Since Google announced Android L 5.0 (codename:Lollipop), I was so eager to try it on. Unfortunately, it is only available for Google edition Nexus phones, which I don’t have one. My old galaxy sII is on CM11 ROM, android 4.4.2. I am waiting for cynamogenmod team to come up with CM12 ROM with android 5.0.
Last week, I run into this CM12 Project and try it on. As it said, video recording, internal storage and a couple other features is not working properly on beta #3.
Beta #4 releases at 1st Jan 2015 and several fixes including internal storage. The installation of flashing the ROM, known issues and change logs can be seen at project page.
Android L end-user’s review
Google flag-shipped Material design is really intuitive as it said. It gets cleaner look and also the animation is easy to percept by humans.
Notification overlay showing is useful and annoying at the same time. double tapped opening the app from notification panel is useful. Also, notifications on lockscreen is ease to use but a bit concerns about privacy.
Instead of lists, notification & recent apps show as Google Now styled Cards,which is more easier to navigate but it needs time to get use to it.
Long pressing quick setting doesn’t show me the specific setting and I wish this feature back.
Swiping is gone in AOSP keyboard of this CM12 beta ROM.
Another worth mentioning new feature is priority mode. It’s kind of “Do Not Disturb” mode with more flexible options. The user can select specific apps to give notifications.
Screen pinning is also a new privacy feature added. A single app can be pinned for third party users and only the owner of the device can unlock it with the same setting you apply for your lock screen.
It imitates the user accounts control of PC Operating Systems, the user can create several user accounts such as guest and other accounts for kids and your family members.
The overall performance is getting better than previous android versions. Replacement of ART virtual runtime engine in place of Dalvik.
The battery life is also improved due to the outcome of Project Volta. From several experiments, it is proved that Android L batter life is increased to significant percentage of running time compared with android kitkat.
Finally, this is what I think of one week with Android L unoffical ROM. I believe android focuses on improving core features and UI & animation is getting neat and clean. For customization junkies, the playground of android is getting bigger with new toys.