Yesterday Google officially announced Android 5.1 and detailed some of the changes that are in the update, like support for multiple SIMs and a new Device Protection feature that’ll keep your lost phone locked even if its wiped. Now that the update is actually getting into the hands of users, though, many more new goodies are being discovered.
The folks at Droid-Life dove into Android 5.1 and discovered that it’s now easier to swipe up and hide heads-up notifications, which dismisses the alert but doesn’t remove it from your notification try. The Android 5.1 update also lets you set separate media and phone volume controls by tapping on the notification bell after adjusting your media volume. Also included is a better explanation of the Screen Pinning feature, the ability to choose Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections from the Quick Settings menu. And speaking of Wi-Fi, Android Police has found that 5.1 recognizes when you try to connect to a network without an Internet connection and won’t automatically reconnect to it.
Rounding out the list of Android 5.1 are some more minor changes that don’t really affect on you use the OS, but do make using it a bit more pleasant. For example, the update has some new animations sprinkled throughout the OS, like in the Clock app. There’s also a new Android icon that’s used when an app doesn’t have its own icon. The new default icon features just the Android head with a Material Design style. You can find images of the old and new icons above.
Overall there doesn’t appear to be any groundbreaking, game-changing updates in Android 5.1, but there are a number of smaller changes that will improve the user experience. That’s actually pretty good, because even if an OS is pretty to look at, it won’t do you much good if the software is difficult to use.
What’s your favorite Android 5.1 feature that’s been discovered so far?
