Yesterday, Google took the wraps off Android 5.1, which remains as Lollipop and is mostly an update that pushes performance improvements and bug fixes. With that said, there are still a whole bunch of subtle changes here and there that you will either appreciate or probably never notice unless someone were to point them out to you. New animations, tweaks to the way settings work, and better instructions in areas like Screen Pinning are a few of the new additions.
We have tried to gather the bigger of the bunch below, but as you find more, be sure to drop us a note in the comments.
Animations!
There are new animations all over. Most are really minor and don’t add any new functionality, but that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate them. Google and its Android team is all about even the subtlest of animations, something that is obvious in the updated stock Clock app. As you scroll between the alarm, world clock, timer, and stopwatch pages, each icon now shows off a little animation.
Even the auto-rotate icon in the Quick Settings pulldown now animates.
New Bluetooth and WiFi Quick Settings
Outside of animations, one of the biggest changes that even garnered a mention from Google, are the new Bluetooth and WiFi options in the Quick Settings pulldown. From within the pulldown, you can now choose from different Bluetooth devices or choose a new WiFi network, all without ever having to enter the full WiFi or Bluetooth settings pages.
If you pulldown your Quick Settings panel, you should see dropdown arrows next to both Bluetooth and WiFi. A tap on these will show you a list of networks or devices. Give it a try!
Screen Pinning explained
Screen Pinning wasn’t exactly confusing before Android 5.1, but now, should you enable it, a much prettier instructions panel pops up and tells you exactly how you can get in and out of it. You won’t find us complaining about added polish.
Separate media and phone volume controls!
In Android 5.1, when you are playing media (YouTube, music, etc.), you can quickly jump between adjusting the volume of your media or the volume of your notification and call settings. As you begin adjusting volume while media is playing, you are initially greeting with a media volume slider, but a tap on the notification bell will take you over to the notification panel.
Hiding heads-up notifications works better
In Android 5.0, Google introduced heads-up notifications, which are floating pop-ups from apps that want their notifications to show at the top of your screen, no matter what you are doing. I’m still on the fence as to whether or not I love heads-up notifications, but one thing Google seems to have fixed in Android 5.1 is the option to swipe up to hide one. In 5.0, you could either swipe a heads-up notification right or left to dismiss it completely (even from your notification area), or swipe up to hide the notification but not fully dismiss it from your notifications. The swipe up rarely worked and typically caused the app to open. In 5.1, that swipe-up gesture seems to work much better.
Those are the biggest upfront changes that you will encounter, but Google actually baked in quite a few others. Here are a few that others are noticing around the interwebs:
- Customizable colors in the dialer with multiple SIM cards
- Single swipe to hide on the lock screen to unlock when the Quick Settings panel is showing
- HD Voice supported on compatible phones
- Device Protection that keeps your phone locked even if stolen and someone tries to factory reset it
- Even the default Android icon has finally been updated (via)
What else you got?










Smoochie booches.
I have HTC Wildfire S with Android OS, but i am not sure about version, I have been using BlackBerry before HTC so the difference which i have found between my old and new smartphone is .. Blackberry was having secure and efficient OS but we were not able to able to have more apps as we have opportunity to download for Android … and most of Android apps are available free with maximum efficiency and quality too.. so i would like to say that… in regards of having multiple efficiency smartphone i will choose Smarphone with Android OS …. #ACC Environmental Consultants
I’m on the fence about animations, however they do remind me of the new Pebble Time watch animations.
The play store has a more refined look with all-white
I just wish I could see what the volume is set to when Android Wear has it muted… that way if I disconnect my watch I’m not so surprised. Media slider is kinda still been annoying for a few different versions now.
I wish that little bell notification option was there when you’re Chromecasting.
the dang bottom black bar!
In 5.0 you could never swipe up to hide a notification for later viewing (it WOULD swipe up, but it was ALWAYS removed from the notification shade). That only came about in 5.1.
I still wish I could choose which apps use Heads Up (mainly games and the dialer, and maybe video watching apps like YouTube or Netflix). For everything else I’d love to have the old ticker back (Maybe Android M will give this to us).
What about the reverse for the volume controls? If I’m not playing media, is it still possible to change the media volume level?
Opened Droid Life article at work, instant epileptic seizure 😛
Seriously. Couldn’t they have used something more than 8 fps on those gifs? Jesus. You can’t even tell what is happening.
glad I”m not the only one completely taken for a loop by it… how can it be helpful if it’s just flashing in front of you?
I didn’t see the Lord anywhere.
Lame question that is completely off topic: how the heck do you turn your screen recordings into GIF’s?
As I stay stuck on KitKat.
Looking forward to putting this on my Nexus 7 (2012). Rumor has it the thing is finally usable again!
I heard the same thing. Crossing my fingers…..
Lollipop really did make my 2012 N7 usable again.
Can’t wait for the VOLTE on my Nexus 6 on Verizon. Have been wanting this for a while.
I hate merge tabs personally. I want my web pages to stay in my browser. Not mixed with the million other things in recents
You can turn that off actually in chrome settings.
Change it in chrome settings, like second or third down
That’s one of the most glaring issues I’ve had so far with using it on VZW.
Among fixes for all the little software bugs I see on a semi-daily basis.
If the developers can figure out why (and on alot of devices) LP 5.0 1.. battery life has become almost laughable.. At least on my M8
Might be your phone, literally no problem on mine. I have a Verizon M8 purchased on launch day. Been on battery for 16 hours or 8 real hours of use and I’m at 64%.
Weird. My wife’s M7 just got Lollipop (5.0.2) and it seems to actually be slightly better than before. Of course it was never bad before. But every little bit helps.
EDIT: Derp, that was for Bob Dudek.
where the heck is Nexus 6 update? i hate you Google, i am on the verge of getting rid of my nexus 6 for all its flaws and failures, i am waiting for this update so may be i could change my mind
if you look at the past updates the nexus 4 got it before the nexus 5. Just be patience. What are you waiting for that you can’t live without now?
I am waiting for all the bugs to disappear, and i am waiting to turn off the lousy security which makes me wanna throw my phone into the wall when using the built in apps such as phone, photos, messages etc.
calm down, i still don’t see why people are hating on the n6. which flaws and failures are you referring to because i’ve had it since the day it came out and it’s been without a doubt the best phone i’ve ever owned. hardware and software wise. Are there a few software bugs? sure, but nothing that bothers me. And that’s the thing, they are software related, which is something that can be fixed with an update. 5.0 was a major change for android so don’t expect it to be perfect on it’s first release. This is probably a significant bug killer update that will calm a lot of people down who are having issues or who are making bigger issues out of things than what they should be.
there tons of flaws with nexus 6 and they need to be fixed urgently.
I have numerous number of issues with my nexus 6. The worst one is when I receive a call screen doesn’t light up without pressing the power button. 2nd is the soft touch buttons freeze. 3rd one is when dialing a number it says dialing for more than usual. 4th is when using Google apps which are built in they are slow like using g1 from 5 years ago today. The recent app button restarts my phone sometimes. I uninstalled all third party apps to see what is causing the issues, I found out it is the system not the apps that I use. Other problem is i hate it when I can’t use screen protector on this phone as It misses up with sensors. I forgot to mention call drops and WiFi and data problems. I am on the same network and I never had issues like this in my old note 3
I don’t think thse are common issues with everyone and most likely just your personal and unfortunate experience with it. Most of the time when you have issues that are that bad, you fix them by factory resetting or flashing the factory images if the problems persist.
I don’t have any of these issue, try factory reset, if it doesn’t solve get it replaced under warranty.
it has seen 100 or factory resets since November last year, it is going for 3rd warranty repair this week, i made a big mistake buying it from piece of crap carphonwharehouse which doesnt offer the same guarante that google offers. i have to send it off at my own expense to moto and after 7 working days they send it back claiming to have fixed something
Did you try calling Google? I mean, it’s worth a shot…
When it says dialing for longer than usual, I’ve seen that happen on other phones I’ve owned as well, like the Droids Turbo and Maxx, my Galaxy S3 did it, & I believe my Rezound did it as well. So it’s been around for awhile now, and I believe it’s an issue with signal strength.
No flaws and failures with my N6, using for 3+ months, are you trolling?
Mine reboots itself multiple times a day, and it doesn’t play well with the stable build of Chrome AT ALL. Chrome force-closes well more than 50% of the time when I type an address into the bar and try to load a page. It also throws massive fits when it’s asked to do even moderate graphics rendering on a low battery. I think all of my issues are software related, but it’s inexcusable that their builds are this piss poor after all these years. Adding features is one form of progress, but it can’t be at the expense of stability.
Many of the reboots are a result of pressing the power button just after the screen goes dark after displaying a notification, but I did catch it reboot without any input from me earlier today. My brother in law has the same issue with his. Reboots wouldn’t be nearly as frustrating if it weren’t for the boot taking longer than the arrival of spring due to the forced encryption.
I’m still sitting at 4.3 and happy…
As long as you’re happy. 🙂
It’s like saying I am virgin and I am still Happy :v
I was really hoping for T-Mobile Wifi calling and wideband LTE support for the Nexus 6 with Android 5.1. I am trying to keep faith since the N6 has not been mentioned in connection with the update yet really; however, I am starting to lose it a bit. I keep looking at the posts hoping one with mention it.
Wifi calling is for sure coming to N6 on T-Mobile, it’s been confirmed.
Yes I know I am just tired of waiting and had really high hopes for the Android 5.1 update.
I hope they bring it to the N5, too. But I guess that’s probably less likely.
Though, of course, they really should be able to. Wi-Fi calling is technically built into Lollipop, the carrier just has to implement it.
This picture gives me the feels.
$20 on 5.1 images releasing for Shamu tomorrow with VZW release thursday? now that HD Voice is option
I’d say that’s probably right, but clearly if it’s ready tomorrow and other images have been released, then it would be available now. What is gained by holding back these? Is there some type of code for HD calling that VZW doesn’t want us to know about in advance?
i dont think it was verizon. Personally i think they just wouldnt acknowledge the device without HD Voice being part of the base OS. Otherwise all other devices they have been able to turn it on through OTA update to their specifc devices. I do not believe the Nexus 6 is applying to those rules, thus they just waited until it is available before allowing purchase.
Also they wont activate the device when you call in. You basically need an already working SIM, as we know…I’m ppretty sure once VZW releases it we can all call and get it fixed.
Strange since, basically because… potato.. Verizon phones have VoLTE off by default.
Are you a wizard??
Most of these new features are already in CM 5.0.2, I have been using them for the past 5-6 weeks, looking forward for CM to build with 5.1 for the stability improvements.
Volume adjusts to the specific app you are in. Hitting the volume button in a normal app will adjust the ringer volume. Hitting it in a media app will adjust the media volume (media doesn’t have to be playing. And hitting it in the clock app adjusts the alarm volume.
Volume control pop-up still blocks the notification bar preventing me from changing volume on a song and quickly getting to my notifications. I don’t understand this at all and it’s a pain in the D.
It would make much more design sense for notifications to slide out from under the notification bar. Then swipe up to ignore and swipe down to open the notification shade.
im wondering if the added option to change the dialer color for each sim, has anything to do with their new MNVO tmobile/sprint network….
Doubtful, as the only supported Nova handset at launch will be the N6, and the N6 has a single SIM bay. As it’s been told thus far, the entire point of Nova will be seamless handoffs between networks, so a dual-SIM design would run counter to the model for Nova.
I noticed that when i turn the phone on, in 5.0.1 the pin code screen didnt appear before maybe 20 seconds. I could get all the way into gallery, and start look at pictures before it asked about the pin. Now it asks before the phone even go into the home screen. Thats nice! 🙂
It sometimes happend when i playd music in Spotify, when i turn on the screen i see the pin code. For no reason.
When i enter the code, and press ok, it says unlocking, but it says on the pin code screen, could hit ok ok ok ok ok ok ok and still nothing happend.
But if i hit the back button, the pin code screen dissapeared.
Also i think the phone (Nexus 5) has been really slow at changing base stations, in my car i have BT handsfree, and there is a notification led that flashes when the phone looses its signal. Now it seems to flash every time the phone changes base station, and it can take up to 20 seconds before i get any signal again.
This hasnt happend before i upgraded to lollipop. Also, it doenst return to HSDPA when there is no coverage for LTE, it remains on LTE for a long time, until it discovers that there is no signal and changes to H+.
This things has botherd me pretty much. Hope they have been fixed! 🙂
Never had that happen on my N5 on 5.0.1 (or any other version, or any other device). That’s really odd, sounds like the keyguard (lock screen) is kicked out of memory and taking a long time to restart, (which should NEVER happen).
But, yeah, I bet that’s related to the memory leak problem in 5.0.x. 5.1 should have that cleared up.
Is the random rebooting every once in a while issue fixed in this release? I got a Moto X 2nd Generation (Verizon) and every day it randomly reboots once or twice. I consider this a big feature.
Your device is defective, get another one. Mine doesn’t do that
Ya, mine either.
Almost sounds like a power/ battery problem, bought a used Nexus 7 with the same or similar issue
Your moto X is still under factory warranty, I’d get it replaced fast.
as others have said – you need to get a replacement as that’s not normal at all.
It’s worth noting that it looks likes Google fixed the flashlight from timing out and the wifi authentication bugs in Android 5.1
The screen pining is pretty useless. If I pin the screen I don’t want the person i hand the phone to having the ability to unpin it.
This!! What’s the point of it if the instructions to unpin it is right on the screen? Did google only have pinning in mind for people who can’t read? lol
Wouldn’t you pin the app before you gave it to the person? Then you could just close the instructions and they would have no idea (unless they knew about pinning).
The instructions pop-up on the screen when they try to access another app, hit the back button, or go to the home screen. I haven’t seen a setting to turn that off.
I didn’t know that (I haven’t used 5.1 yet).
I’m not on it either…that’s how it works on 5.0
Useless for you. I use screen pinning for my kids so they stop accidentally pressing the navigation buttons. The majority of people probably wouldn’t know how to get out of the pinned app, so I don’t think it would be an issue in most cases.
OOOOR clicking ad links in games 😉
Yeah. The problem is that it tells you how to get out of it if you tap home or back.
It’s like revealing the secret behind a magic trick. Bad juju.
I could swear it told you how to unpin it.
If you have a pin or pattern to unlock your phone, that is required after holding the navigation buttons. So unless someone knew your password they couldn’t unpin.
Did not know that. Thanks.
When I pin a screen, it asks if I want to lock the device with a pin before letting it be unpinned. I don’t know if that’s because I have a pin on my lockscreen, or if that’s just a normal option.
I think it’s mostly for kids and changing the user is for handing the phone to done else to use.
What we need is photo pinning in the default gallery app. There’s nothing worse than handing over your phone for someone to look at a photo and worrying they are going to swipe left or right and see something private and/or embarrassing.
you could try putting them in seperate albums
True. That would stop any accidental swipes. However, it wouldn’t stop anyone from snooping and it has to be done in advance. Sometimes the sharing of photos is unplanned.
Surprised no one commented that the kvetching about “where is my update” should soon begin. Since it hasn’t, I’ll start:
I have a 2013 Droid Maxx. Tired of playing the “when am I going to get Lollipop” game. Google needs to focus its energies on forcing carriers and hardware manufacturers to a timeline for releases, and stop pushing incremental updates to an OS that the vast majority of the Android landscape will never see.
*steps off soapbox*
You made the choice of phone and carrier. I haven’t been on verizon in a while but i feel like most would say, “don’t plan on timely updates.”
That’s no surprise, I get it. But it’s not completely Verizon’s fault. It should start with Google forcing the carriers and hardware manufacturers to a time table. While Apple may get the limelight in the press, carriers sell a metric shit-ton of Android phones and would take heavy losses should Google decide to play hard ball.
Probably more than you wanted to know, but I am pretty sure I’m one of the older folks here. I started with a bag phone on 360 Communications. They were bought by Alltel. They were bought by Verizon and have been with them ever since. You’re always comfortable with the devil you know (tried Cingular at one point and they were absolutely terrible). Verizon’s excellent customer service and coverage is well-worth the fact we don’t get timely updates, but again, they are but a small player in the entire reason updates from Google don’t happen fast and Android is fragmented beyond belief.
It’s not Google’s call to make manufacturers update their devices faster. They created an open source OS that anyone can take and use for their own products. To an extent, Google has some control over their software but when it comes to updates, that’s between the manufacturer and the carrier. Google has their own devices to worry about.
Verizon coverage in my area can’t be beat but att isn’t far behind. I was with verizon until the N5 came out and i’ve been happy with a lower bill mostly and quicker updates is really nice. I’ve chosen a lower bill but worse coverage, lol… such is life.
So now that notification and media volumes are differentiated, I can now finally leave my phone on vibrate and have Google Now speak to me at the same time?!?
wait what? My Ringer/Notification and Media volumes have always been different (Nexus 6).
edit: I see what you meant (I hadn’t seen the gif’s yet so i didnt understand). This is definitely a welcome feature!
Agree, so i often play music over BT in my car, and if i had the phone on silent, i had to go into the settings menu to get the ringer volume up because the volume rocker adjusted the BT volume. So this is great! 🙂
Off-topic, but I wish Chrome would add the colored tabs when you don’t use the merge tabs and apps option.
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Me too. I hate that merge feature! I tried running with merged couple of days and I had hard time with it… I checked “separate” in settings and I had like 20 tabs open.. All of them I’ve been saving for later reading but forgotten … How is that feature even good for anything?
Look out, the comments are going to end up a graveyard of musical opinions.
I’m sorry to see that someone was listening to Kayne West.
His older stuff was good. The new stuff makes me cringe though.
Pre-YEEZUS. Kanye musically he was fantastic…
What didn’t you like about YEEZUS compared to his old albums? Honestly curious. I saw him at XGames last summer and he played a ton of his old stuff and some of the newer YEEZUS stuff and it made me like it more after that.
I get that new production styles have something to do with it, but lyrically his old music was superior. It was actually storytelling. Now I’m shocked if two consecutive lines have any relation. I mean he clearly knows how to sell albums though. Who knows, maybe his new album will be better. I haven’t really given it a listen yet.
I’ve only heard All Day from it so far. I think you’ll either love or hate it honestly haha
Yeezus is a great album excluding send it up and guilt trip.. But as far as production… MBDTF and Graduation are still 1a and 1b for me
I won’t argue with that!
Pre-808s.
Yeah exactly! His older stuff was great, but all of his new music is just honestly trash. and another thing that really makes me dislike him is some of the stuff he does outside of his music. I think he’s just terrible as a person, which makes the fish dicks episode of south park all the more funny, along with kim-k being a hobbit episode “bitch you sure you ain’t no hobbit right?”
What new music are you referring to? And he has made strides to improve his image and get his message out better. He admits in the past that he didnt know how to express himself. Just listen to the new Breakfast Club and Zane Lowe interviews.
Look at the crap he pulled at the Grammy’s because Beyonce didn’t win
Again, since you probably aren’t a hip hop fan or follow real news about him, I can forgive you. He clarified that he was talking about the Grammy’s in general, not Beck. Beck even called him a genius after the award show. And he said he liked Beck’s CD while, ironically, listening to it with Taylor Swift over dinner.
Stay about from the gossip and tabloid sites.
No I’m a hip hop fan I just think Kayne west is a total douchebag. He makes average at best music and gets most of his publicity from being an ass or marrying fake as hoes
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you are a hip hop fan. However, as a hip hop fan you should know that he was already famous and critically acclaimed before he became a regular in TMZ for marrying Kim K. I would think true hip hop fans couldn’t care less about gossip and tabloids. They just want the music. And he has been consistent. You may say it is “average” but that isn’t the general consencous from people who actually listen to the genre. All of his albums have had overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and fans. Even the polarizing Yeezus is mostly positive. Just saying.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion though. It just seems yours may be grounded in recent events rather than his 10+ year career.
But, it is the popular thing nowadays to hate Kanye West.
Agree wholeheartedly.
Haters gonna hate. Yeezus!
You’ve probably never listened to a Kanye West album have you? I’m not talking about the stuff you hear on the radio… They are masterpieces for people that actually like hip-hop. He didn’t become well-known to his actual fans due to Taylor Swift and Kim K. Before all of that, it was the phenomenal music.
Truth. I remember buying the college dropout mix tape before the album dropped, asking all the vendors if they had “Kayne” West since I never heard his name outloud.
Let’s settle down with the masterpiece talk. Been a hip hop fan since I could walk, knew every word to Whodini’s Escape album thanks to pop playing it non-stop. But putting any of his albums up against the greats isn’t going to work out well for him. And I like Kanye!!
Having nostalgia isn’t the same thing as listening to incredibly well produced RECENT albums. In terms of recent acts, there are only a hand full that are as well produced and artistic as Kanye has been in the last 10 years.
Wayne? Kanye?
Almost the same. Kanye is that you?
No lol. 😛 Just an actual fan for close to 10 years.
MBDTF… Kanye’s last decent album.
They mention both T-Mobile and Verizon when it comes to HD Voice…. what about AT&T?
HD Voice for AT&T is not nationwide like T-Mobile and Verizon. My guess is that Google is waiting for them to finish deploying HD Voice before updating Android.
AT&T’s voice quality is actually kinda laughable. In some instances it’s actually lower than the standard AMR-NB, in terms of bitrate.
I mean, jeez. That must sound like tin cans on a string.
For the love of Android Verizon, push lollipop to the G3.
and the NOTE 4!
u chose touchwiz instead of N6, enjoy your touchwiz
that’s the beauty of android. We have a choice. And yes, I like the camera and screen on the Note 4 and it was out way before the N6 on Verizon. and FYI I haven’t had any sort of lag on the Note 4… so I in fact will enjoy my touchwiz D!CK
THANK you! Geez. These people want to limit our choice in Android devices and UXes. That’s not why I like Amdroid. I like options.
touchwiz lags, may be you have not used nexus to notice the difference, any way enjoy your touchwiz while i rock on 5.1
I’ve used plenty of nexus devices. Maybe you haven’t used the Note 4 to notice the difference now. Enjoy your rocking your 5.1, I’ll enjoy rocking your mom.
I’d like it on my Droid Mini… Motorola did say it would get lollipop… eventually…
leaked official version on xda
What else have I got? I know what Nexus 6 owners don’t have…
“In 5.0, you could either swipe a heads-up notification right or left to dismiss it completely (even from your notification area), or swipe up to hide the notification but not fully dismiss it from your notifications.”
Yo, what? I didn’t think this was a feature at all in 5.0
Pretty sure I’ve done it a number of times. It just rarely worked properly.
I do have to admit that I love the SSID of the wireless network “Smoochie” 😀
I’m not sure you’re correct…it was a huge gripe for the user base over on Reddit. I’m about 99% certain this a new feature. Swiping up just dismissed the notification like swiping left or right in 5.0.x.
did they fix the damn redraw problem with the homescreen??? My damn MotoX 2014 freezes going back to the homescreen all the time.
Hopefully. This build was supposed to really focus on performance problems.
Damn right it was! Code commits for 5.1 have 66 mentioning memory leak, and 76 mentioning performance.
If anything, that’s more reassuring to me. It means they really worked things over!
Mine always got worse over a few days so I’ll need to see after a day or two, but so far it seems all around better performance
I haven’t seen any redraws since I updated yesterday. Even switching apps from the recents menu. I think it’s safe to say it’s fixed.
When is this supposed to start rolling out for the Nexus 6?
We do not know and Google hasn’t said. :
:
http://i.imgur.com/YSkNTAx.gif
no kidding. 5.1 mentioned on all nexus except the 6
Apparently I just need to stop trying the Nexus line. I always seem to get the one that doesn’t get updated as much as the rest. First it was the Galaxy Nexus and now the Nexus 6. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t had any issues with my Nexus 6, but I don’t really understand why they have been so silent on the Nexus 6 since releasing it.
My guess would be this week or next since Verizon is launching the nexus with VoLTE from day one which is only available after 5.1 update.
According to Google’s statement, 5.1 is rolling out to all supported Nexus devices ‘over the next few weeks’.