Motorola is sticking true to its promise of quick updates. The Moto X received the Android Lollipop update not too long ago, and now the low-end Moto G is grabbing a taste of Lollipop.
Moto G is an unlikely candidate for one of the earliest updates to Android Lollipop, considering Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy S5, HTC’s One M8 and Sony’s Xperia Z3 all have yet to receive the new update.
The update will come over-the-air to all Moto G (2014) users. The 386MB file should only take a few minutes, once finished users will get an update to what is new on Android Lollipop, including some updates to Motorola’s core apps.
Motorola offers a near-stock experience on the Moto G and other Moto devices, making it easier for the manufacturer to update its smartphone line. The only differences are Motorola’s own software inclusions, which tend to be useful rather than junk.
Android Lollipop brings a whole host of new features, including Material Design, a new design language adopted by Google and most active Android developers – Google is looking to push this design language onto the Web and other platforms soon.
Users will also be able to get lock-screen notifications, a feature Motorola showed off before Android Lollipop with Active Display, allowing the user to tap the screen to see any current notifications. Multi-user support is another new feature, allowing multiple family members or multiple identities to log-in quickly.
Google has pushed more battery life onto Android Lollipop, giving smartphones one or two hours more life before dying. The ART runtime also makes animations and games smoother. There are more under-the-hood changes to bring ease-of-life to Android.
Motorola should update the Moto E, followed by the 2013 lineup, to complete the Android Lollipop update. It might be a while before Verizon and Motorola update their Droid smartphones.
