Demystifying Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) was nothing to snee e at as far as mobile operating systems go, but the just-unveiled Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update looks to be the refinement of what was started in ICS. The Holo user interface is still there, but so much has been tweaked and updated to make Android a better overall experience.

What Google has managed to do is focus on the experience of using Android. From increased responsiveness, to predictive technologies, Android 4.1 is the most refined version of the OS yet. Let’s go over it all and see what you can expect.

Project Butter UI

One thing we tend to hear with every Android OS reveal is that the new software is faster. This time is no exception, but Google has graced its new performance improvements with a name: Project Butter. As in “smooth as butter,” or maybe “like a hot knife through butter,” or some other analogy that means Android is faster. In the demo, a Galaxy Nexus was shown running Jelly Bean next to an Ice Cream Sandwich Nexus, and the Jelly Bean phone did seem much smoother.

Google paid special attention to keeping the frame rates up in the Android UI. The graphics pipeline is now triple buffered to ensure things are super-fluid. The CPU and graphics will be better able to run in parallel without getting in each other’s way. Android will reportedly run at 60fps (vsync’d) with Project Butter, and that’s going to be very easy on the eyes.Android 4.0 was an improvement over previous versions, but I’m hoping Jelly Bean will finally reach that feeling of complete responsiveness.

Google Now and search

If you spend any amount of time on the internet, Google probably knows some things about you. If you use an Android phone, Google knows much more. Google Now is essentially an implementation of predictive technology that ties in all the data Android has about you including location, calendar, contacts, and your pattern of activity.

Take this scenario for example: you get up for work at the usual time, and Google Now will have your route to work set up with the traffic displayed. You might also get the scores from last night’s game and data on upcoming appointments. If you should end up at a bus station, Google Now can automatically give you route information and the estimated arrival time of the next bus. You don’t have to ask like you would with Siri or S Voice — Google Now should just know what you want.

The Google Now interface is based around a series of cards, not unlike the tabs in Chrome for Android. You can scroll through, slide unwanted cards out of the way, and load up additional cards if you want to dig deeper into the information Google has on you. There is also a lot of local information for finding restaurants and other points of interest in Google Now.

Google also revamped the search interface with better voice input. You can ask your phone more natural language questions and get answers. This information is pulled from Google’s Knowledge Graph system. It’s not quite Siri, but the demo was impressive.

Notifications and widgets

Android’s notifications have always been killer when compared to the competition, but Jelly Bean is going to bring some radical changes to this system. Notifications in Android 4.1 will feel much more like widgets than static bits of information. You will be able to interact with the app spawning notifications without opening anything. In the same way music players can add playback buttons to notifications currently, other apps in Jelly Bean will be allowed to create actionable UI elements.

An example: if you get a notification from Google+ that includes a picture, the notification will allow you to +1 it from the notification itself. There will also be expanded notifications for the likes of messaging and Gmail that show you more of the relevant information. Developers are sure to take these widgeti ed notification APIs and do all manner of wonderful things.

As for widgets themselves, Google is doing something that will alleviate a daily annoyance for me. When you add widgets to the home screen, Android 4.1 will be smart enough to actually si e them to fit. Icons and widgets are aware of each other, and will make room by moving around, just like icons do in folders on ICS. If you drag a resi able widget from an empty screen to a more full one, it will change si e to fit if at all possible. This is an example of smart design for real people.

Demystifying Android 4.1 Jelly Bean