What can you expect from android's Key Lime Pie?

Android 5.0 is fast approaching, but what does the industry want to see from Google’s latest OS update?

The yearly Google I/O developers conference always brings with it a certain sense of excitement and this year’s event is no different.  Every year, the latest Android operating system update is announced and following its dessertfocused path, this time around the event on May 15  in San Francisco will see the unveiling of what is  expected to be called Android 5.0, Key Lime Pie (the  version number itself is largely irrelevant and does  not necessarily correspond to the size of the release previous 0.x version updates have often included  radical changes to the way the platform performs, as  well as introducing lots of new features). 
                                      
                                           Google does  a fairly good job at keeping the details of each update under wraps, but that doesn’t stop the internet rumour mill from going crazy, and with that in mind, we’ve spoken to various people inside the industry to see what they want, and expect to see, featured within the latest update. Colin Adams, president of Andromo App Maker says: “As a user, I’d like to see continued speed improvements in Key Lime Pie, like we saw with Project Butter in Jelly Bean. It really makes the whole experience feel faster.

                         There have been rumours about Project Roadrunner for a while now, with talk of improved battery life as well. The addition of better/ smarter power-saving modes and profiles would also be a nice addition.” Adams continues: “As Android developers, we’d love to see some new user interface ideas, along with compatibility libraries so we can use them on older versions of Android. Anything that makes it easier to make use of the latest features in 5.0 while still supporting older versions makes our lives easier – and results in better apps for everyone.”

                                       Building off the success of Jelly Bean is key for Google to get right, as Project Butter is still the best way to enjoy the Android experience, and is still a much better option than the likes of third-party custom skins from Samsung, HTC and Motorola. But where can Google build off the design and features that made Jelly Bean the most revolutionary Android  update yet? Brian Geary, a developer for AndPlus,  thinks that maybe Google should look elsewhere for inspiration.

                               “I’d like to see Android take a look in to Windows Phone and how that operating system integrates with social networks like Twitter and Facebook, and figure a way to seamlessly integrate that functionality into KLP. Where Jelly Bean made huge steps in the redesign of Google’s OS, I would like to see similar steps be taken in KLP but this time in terms of user experience.”

                                    But Key Lime Pie most certainly shouldn’t just be about new ground-breaking features and Google should make it of paramount importance to use Key Lime Pie as a platform for fixing the problems that have littered Android 4.0 and 4.1, and also use it to continually develop the plethora of features we’ve already got access to, in particular Google Now, as Geary explains: “I’d like to see Google Now really expand its usability in KLP too. 

                              Everybody knows what Siri is, but it seems like very few people are talking about the power of Google Now, which in my opinion is way more powerful than Siri in many ways.” Another area that Google needs to consider is that Key Lime Pie needs to be adapted to cater for the new breed of smartphones. Massive screens and bigger processors are certainly the future of our beloved devices, but Key Lime Pie could make a huge stride in helping consumers with their monster phones.

When will you get your slice of the pie? 

Ten months after Jelly Bean was first announced only around 16% of Android users have devices running the OS, while around 40% are still running Gingerbread from back in 2010. We’d expect all new devices from this year to get an update, as well as the flagship devices from 2012 as well. As always it will be the Nexus devices that are first in line, with devices possibly as old as the Galaxy Nexus getting the new OS within days of its launch.


Stay tuned for more ............