What’s New (And Tasty!) in Android Lollipop 5.1?

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth switchers

Notification panel now features drop-down menus of available Wi-Fi networks and active Bluetooth devices. From this day, to connect to a Wi-Fi network or a Bluetooth device, all you need is to open the notification panel. Smooth.

Hiding switches

In stock Android, not all switches are shown in the notification panel. Some of them show up only after manipulating with phone’s parameters. Some of these switches are Invert and Hotspot, which are seldom used, but still someone may need them one day.  

Hiding notifications

In Android 5.0, we’ve got a new way of displaying notifications. If yesterday we found out about getting a notification in the status bar, today this function is fulfilled by a drop-down ticket. To delete it, swipe left or right. To check it out later, swipe up.

Sound level

In Android 5.1, the functionality of a sound bar has been changed a bit. When you’re in the Clock app, tuning the sound bar up or down will set the Alarm sound. When in a game app or any other multimedia, regulating the sound bar will affect the ambient in the current application. Switching vibration off using the sound bar is still unsupported.   

Do not disturb mode changed

In the past, Do not disturb mode could’ve been set as either unlimited, or aimed at a fixed period of time. Today, you can synchronize the mode with your alarm clock, which will turn Do not disturb mode on until you wake up. Plus, it’s possible to set up a schedule for automatic turning Do not disturb mode on/off.  

General information

General information menu faced a number of minor changes too. Developers added SIM status and IMEI-code info submenus respectively.

Animate. Animate everything

Material design rules. Standard Clock app got new animated icons, clock-face, alarm, and stopwatch timer. Auto rotate switch in the notification panel in Android 5.1 is also animated.  

Unlocking your smartphone from the notification panel

Opening the notification panel on a blocked Android’s screen was possible with Ice Cream Sandwich. But the subsequent unblocking of the phone was impossible, unless you closed back the notification panel. In Lollipop, you both open the notification panel and unblock the phone with just one move.   

Editing contact information

Material Design rocks, but still not all apps and Android menus are tuned in a way to meet its provisions, contact edit menu is among them. Well, it WAS among them, as Android 5.1 makes it material, makes it stylish, makes it live up to Google’s material design trend.    

App blocking updated

First emerging in Lollipop 5.0, app blocking is a useful feature to make sure that if you give the phone to a friend, he or she won’t ‘trap on your nude photos’ or ‘spend more traffic than needed’. In 5.1, the feature is tailored almost to perfection, changing the algorithm and adding the option of asking for a password while leaving the app.

Dual SIM optimization

You won’t believe it, but until Android 5.1, there has never been an option of wielding two SIM’s in stock OS. These were smartphone developers to embed the dual-SIM feature into their devices, not Google. But since the company always wants to be in the trend, just as it wants to set the trends, it had no other choice rather than support two SIM’s by default in Lollipop 5.1   

Lost? Stolen? Protected still

Smartphones and tablets running on Android 5.1 will get new security system in the event of being stolen or lost. It will enable you to block your device distantly, even despite the fact a thief might make gadget’s hard reset. More info on the feature is still to come.

HD calls

Android 5.1 supports a feature called HD Voice, which guarantees you hearing a person on the other side of the phone perfectly (HD-perfectly!) well. No noise, no scraps. However, to enable the function, your conversation partner must have an HD Voice ready smartphone run by Android 5.1 Lollipop. Plus, your mobile operator must have support for the feature too.