KitKat

I have been using KitKat on my Nexus 4 for a week or so now, so I thought it might be time to write a few words about what I think of it.

Now I am a big Android fan, but having said that I do like products by Apple and Microsoft are doing (as well as Firefox and Ubuntu, see previous posts).

I would like to say I could happily switch between the platforms, but most people become entrenched in one and after purchasing apps, media, etc.

Anyway, after a lot of API updates behind the scene (which are very welcome of course; I think what Google are doing to take away the reliance on the OS to progress the platform is genius) it is always good to hear of a new version which will deliver new features than API changes are unable to.

So, I was initially impatient, as soon as the factory images were available on Google Developers I downloaded and flashed using ADB sideload. This gave me KRT16O. It soon fired up - I like the new KitKat startup screen, the orbs of colour replacing the long-standing nexus "X".

And then into the system; I ran it vanilla as I want to see what has actually changed, not overlaid with a launcher. At this time the system was running the standard launcher and not the "Google Experience" launcher that you might find on Moto X devices. But I'll come back to this later.

 Now, many of the changes are under the hood, and it is noticeable. My Nexus is as speedy as ever, so very happy there. Visually the first thing you might notice is the cleaner look and the white status bar icons, which I like.

Setting up widgets has changed. Rather than accessing these from the application drawer, a long-press on an empty section of the screen pops up some options, one of which is widgets. It makes sense; when you open the app drawer you are most likely looking to open a specific app. The app drawer itself is much cleaner, with bigger, bolder icons and smooth screen transitions.

The other main change is for SMS text messaging. This is now integrated into Hangouts (if you wish, this is optional). I chose to integrate. I actually quite like it all in one place, and it certainly makes sense to me. Maybe it would be better to combine all messages by user; perhaps this will come in time or at least be an option, but for now you need to switch to see specific message types.

Cloud printing is now integrated but for now I haven't tried it.

Accounts seems better now too, and it is here you can start to see where the work has taken place.

Now back to the "Google Experience". The automatic listening when going into Google Now (by saying "Ok Google") can easily be activated, though the language has to be set to US at the time of writing. But I was interested in the full experience so I downloaded the new GoogleHome.apk that is the new launcher.

Once I has installed this I also had the ability to switch between launchers in the "Home" section in Settings.

The screens are much nicer looking now, running in "immersion" mode where the wallpaper extends to both the status bar and the action button bar. Some apps support this also and they look great full screen. A simple swipe restores the button and allows for navigation.

On the home screen now, simply saying "Ok Google" fires up the listen function of Google Now. This is actually quite useful (when it works!) and can control a number of phone functions as well as searching. It would be good if the "hot word" could be changed, but perhaps that will come in time. I certainly felt a bit silly talking to the phone, but I can certainly see its potential.

I kind of miss the Google Now widget on the homescreen, but a flick to the left and Google Now opens up fully, and the new additions to the cards are very welcome, and useful. Though I wish it would create notifications more and let me know some of these newer cards are there. Maybe it does on other devices?

A worthwhile update, looking forward to what is coming next. Hopefully the upcoming Chromecast developer sessions will produce some more Chromecast apps.