Sadly Google has removed lock screen widgets in Android 5.0 Lollipop, though you can still get things like music controls
as small notifications.
They're not important in game and if you're not interested in them, you're highly unlikely to notice that they exist as they pop up at the bottom in the screen
as small notifications every now and then.
Incoming calls show up
as a small notification at the top of the screen.
Not exact matches
This OS provides the option to change your LED
notification color natively from within the profiles settings
as well
as other fixes and
small additions.
I suppose it'll be good on the
smaller tablets, since I'm sure Kobo will insist on giving us the crappy phone UI that Google stupidly set
as the default for 7 ″ * TABLETS *, which has no global
notifications toggle (alas, like on the Arc you'll need to root it and then mess with the pixel density setting in / system / build.
A few
small tweaks here and there (such
as a power toggles in the
notification dropdown) could have offered something beyond what stock Android offers, and we miss stock Android here.
For a
smaller company wanting these
notifications, in addition to the other useful features such
as dedicated support personnel (DART), the program fee for the Tx4 and Tx5 programs respectively start at $ 50,000 and $ 75,000.
To the left of the front facing camera is a
small LED light, which for now I've only seen turn on when the device is powered up on a re-start,
as all
notifications at the time of this review are actually shown on the top left corner of the display.
For example, something
as simple
as reading messages and
notifications that appear in the bottom left hand corner of the screen is often impossible, due to the fact that the font used is atrociously
small and that there's nothing to separate the
notification text from whatever is going on behind it.
It's a
small change, but one that's going to make a lot of people happy who want to show off the watch
as an actual watch without a
notification card taking up space.
There are other
small oddities, such
as Mail
notifications not being available to delete, only archive or dismiss (Motorola does the same, in fairness, and we don't really care in either case - but some died - in - the - wool Android fans will).
There are also some
small design changes, such
as making the toggles and the
notification area separated.
Whether it's something
small like changing the size of
notification text, or major changes such
as using different background colors for Quick Settings, OEM skins can completely ruin one of the most central menus in Android.
We updated the Action Center icon to now hide unread
notification count when the taskbar is using
small icons,
as there's not enough space to display it.
There are
small enhancements, such
as the Google Now widget on the top left of the home screen, the revamped app drawer that you can access by simply swiping up from the quick access bar, and new gesture controls that let you open the
notifications tray by swiping down in the fingerprint sensor in back.
The changes are fairly
small,
as we've come to expect from most Android Wear updates these days, and most of the meat of this particular update is centered around a new layout that should make your
notifications easier to read at a glance.
Instead, the watch syncs to the user's iPhone or Android smartwatch via Bluetooth and uses vibration, changes in color to its
small light near 6 o'clock and its hands
as means to deliver
notifications.
I particularly appreciated the
small, mindful additions, such
as the 3D touch - like icon menus, and switches to turn off all
notifications and condense the status bar to the just the last three icons.
Activity, alarm and
notification data is presented using an interplay of the watch hands,
as well
as a
small colour window and vibration alerts.
App icons are now a little
smaller in the
notifications as well, sitting on the top left.
However it does now in Android N. Google has also taken better advantage of the space that is available there in Android N. Instead of having the actions on expanded
notifications centered, and
as big buttons, they are on the left side now, and a bit
smaller.
We've talked about Android 8.0 Oreo quite a bit already, and along with big features such
as picture - in - picture, adaptive
notification dots, a reorganized settings page, and more, there are also a lot of
smaller changes that you may not notice right off the bat.
There is also a
small secondary display at the top which serves a similar purpose
as Samsung's edge display by providing quick access to recent apps,
notifications, media controls, contacts and so on.
Things that sound
small but will make a big difference like better ways to manage fonts and emojis,
as well
as bigger changes like new ways to show
notifications.
For reference, since the launch of Android Oreo (and even when it was known
as «Android O») the icons for these system
notifications would appear (shown above)
as small circles (an «O») reminiscent of the Android O logo found within Oreo's Easter egg in settings.
Likewise, when there are
notifications available, but the
notification shade has yet to be pulled down, instead of seeing those little O shapes from now on, users will simply see a row of
small Oreo cookie icons —
as shown below.
Smartwatch capabilities are just like they used to be with no improvement whatsoever, so you get
notifications, options to interact with them, settings to delete emails or to reply to a message and all the essential tools that would allow you to use the Watch
as a fully - featured but
smaller smartphone.
As such, you can expect a similar level of functionality to the V10 with
notifications and other quick access shortcuts showing up on the
smaller ticker display at the top of the phone.
Android purists will be annoyed by other
small changes, such
as the altered
notification shade, custom icon designs, and other visual tweaks throughout the operating system.
This will cause
notifications to be delayed unless set
as high priority however, with the device only periodically syncing them in this case, but it is a
small price to pay for better battery life.
Google has made other changes to the way the operating system functions by modifying
notifications so they're
smaller and easier to handle
as you're doing other things on your wearable.