Swiping away apps from recent tasks frequently is not a good
practice, since it reduces the efficiency of process cache mechanism in
Android, thus impact the performance of your device.
Swiping away apps from recent tasks kills the process of those apps,
thus prevent them from being cached in memory. When you launch them
later, it takes longer time and much more CPU cycles to create the
process and re-initialize the app runtime.
Clearing recent tasks does free much memory, at the expense of later
performance and battery consumption for launching those apps again. So
if you have a device with 2G RAM, it gains no benefits in practice.
Coming from a developer involved with an app that is very well
recognized for managing your apps, background processes and processor
consumption, you can assume he knows what he's talking about. So, the
moral of the story is this: clearing everything from the recent apps
list is a waste of time unless you seriously need every inch of RAM
available right there and then. Clearing out apps you're not going to
switch between regularly however, is perfectly fine. So, your frequently
used apps can stay and everything else can be killed with fire. Simple.
The Android L release date hasn’t been formally announced yet, but
we’re expecting it to arrive this Fall. Our current best bet is the end
of October or early November.
Android L vs iOS 8: the battle that benefits everyone's devices
Android 5.0 / Android L: price
As with previous Android updates, the price of Android L will be zero.
Will Android 5.0 / Android L work on my phone or tablet?
Android L backwards compatibility means it should be released
first for the Nexus 4 onwards as well as supported Motorola devices with
a rapid rollout. HTC says it’ll bring Android 5.0 L to the One (M7) and
One (M8) and Samsung, Sony and LG are expected to bring it to their
recent devices too - although as ever with Android updates, we’ve no
idea how quickly they’ll do that.
Android 5.0 / Android L design and interface
The most dramatic and obvious change in Android L is the new Android L user interface, which is based around what Google calls “Material Design”.
It’s a flatter design than we’re used to, but it makes extensive use of
shadows and 3D views to make on-screen elements distinct from one
another. The Roboto system font has been tweaked too, and all new
animations including touch feedback and transition animations between
apps.
In addition to appearing in Android L, the new Material Design
language will make its way to Google’s various apps on the web too.
There are already a number of apps using Material Design.
Android 5.0 / Android L new features: notifications, multitasking and access
Android L features include a revamped notifications system, which
puts notifications on the lock screen, prioritizes them according to how
often you interact with them and also enables you to take action
without leaving the app you’re using, so for example you can swipe
notifications away if you’re in the middle of something else or respond
from where you are and continue what you were doing.
Android L features some nifty access features too. If you’re using an
(Android!) smartwatch you can use it to keep your phone unlocked, and
if you aren’t you can set your phone to automatically unlock when it
knows you’re at home or when it hears your voice.
Android 5.0 / Android L: system performance and battery life
Android 5.0 / Android L: Google Play Services and security
Android 5.0 L should keep you safe: Google Play Services’ six-weekly
updates will deliver the latest malware definitions, system patches and
the much-wanted “kill switch” to remotely disable or wipe a lost or
stolen device. System updates will happen via Play Services rather than
via firmware updates, which means an end to the frustration of waiting
for manufacturers and/or networks to get round to releasing crucial
fixes.
Android 5.0 L introduces another useful feature: a sandboxed personal
mode, enabling you to use one device for both personal and work stuff
just like Samsung’s Knox system. You’ll also be able to manage all of
your app privacy settings in one place thanks to Universal Data
Controls. Update: Android L will have encryption turned on by
default for any device that has been updated to this version of Android.
Encrypting your personal data will protect it from leaks, hackers and
outsider invadors, which means that your videos, pictures, and other
personal matters will be kept private.
“As part of our next Android release, encryption will be enabled by
default out of the box, so you won't even have to think about turning it
on.”
-Google spokesperson Niki Christoff
Android 5.0 / Android L: Android Wear, Google Fit, Android Auto and Android TV
Alongside the new Xperia Z3, Sony recently presented its next miniature variation on its current flagship: the Xperia Z3 Compact.
The Z3 Compact is unique amongst smaller Android smartphones because it
holds basically the same internal specifications as the full-sized
flagship. How the Z3 Compact can be considered a flagship in its own
right and where it struggles will be shown in our Xperia Z3 Compact
review.
Once again, Sony has shown the
competition that it is indeed possible to create a mini flagship that is
(almost) every bit as good as the full-sized version. As we've
mentioned previously, this is why Sony avoids the term ''mini'' and
instead opts for ''compact,'' which implies the same thing just in a
smaller housing. Technically the Z3 Compact is fantastic and despite the
occasional issue like with the camera – which we have also experienced
on the Z2 and Z3 – you'd be hard pressed to find a better Android in
4.6-inch range.
Remember the Google smartwatch,
supposedly codenamed Gem? We do. While the LG G Watch was tighly
controlled by Google and the Gear Live looks pretty much exactly like
the Gear 2 with Android Wear, the Google Gem rumors persist. Google now
has the wearable operating system in full flight, but would they really
now need to push their own smartwatch? While the Nexus program says yes,
the amount of control - and relative lack of variability in
smartwatches running the same OS - makes me think if Google did indeed
have a smartwatch planned that they would have canned it when they took
the reigns on everyone else's Android Wear offerings. Still, the rumors
are there, and if a Google smartwatch appears this year it will be
alongside the Nexus 6.
Let us know in the comments below who you think will be making the Nexus this year. Would you buy a Nexus 6?
