Wednesday, January 8, 2014

KitKat for Android tablets: Do changes so much? - Tudocelular.com

Android 4.4 KitKat arrived making enough noise, mainly because it was released alongside the Nexus 5 and so far not many devices that received the update. Several tops line, as the Galaxy S4, still waiting to renew the operating system on their devices. Moreover, as usual, the Google Nexus devices like the Nexus 7, quickly received the updates and already have Android KitKat a while.

New monument at Google's headquarters, in honor of the Android KitKat
New monument at Google’s headquarters, named after the KitKat Android

But often we talk about Android KitKat, we talk about smartphones. It is difficult to see articles about a new operating system with a focus on tablets. That’s because most of the times the tablet version is optimized for the larger screen but does not have all the new features that the original version, or even yes but are not as useful. It is no different with Android KitKat also not behind all the news in the tablet version.

About device About device

There are several differences between the two versions of the operating system. However, as this is not a review of the Android KitKat, I will not detail each function. Everything will be talking out of tests using a Nexus 7, 2013 32GB running Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

What’s New

One of the most welcome improvements is called “immersive mode”. In previous versions of Android, in most cases, the applications were not taking the entire screen as it was the notifications bar at the top and devices without physical buttons, digital navigation buttons occupied a good space from the bottom. Another problem was when in full screen real applications, like games, you wanted to check your notifications and could not, having to leave what I was doing.

Immersive Mode
Immersive Mode

Now with the so-called “immersive mode”, you may be on a full-screen application and just slide your finger up and down the notifications bar will appear. This will allow developers to actually use the entire screen without compromising usability.

also have greater integration with the personal assistant Google Now But here there is a “but”. If you leave the tablet in Portuguese, Now Google is quite limited, at least in relation to voice commands. For example, to say “Ok Google” to enable listening and then give the “Gallery Open” command, your photo gallery automatically opens. However, if you put the tablet in Portuguese command does not work to say “Open Gallery” or own “Open Gallery”. Instead it will search for what you said. This is somewhat annoying but we are used to this kind of limitation here in Brazil. Therefore, I will continue using the tablet in English.

Another problem is that for some reason you have to manually push the mic button in the search bar or access Google Now the Home button to be able to give the “Ok Google” command. You just be the Nexus 5 home screen and say “Ok Google”. Hopefully this will change in some future update.

Also we have new versions of applications like Google Hangouts, YouTube, etc.. Also comes installed QuickOffice and everything else is connected to storage in the cloud with Google Drive. I will not go into detail about all these functions, but it is worth noting that there is now a much greater integration of Google services and most of them are already installed on Android KitKat. Another welcome new feature is the fact that you can control the music being played directly from the lock screen. There are also some visual changes but are not glaring and enjoyed all.

Tela Inicial
Home Screen

But as we know, the biggest changes are KitKat Android 4.4 under the hood. According to Google, this new version of the operating system was designed to work even better on devices with modest specs. It works best with the control RAM, allowing smooth even use input devices. Another logical consequence of this is that you get a better overall system performance and can cope better with more apps running in the background.

I have not had much time to play with the Nexus 7 on Android earlier, however, it is possible to notice an improvement in your overall performance. Until now had no locked or anything of the sort. Everything ran smooth. What we can see is that the screen (especially the navigation buttons) seems to be more responsive to the touch and less when need. In general the system is more intelligent.

‘s hard to say if it is running faster with the Android KitKat because he has always been a very powerful device. Some things like uploading videos seem to load faster but can only print. I will not make a benchmark since they are not intended to almost nothing and do not reproduce the actual day to day use.

Conclusion

If you were already using the Android Jelly Bean, you will not notice many differences at first use. However, we have again is really helpful and unobtrusive anything. Thus the new Android is more than recommended, especially if you can grab version 4.4.2 already dealing with the teething problems that any new operating system has.

The update is recommended even if you have a tablet (or smartphone) that does not have much wattage specifications. Changes in performance may not be as great on devices like the Nexus 7, 2013, but the input devices sure are.

Some changes people (few) did not like the Android KitKat are for example the integration of SMS messages with Hangout and either basic thing. However, as we have no such changes in the tablet version, no problems. Therefore, I believe that Google did a great job on this new version of Android and hope that all future updates will also bring the same quality and level of improvements.


Tudocelular.com Writing

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