Earlier at Google I/O, the next version of Android was announced. It was simply referred to as ‘Android L.’ It is not yet clear what ‘L’ stands for, but if tradition holds true it will be some sort of sweet treat. It will be bringing UI improvements, increased efficiency, enhanced notifications and a whole host of new APIs, including a new run time. Thanks to the early access developers release, we have had the opportunity to try it out first hand.

Material Design

This is the name given to Android’s new design philosophy. It uses flat colours that can be programatically calculated depending on the content of the page and any images included. Views can now be layered with Z-Indexes and dynamic shadows will automatically be generated. It also supports more animations, making the transition between activities and other apps much smoother with custom animations.

Project Volta

Google has added features for both developers and users to get the most out of your phone’s battery. The new battery saver mode will allow users to reduce CPU usage, screen refreshes and background data usage. The feature can be set up to automatically kick in when the battery reaches a dangerously low level or it can be triggered manually.

Developers have also been given tools to measure battery usage of their apps and the ability to queue non urgent tasks for a bulk process to reduce how often the devices run in the background. It can also allow developers to hold off certain tasks until the battery level is above a certain amount, or if the phone is on charge. If developers take full use of this, users will soon see a major increase in battery consumption.

Notifications

Notifications are no longer confined to the notification pull down, they have spread to the lock screen and even to all apps. New ‘Heads-up’ notifications can be displayed over the top of all apps. Phone calls, for example, will no longer take over the whole screen. A small notification will appear, and you can continue to use the current app without interruptions.

Speaking of the navigation pull down, it has also been updated with a new UI. Swiping down again will reveal quick actions, it’s much easier to access now.
     

Multitasking

The recent apps switcher has seen a major improvement, seamlessly integrating app content. Apps like Chrome can now show all open tabs in the app switcher, removing the step of going to the app and then viewing all tabs. This feature has been opened up to all developers, so apps like document editors and magazine readers will be able to show all open pages from a common area.

Android everywhere

Wearable technology has been in the works for a long time now. No one has successfully created an OS to support its development, until now. Android Wear was released to developers earlier, but now that actual devices are being introduced, it’s becoming more viable. We have managed to get an Android smart watch, so expect some development from us soon.

It’s not only Android Wear that was announced at I/O, Android TV and Android Auto will soon take over your cars and televisions as well. Soon you will have a seamless user experience when you’re at home, work or travelling. Information across all devices will be synced. Apps like Netflix have already created a Android TV app, so now you can watch on your phone, tablet, TV and desktop, and  you can switch between devices without loosing your place in the video.

Android run time

This is more of a technical change, but apps will now run on ART and not on Dalvik. Without getting too technical, this will increase performance for apps and reduce memory usage. It will also add support for 64-bit architecture. Some apps will need to be updated to support Android L, but most will work right away.

Android L will be released later this year. It is still a work in progress, so we expect to see a lot of changes in the meantime. If you have a nexus 5 or 7 and you can’t wait, then you can check out the developer preview now. Please be warned it’s not meant for public release so it will be buggy.