There’s a saying that goes “when it rains, it pours”, but this is one rain that mobile users are unlikely to complain about. After some delays and silence on the rollout of Android 5.0, we’re now seeing a flood of incoming updates to some smartphones. Sadly, not all models and not all regions are covered by this joyful news. Hopefully, though, it’s just the opening salvo that opens the floodgates of Android 5.0 updates everywhere.
Let’s start with Europe. HTC’s Jeff Gordon took to Twitter to tease their European HTC One (M7) owners that an update is heading their way. This was later confirmed by @Rage06 who shared a screenshot of the update rolling in. Be aware, it takes 804.78 MB of space to get Lollipop on your device, but that might very well be worth it.
Hopping across the pond, we take a few stops at Canada. There, LG announced that the LG G3 is also getting its just dessert. Aside from the Android 5.0 update, LG also took the chance to advertise its smartwatches, which works nicely with Lollipop’s new smart unlock feature. Still in Canada, but from a less direct source, the first gen Moto G is also getting the update, at least those from carriers Virgin, TELUS, Koodo, Videotron, WIND, and unlocked versions. The 2nd gen Moto X from WIND, on the other hand, is getting an update to Android 5.0.1.
Going down, we reach the US, where AT&T has just made available Lollipop for the 2nd generation Moto X, jumping directly to Android 5.0.2. The carrier shares a long list of the changes and new features in Android Lolliop, a lot of which we probably know by heart. This includes Material Design, the new Priority Interruptions mode, a new Recent Apps view, as well as multi-user support. The update also pulls in refreshed and rebranded Motorola apps like Moto Display and Moto Assistant.
Happy Lollipop Day for those lucky enough to get their hands on the update and hang tight for those still waiting for the good things to come.
Sadly there hasn’t been anything really exciting about an Android update for years especially since how we’ve had to wait for this one from it’s original release with oems like Motorola promising updates on many occasions over the last 4 months and time and time again failing to live up to that promise.
I think Gingerbread was probably the last time I was ever really anticipating a new Android release. We briefly got flash. The new html standard sucks balls for streaming video. At this stage if you have any phone with even reasonable spec’s you’re doing alright.
If you want to do the really cool stuff Android you need to root (WiFiKill, one of my favourite apps) but doing so takes on a bunch of other risks I’ve learnt from past experiences i.e. devs giving up supporting your device after updating to a version of their rom riddled with bugs after they said they were going to fix them (DarkyRom) and then ignore all correspondence living you with a phone that might as well be bricked because it won’t allow you to switch to another rom.
My point being manufacturers need to start offering rooted versions of their devices even if they aren’t going to be covered by a warranty.
Lollipop slows down moto g and drains the battery faster…..no good
I got android lollipop 5.0.2 on my moto g first gen thorough virgin over the weekend so happy with it so far the wait is definitely well worth it
The one area where lollipop scores is RAM. Yes there are glitches and lags but hope they will fix it in the next update.This is my impression on the First generation Moto G
The update is downloading on my HTC One M7 (Optus, Australia) right now 🙂
I’ve got it on my moto x2 from at&t.
Nothing new for Moto X 2013 🙁
Got it on the German retail version of Moto G (1st gen). Lollipop runs like a charm.
Lollipop is buggy resource sucking OS. I am using it on my Moto G first gen since one month. All apps run slow, Contacts get crashed every alternate time I try to launch. Calling is slow, response time is more than double as compared to KitKat.
Mine too lollipop sucks.first time no response from Google’s side.now another problem also when call come display light is off.I need to open the lock and attend the call only by clicking the call notification .another bug.I shud think of custom os
My second gen moto g is the same way with the notifications and calls
Despite the lag, I’m all good with lollipop update on my moto g 2014, after months of waiting.
At least, the stubborn notification bar is working seamlessly with down swipe now.
Still, with this upgrade from KitKat to lollipop, i now grasp a better understanding, that, even for a great company like Google, is having project management issue, such as keep track of each and every gesture and retaining of product feature while moving from older version to newer version. Giving an example; you no longer being able to send text from call history, but I don’t see a reason why this has to be taken out, it is such a trivial but important and convenient feature to keep staying. I don’t see a reason for it to be taken out, this is possible only by negligent of someone in the product development.
Wait do you live in canada?
Hi Lucas,
No, Australia.
My HTC one m7 now reboots every few minutes, overheats, apps load slowly (if they don’t cause the phone to freeze/crash first). Lollipop has killed my phone. I only hope it works out better on the Xperia Z3 when Sony finally release it…