Nov

Getting To Know Android 4.2, Part 2: The Revamped Gallery

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Jelly Bean 4.2, News

It's time for another installment of Getting To Know Android, the series where we show you every polished pixel in Google's latest Android update. Today's target is the Gallery, which, in a rare APK Teardown whiff, is not white. I have no idea what was going on with our crazy 4.2 alpha version, but the Gallery is still black, and the icon is still the same. Sorry about that. There is lots of new stuff to talk about, though.

About

First up is the "App Info" screen. As always, the old version is on the left, and the new version is on the right.

Nov

Getting To Know Android 4.2, Part 1: The Notification Panel, Recent Apps, And Other System-Wide Changes

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Getting To Know Android, Jelly Bean 4.2

We're back! A new version of Android is out, and that means a new round of GTKAs. If you somehow haven't heard of GTKA, the recipe is fairly simple: make before and after comparisons whenever there's an Android OS update, and point out all the differences. It's fun, it's interesting, and you just might learn something. Today's target is the system-wide stuff: The Notification Panel, Home Screen, Recent Apps, etc. Let's get to it!

Notification Panel

Like always, the old thing, Android 4.1.2 in this case, is on the left, and the new thing, Android 4.2, is on the right. Starting at the top, we see the date has been rearranged, and, for some reason, abbreviated.

Oct

exclusive-upcoming-gmail-for-android-4-2-will-finally-have-pinch-to-zoom-swipeaway-deletearchive-video

Getting To Know The Upcoming Gmail 4.2 - Revamped Attachments, Better Navigation, And More!

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Getting To Know Android, News

Last Updated: October 14th, 2012

If you haven't heard, we've got an unreleased copy of Gmail 4.2. Yesterday we showed you the major new features: pinch zoom and swipe to archive/delete, and today we've made a few more discoveries we thought you'd like to know about.

As usual, the old (well, current) version is on the left and the new, unreleased version is on the right.

Attachments have been totally revamped. For starters, attachments are now below your message, where they belong, instead of above, like in the current version. Here, in the right image, you can see the message text, but you'd have to scroll down to see it on the left.

Oct

Getting To Know Android 4.1.2 - A Location Settings Revamp, On-Demand 'Bug Reports,' Smoother Button Glows, And More

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Getting To Know Android, Jelly Bean 4.1

Hello and Welcome! Android 4.1.2 hit yesterday, and, in record time, we are pumping out a new version of everyone's favorite series. If you want to know about everything new in 4.1.2, you've come to the right place. To be perfectly honest, there isn't much to cover. 4.1.2 is just as minor as its 0.0.1 version bump would suggest. I've gone over all 164 system APKs (old and new) with a fine tooth comb, and this is all I could come up with.

First up, by now you've probably heard of the new, one finger notification expansion trick, and that the launcher has finally learned how to rotate.

Aug

Getting To Know Android 4.1, Part 5: Calendar and Settings

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Last Updated: August 29th, 2012

We're back! If you are somehow just joining us, where have you been? This is Getting To Know Android, the series where we milk every little detail out of the latest version of Android and put other change logs to shame.

Expect this version to be heavy on the pictures because, honestly, we're getting down to the bottom of the barrel here. There won't be much left to cover after this. To make up for the sparse commentary, we're getting a two-for-one deal this week: Calendar and Settings!

The usual formatting applies, ICS is on the left, Jelly Bean is on the right.

Aug

Getting To Know Android 4.1, Part 4: Miscellaneous Stuff, The New Default App Picker, And Insight From A Googler!

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Last Updated: October 14th, 2012

GTKA is back! For those that don't know, this is the series where we compare the new version of Android to the previous one, in excruciating detail. I'm going to dub this the "Miscellaneous edition," because there is a bunch of new things I want to talk about, but they don't really fit into a nice, organized category. (This doesn't mean I'm running out of things to talk about, not by a long shot.) The usual GTKA style applies, Ice Cream Sandwich is on the left, Jelly Bean is on the right. Let's get to it:

Has anyone else noticed a general toning down of the Tron design from Honeycomb to ICS to Jelly Bean?

Jul

Getting To Know Android 4.1, Part 3: Project Butter - How It Works And What It Added

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Last Updated: August 10th, 2012

Welcome back to GTKA, everyone's favorite investigative series where we learn all about the newest version of Android (with a heavy emphasis on "all"). The previous two episodes, if you didn't catch them, are here and here.

Today we'll be doing something a little different and looking at something near and dear to everyone's hearts: performance. Jelly Bean is crazy fast. Slap it on a Galaxy Nexus and it'll feel like a brand new phone. Scrolling is faster and smoother, and the touch response is hyper-sensitive. In addition to all the smoothness work, there are new transitions all over the place.

Jul

Getting To Know Android 4.1, Part 2: The Glorious New Notifications

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Last Updated: August 10th, 2012

Hello and welcome to round 2 of Getting To Know Android 4.1. If you missed the inaugural episode (about the lock screen, software buttons, and icons) you can catch a rerun right here. And if you did see it, I suggest you go look at it again, because I updated it with a crazy menu button bug. Seriously, go look. I'll wait.

Today we're getting into something a little more meaty: The revamped notifications system! And we aren't doing some wimpy overview, we're sticking everything I can find under the GTKA microscope. First up, the fresh, new design:

Design

Just look at that, everything is different.

Jun

Getting To Know Android 4.1, Part 1 - The Basics: Slide Unlock, Software Buttons, And New Icons

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Last Updated: August 10th, 2012

The new version of Android is out, it's real, and yours truly has a (mostly) working copy. That can only mean one thing: Getting To Know Android is back!

The title may not rhyme anymore, but it's still home to the most in-depth look at the next version of Android on the internet. That's right, the world's most OCD changelog is here to point out every polished pixel of Android 4.1: Jelly Bean.

The usual GTKA caveats apply: This is beta code (the Jelly Bean preview from I/O, in fact) and subject to change. Plus I've got it running on a phone it isn't even meant to run on, so we won't be too hard on it.

Nov

[Getting To Know Android 4.0, Part 6] The Phone App Gets Lots Of Love

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0

Last Updated: August 10th, 2012

Welcome to the sixth edition of GTKA4.0! If you are somehow just joining us, where have you been? You've only been missing the most comprehensive coverage of Ice Cream Sandwich on the internet. If you need to catch up, we already covered Gmail, Google Talk, YouTube, Calendar, and People (Contacts).

This article is for all the old school people out there that actually make phone calls with their smartphones. Today we're examining the Dialer.

For no reason other than tradition, here are some completely unenlightening about screens: