. The purpose of device protection isn't to help you recover your device, it's to prevent thieves from benefiting from stealing your device. As such, it will only work if broadly deployed, because we need to build a "herd immunity" effect. There may be some devices that can be stolen usefully, but if most can't thieves will stop targeting Android devices. This is why it's not an app but part of the base operating system.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.