Android has come a great distance since its debut in 2008. The primary main launch was Android 1.5 Cupcake, and now we’re returning to dessert-themed names with Android 16, which has the interior codename Baklava. The trendy UI we see in Android right this moment, Materials Design, was first launched with the launch of Android 5.0 Lollipop in 2014.
Nevertheless, issues did not go as easily as Google had hoped. Whether or not you owned a flagship Android smartphone or a price range mannequin on the time, Lollipop struggled to carry out correctly. This is why Android Lollipop is commonly thought to be one of many worst Android releases in historical past.
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Materials Design didn’t ship consistency
Lollipop’s new design was trendy, however removed from polished
Android regarded fairly totally different a decade in the past. Earlier than Android Lollipop, variations like Ice Cream Sandwich and KitKat used the previous Holo design language with robotic shapes and blue accents. However every part modified with Android Lollipop, as Google launched Materials Design for the primary time, that includes a modern design with enjoyable and colourful UI.
Whereas Materials Design introduced smoother animations and a extra cohesive aesthetic, it struggled to ship consistency. As anticipated with any new design language, adoption took time, and plenty of apps hadn’t transitioned on the time, leaving customers with inconsistencies throughout apps and units, leading to a fragmented consumer expertise.
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The notorious reminiscence leak bug broke the system
Customers suffered from poor efficiency and frequent app crashes
Probably the most vital points Android Lollipop launched was the notorious reminiscence leak bug. At a time when even flagship Android telephones had simply 2GB of RAM, customers who up to date to Android 5.0 reported that the system would devour an enormous portion of reminiscence — as much as 1.5GB — and to compensate, Android would forcibly shut background apps to liberate sources. This led to frequent app crashes and launcher redraws.
Past the reminiscence leak bug, customers skilled poor efficiency on Android Lollipop, together with lag, stuttering, and app crashes. Whereas the difficulty was ultimately addressed in Android 5.1, early adopters had been left pissed off by the poor reminiscence administration within the preliminary model. Some customers even expressed ideas of “abandoning [their] Nexus 5” because of the severity of the issue.
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Battery life took successful with Android Lollipop
The brand new OS drained extra energy than it saved
Android Lollipop launched a number of energy administration options, together with a Battery Saver mode that promised to increase battery life by as much as 90 minutes and a device displaying remaining battery life in hours. Nevertheless, satirically, Google needed to delay the discharge of Android 5.0 as a result of a battery drain bug.
The problem stemmed from Wi-Fi, the place merely turning it on consumed extreme battery. Moreover, early variations of Android 5.0 brought on different phantom battery drain points that proved problematic for customers. A subsequent Android replace ultimately resolved these issues, with many reporting improved battery life — however solely after the problems intensified.
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Android Lollipop lacked a easy silent mode
Precedence mode left customers confused and unable to mute simply
One other complained-about characteristic of Android Lollipop was the removing of an easy silent mode. Beforehand, customers may simply silence their telephones with a fast toggle, however Lollipop changed this with a characteristic referred to as “Precedence Mode,” designed to offer customers extra granular management over which notifications may come by means of.
Whereas the intention was to supply finer management over notifications, many customers discovered Precedence Mode complicated and fewer intuitive. Activating silent mode required a number of steps, whereas it beforehand took only a single faucet. Precedence Mode ultimately advanced into the “Do Not Disturb” mode (once more) with Android Marshmallow, however for Lollipop customers, the removing of the straightforward silent mode made silencing their telephones unnecessarily irritating.
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Lollipop had some odd connectivity bugs
A buggy replace made connectivity unreliable
If efficiency and battery points weren’t sufficient, Android Lollipop additionally launched bugs in connectivity. At launch, customers who up to date to Android 5.0 reported being unable to connect with sure Wi-Fi networks. This difficulty was broadly reported by customers making an attempt to connect with company networks utilizing Cisco APs.
Though it was resolved pretty rapidly, it was irritating for individuals who up to date their machine solely to seek out they could not connect with their workplace Wi-Fi. Moreover, many customers reported Bluetooth points, together with hassle pairing with new units and random disconnects.
Android 5.0 had its justifiable share of points, but it surely was a landmark replace
All in all, as Google sought to take Android in a brand new course with Lollipop, it confronted just a few points at launch. Nevertheless, it stays one of the important Android releases in latest historical past. The design course launched with Lollipop can nonetheless be seen in Android 15 right this moment. Whereas Android 15 is way more secure, it nonetheless has just a few minor bugs — however fortuitously, they’re comparatively simple to repair.