I transitioned to using my phone as my only music device back when Google Play Music was unleashed as well as the "All Access" key.
This means I use my phone in my car for music every single day, multiple times a day.
On previous OS versions, while my phone was locked but playing music, it would present my usual lockscreen (waiting for a PIN) overlayed upon my beautiful album covers, with big music controls for next, previous, play/pause, and even track seeking if you held the next or previous buttons. All while my phone remained locked.
Lollipop hit my Nexus 5 last night. And I can't seem to reproduce this with its new version of Lockscreen Notifications. It only gives a tiny rectangle notification that music is playing, with a simple play/pause button and a next track button, and that's it; upon expanding the notification (while the phone is still locked), it grows slightly and gives a couple more controls, but the buttons are still rather tiny, and it's quite difficult to expand the tiny notification rectangle while driving. Not only this, but it's even more difficult to do because the Lollipop UI often thinks you're attempting to unlock your device if you don't hit the tiny music notification JUST right.
And besides, I miss my beautiful album covers!
All of this makes for an incredibly frustrating user experience for the many users that use their devices for music while driving, especially when compared to KitKat, Jellybean, and perhaps even ICS.
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I am writing this post to 1) ask if others use their device the same way I am and are experiencing frustration while driving because of it, and (most importantly) 2) ask if anyone has any potential solutions to solve my issue here?
I am loving Lollipop for the most part, and I realize change is hard for some people, but I've got to admit, this aspect of the previous OS versions was one I used not only once a day, not twice a day, but several times every single day, and it is one I am really going to miss if I can't find a solution to.
The pictures attached are screenshots. One is a screenshot of what I used to be able to achieve, with full album artwork and full controls.
Another screenshot is what it looks like now, a tiny rectangle which with Lollipop's heavily gesture-based interface, is very difficult to maneuver while driving.
A third screenshot is what it looks like if you're able to successfully expand that tiny notification while driving (instead of making the phone think you're trying to unlock it and then having it display a numerical pad), it slightly enlarges and then flies to the top of your screen.
The final screenshot is what your lockscreen looks like while playing music if you disabled "lockscreen notifications" completely. No controls whatsoever, merely album artwork in the background doing nothing. This fact makes me wonder if this is still somewhat a "beta" idea of theirs and it's still cooking. Why else would it even display the artwork in the first place while music is playing if it's not going to offer you any controls for it?
This means I use my phone in my car for music every single day, multiple times a day.
On previous OS versions, while my phone was locked but playing music, it would present my usual lockscreen (waiting for a PIN) overlayed upon my beautiful album covers, with big music controls for next, previous, play/pause, and even track seeking if you held the next or previous buttons. All while my phone remained locked.
Lollipop hit my Nexus 5 last night. And I can't seem to reproduce this with its new version of Lockscreen Notifications. It only gives a tiny rectangle notification that music is playing, with a simple play/pause button and a next track button, and that's it; upon expanding the notification (while the phone is still locked), it grows slightly and gives a couple more controls, but the buttons are still rather tiny, and it's quite difficult to expand the tiny notification rectangle while driving. Not only this, but it's even more difficult to do because the Lollipop UI often thinks you're attempting to unlock your device if you don't hit the tiny music notification JUST right.
And besides, I miss my beautiful album covers!
All of this makes for an incredibly frustrating user experience for the many users that use their devices for music while driving, especially when compared to KitKat, Jellybean, and perhaps even ICS.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I am writing this post to 1) ask if others use their device the same way I am and are experiencing frustration while driving because of it, and (most importantly) 2) ask if anyone has any potential solutions to solve my issue here?
I am loving Lollipop for the most part, and I realize change is hard for some people, but I've got to admit, this aspect of the previous OS versions was one I used not only once a day, not twice a day, but several times every single day, and it is one I am really going to miss if I can't find a solution to.
The pictures attached are screenshots. One is a screenshot of what I used to be able to achieve, with full album artwork and full controls.
Another screenshot is what it looks like now, a tiny rectangle which with Lollipop's heavily gesture-based interface, is very difficult to maneuver while driving.
A third screenshot is what it looks like if you're able to successfully expand that tiny notification while driving (instead of making the phone think you're trying to unlock it and then having it display a numerical pad), it slightly enlarges and then flies to the top of your screen.
The final screenshot is what your lockscreen looks like while playing music if you disabled "lockscreen notifications" completely. No controls whatsoever, merely album artwork in the background doing nothing. This fact makes me wonder if this is still somewhat a "beta" idea of theirs and it's still cooking. Why else would it even display the artwork in the first place while music is playing if it's not going to offer you any controls for it?
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