Many people speculated about the release date of Android 4.4 in the fall of 2013. At first she was “assigned” to mid-October. But then the 15th arrived and nothing happened. There was information about October 18, but new information brought everything down to the end of October, in particular to the 31st. And so it happened - the release date of Android 4.4 was set for October 31, 2013.

Google decided to make us happy on Halloween in a special way and it succeeded. It was possible not only to announce the new system, but also the new smartphone Nexus 5 - a 5-inch device, main feature which is an excellent screen, a high-performance processor and an affordable price. But we will stop at this towards the end of the article.

Note that the new version 4.4 offers significantly more changes. In general, the last release was mainly aimed at developers. From the point of view of programmers, everything was just fine there: OpenGL ES 3.0, updated APIs with animation support, and so on. In general, programs should become cooler. But Android 4.4 already offers new features aimed at everyday use. There are changes both in the interface and in the built-in basic programs. By the way, there are even more such programs. It’s not for nothing that the code name has finally changed from Jelly Bean to KitKat. But first things first.

Android 4.4 – what's new?

Of course, this is not a new major version of the system from Google - back in May 2013, but instead Android 4.3 was released, and now 4.4. So we don't expect any major changes to the interface. No, they exist, but they are rather cosmetic. Like the white color of the font and icons in the notification bar at the top, which replaced the blue one first introduced in Android 4.0. The panel itself is made translucent. The Roboto font used in the system has also been redesigned. Google's OS has once again been simplified in terms of interface - it is not so intrusive and does not distract from work.

In general, now Android has almost introduced its own Siri. Well, of course, not to the full extent - we are not talking about a complete assistant, like Apple app or Samsung S Voice. It's more of a quick call voice search. Now, being on the desktop, just say “OK Google” and it will open Google app Now. If someone feels awkward about this, then you can simply “swipe” across the screen from left to right and the same thing will happen.

Above Google Now overall they did a decent job. This application now searches not only the Internet, but also takes into account data from your location, sites visited, and even TV shows watched. Just some kind! The similarity becomes even stronger when you learn that Google Now can direct you not to a particular page in the browser, but to the corresponding application. For example, to reserve a ticket, it will be launched required program. Of course, if one is installed.

Google also worked hard on the music player. First of all, the operation of the system was optimized during this process, which does not require significant diversion of computing resources. The company promises up to 60 hours of music playback. Plus, when something is playing or streaming on Chromecast (yes, this is also a new feature), an image of the album the song is included in is displayed in the background on the lock screen. Or it could be a movie cover. In addition, here you can control playback without unlocking the phone.

Remember the Back, Home and Call buttons context menu, which Google decided to remove from the smartphone and transfer to the screen? Do you remember how she endured them? All this was done so “powerfully” that these buttons “hung” even in games where they could be accidentally pressed! No, no one removed them, but Android 4.4 introduced a special “full-screen” mode where these buttons will not be present. I just want to shout: FINALLY! However, developers must still activate this mode in their applications. That's when there will be happiness. For now, only the desktop background will extend under these buttons.

Separately, work on multitasking is noted. Although everything is more modest here. In Android 4.4, they simply optimized the distribution of resources between applications. Now switching between them occurs more smoothly and without unnecessary delays.

By the way, Google generally positions new Android as a panacea for fragmentation. It seems to be able to work on devices with 512 MB of RAM, for which both the system itself and standard applications. Although the question is, how will Google force device manufacturers to update all of them to Android 4.4? After all, this is not iOS and not Windows Phone, where a notification about the possibility of updating will appear - here everything does not depend at all on the OS developer, which is a pity. But in any case, we are waiting for even budget smartphones with Android 4.4.

Separate Android users unhappy with the built-in dialer. Moreover, it may be the one that the manufacturer offers in its own shell. To eliminate the need to install a separate application, the standard dialer has been modernized. In fact, yellow pages were built into it - the most frequently called contacts. It has become easier to search by contacts, and not only by them - from the “dialer” you can also search by local companies and people added to your Google Apps domain.

By the way, determine Android number 4.4 will now be not only according to you address book. More precisely, not so - if the caller’s number is not there, the system will try to find data about him somewhere else, for example, in Google Maps. Of course, its location will not be revealed, but if they call from any company whose number is publicly known, then information about it will be shown.

And Google clearly wants to oust WhatsApp. How else to explain such a serious integration of the native Hangouts application into Android 4.4? How serious? Yes, now it is used as the main means for sending SMS, MMS, as well as making voice and video calls. You can even send animated GIFs through it! Of course, you can use a more traditional tool for SMS and MMS, but Hangouts is more versatile and functional. Moreover, Emoji icons have also been added - there is everything from emoticons to flowers with cars. Of course, this applies to changes in on-screen keyboard, not Hangouts - icons are available to any application.

In June 2012, and then, a year later in September 2013. Now Quickoffice is part of Android 4.4. Including this one office suite integrated with Google Drive– all documents can be directly saved there. They can also be opened from there.

Another notable “office” innovation is printer support. You can send a photo, document, or web page for printing. The main thing here is to take care of connecting the printer. Not by wire, of course, but through an app like Google Cloud Print or HP ePrint, or any other similar plan included Google store Play. In addition, applications can now add printing capabilities to their functionality.

Google lists other changes almost in one line, since they will be almost invisible to the average user. Although can you say the same about the built-in pedometer? Or about the redesigned application for downloading files? Among other things, we added HDR+ mode to the camera application, redesigned the standard mail client, and the Location item was added to Quick Settings ( quick settings). We have improved support for infrared ports for controlling consumer electronics, if one is built into a smartphone. Another decent update is the new open architecture for NFC payments. All this is done through Host Card Emulation (HCE) and any application can use it.

Developers were able to use the engine Chrome browser in your applications to display various web components. And in general, all applications will be executed in a special protected environment, Security-Enhanced Linux. Android 4.4 also now includes a remote device search service.

You can speed up your 3D games using RenderScript. The corresponding graph shows a noticeable increase in speed. But again, support must be provided by the developer himself. Continuing the topic of graphics and screens in particular, we’ll add that the Wi-Fi Miracast standard is now supported, allowing you to broadcast images to a TV.

By the way, a very cool feature is the ability to capture the screen to record video. Why this is needed, everyone will decide for themselves (for example, to demonstrate an application, create marketing material, and so on), but in any case, it is a useful thing. The video is recorded in screen resolution or close to it. All this can be configured, as well as the bitrate. The resulting video will be saved as an MP4 file. And yes, none special program no need - everything is built into Android 4.4!

To summarize, we note that there are noticeably more changes in Android 4.4 KitKat than in Android 4.3, introduced in July 2013. Moreover, these are changes to such basic applications as the dialer and SMS messages. Yes and systemic music player has become better, printer support will be useful to someone, as well as the pre-installed Quickoffice. Now we can say for sure that innovations are visible to the “naked eye” and they are really useful. However, we are all waiting for Android 5.0 and all that it has to offer us. And in conclusion, let's talk briefly about the Nexus 5.

Nexus 5

The Nexus 5 smartphone was introduced along with Android 4.4. Actually, this is the first device based on this system. In the summer, let us remind you that the Nexus 7 tablet was updated. And now, in addition to the “tiny” Nexus 4, an older brother has appeared. It’s not hard to guess that its main change is a 5-inch screen (4.95-inch to be exact).

The Nexus 5 screen resolution has increased to 1920x1080 (445 ppi), which is exactly in line with the current trend. An IPS matrix is ​​also used. But the processor has become noticeably more powerful - it is a 2.26 GHz 4-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip. It is believed that this is one of the fastest solutions on the market of smartphones and even tablets.

2 GB of RAM is installed - like many modern flagships. Built-in memory – 16 or 32 GB. Slots for microSD card everything is also not provided. They save money, you know! But there is an 8 MP camera and a 2300 mAh battery. At the same time, the weight of Nexus 5 is not very large - only 130 grams. Its thickness is 8.6 mm, which is also quite small. Plus, the smartphone supports wireless charging!

The cost of Nexus 5 is set at $349 for the 16 GB version and $399 for the 32 GB version. For the money this is a very good deal!

However, many are interested in the question: when will other smartphones receive Android 4.4? We answer: soon. More precisely, Google promised to provide an update “within weeks.” So in November 2013 the issue will be resolved. We are apparently talking about at least the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets, as well as Developer Edition devices – Galaxy S4 and HTC One with bare Android. And HTC promised to equip it very, very quickly new system your HTC One. It would be absolutely wonderful!

But I wonder if Google is so actively promoting Android 4.4 as a super-optimized OS that can easily run on 512 MB of RAM and is perfect for budget devices, does that mean its Nexus One and Nexus S will also receive an update?? Yes, it has a single-core processor and only 512 MB of memory, but these are precisely those “budget” devices by modern standards!

Okay, let's leave it all up to Google. In the meantime, we will wait for the next Android. If only it were Android 5.0! And so we ask you to tell us about your experience with Android 4.4, as soon as it appears, in the comments below. Or just share your opinion about the new OS.

To begin with, I would like to apologize to our readers for such a long delay in the publication of this article. Let me remind you that for the most impatient we already had a little material from the Google presentation; this article is intended for those who plan to buy a smartphone or tablet with 4.2 on board and want to know what benefits they will get from the new Android versions. We will also refer to this article in the future when we talk about 4.2. Now, without further ado, let me move on to the review itself.

Keyboard

To tell the truth, I personally am already so accustomed to installing third party keyboard, what in Lately I didn’t even pay attention to the innovations in stock. I still remember the irritation that you experience when setting up your tablet for 4.0 for the first time, when in order to enter English characters you need to go to settings and activate other languages. Fortunately, in 4.1 this problem was fixed and finally added a separate button for switching languages. But Google decided not to stop at these improvements, and in 4.2 the keyboard received another new feature: Enter text using swipes. To do this, you need to activate this function in the settings.

To me new way I liked the input, although its accuracy is sometimes inferior to the original Swype, however, we hope that over time it will increase.

Notification line

Google (apparently due to popular demand or with an eye on TouchWiz and CyanogenMod) has finally decided to add functionality to the notification shade.

Swiping to the right now opens the switch panel. When you click on most of them, you are taken to the settings (we are talking about Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, charge indicator), in some cases, clicking immediately activates the action (for example, enabling/disabling screen auto-rotation). On the right is your photo from Google profile+, when you click on it, the address book will open.

A swipe to the left opens the usual notification panel. Now it adjusts to the number of notifications, rather than reclining to the full height of the screen.

Interestingly, a different combination is used on smartphones: for example, a two-finger swipe brings up a panel with switches, and a simple swipe brings up the notification panel.

What's New in Gmail

You can now quickly zoom in on a letter using a two-finger pinch. This function is enabled in the settings. Double tap after scaling adjusts the text to fit the screen size.

Widgets on the lock screen

Starting from version 4.2, you can install one of several widgets on your lock screen. By default, mail, calendar, clock, and Google+ widgets are available. Third-party developers can also add support for lock screen widgets. On this moment The developers of HD Widgets and Plume have already taken advantage of this opportunity. If you have a Nexus device, be sure to try HD Widgets, I think their lock screen widgets are really cool.

Watch

Google decided to improve this application and add additional functionality to it. When you open it you see a large clock with current date. There are three shortcuts at the bottom, one of them takes you to the alarm clock, the second allows you to set the time zone, and the third is responsible for switching to night mode and settings.

By the way, you can control the timer and stopwatch after launch directly from the lock screen.

The application also has its own digital widget. Now you finally don’t have to think about which third-party widget to install on your home screen.

Sleep mode

You can now configure how your device behaves when entering sleep mode. For example, so that you don't get bored just watching your tablet being turned off and charging, Google decided to add several screensavers that turn on in sleep mode. First, you need to select the time when they will turn on. Then you need to decide on the screensaver itself; there are five templates in total: clock, collage, media, frame and colors.

Collage displays your photos as scattered miniatures. You can choose the folders with displayed photos yourself. You can also select photos from your web storage in Picasa. If any of the photos interests you, just click on it to open it in full screen mode.

In the “Media” mode, you can see the latest news from the application of the same name on the screen. Clicking on the news opens its brief announcement, and you can immediately go to the application itself.

The idea is that when you add a new user, they have their own desktops, games, and applications. All its settings are personalized. At the same time, information such as Wi-Fi passwords is available to all users immediately. Using multiple accounts will be in demand, first of all, in families, and will eliminate problems like: “Dad, why did you delete my game?” True, it is important to remember here that, despite the presence of two accounts, the number internal memory still one. By the way, about the internal memory: if you log in from one account and connect the tablet to the computer, then you will only see files uploaded for this account, for example, screenshots taken from another account will not be visible.

Also in 4.2 it became possible to shoot a 360-degree panorama.