We’ve been reporting that the first-gen Moto X is getting and Android 5.1 Lollipop. It was readily available in Brazil last April and we’ve only been waiting for its official release. True enough, the software update is here as promised.
After Samsung has released the Android 5.1 update for the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, Motorola is officially making the latest Android version available for download. It was Motorola Mobility’s Software Product Manager, David Schuster himself who announced the company’s full deployment of the Android 5.1 Lollipop for the 1st-gen Moto X not only in Brazil but also in Canada via Rogers and the US.
As with most software updates, this version brings a number of major improvements to the Moto X—- all of which enhance interaction with the device and its visual style. You’ll notice the Material Design elements very obvious especially in the themes, widgets, colors, and apps. Notifications now appear on the lockscreen. They can be ranked by the sent the message or by type. Blocking interruptions until the next alarm is also possible. You can even customize how those interruptions behave.
The old Recents feature, now known as Overview, will include apps and activities in the smartphone. This makes it easier to switch not only between apps but also between tasks. This way, you can be more productive with less time looking for a recent activity or app used on the phone.
Motorola has also incorporated the following: Motorola Assist, Moto Voice, Moto Actions, and Motorola Active Display. Since Android Lollipop includes Ambient Display as a standard feature, Android 5.1 also brings the same feature to the Moto X. Other additional features include the following: integration of Moto Assist within Downtime feature, new flashlight option on Quick settings, Invert Colors or Hotspot as conditional settings, Guest mode (similar to Galaxy S6/S6 edge), screen pinning, Android Runtime to optimize app performance, and Smart Lock to keep phone unless a trusted device is nearby.
If you receive a notification, you can easily install the software update by choosing “Yes, I’m in” then clicking “Install now”. Moto X will automatically restart once software is successfully installed. If there’s no OTA notification yet, you can check and download manually by going to Settings> About phone> System updates, then choose “Yes, I’m in” and “Install now”. Phone will also automatically restart.
