So I just flashed the new image onto my nexus 7 2013 and decided to do a mini review of mostly first impression stuff...
First of all the new look is a little odd. The feint colors and weird shadows make it feel like a tampered version of android rather than the stock, vanilla, and perfectly neutral android I've come to love. Holo, and its emphasis on black and white is gone, replaced by pale blues, greys and greens. The new look isn't bad enough that I won't get used to it in a little while, but its hard to love for the time being. Also while I hated the shapes at the bottom (especially the triangle), I actually got used to them pretty quickly!
The stock keyboard took a turn for the worst... No lines is so hard to type on and especially so on a tablet screen. (I guess it's not too bad cause I typed this review with it). Here you see some of the design changes. The green, the gray, and the removal of detail. (Edit: you can change it to the old formating under settings! Thanks Darth Spock)
Not everything looked worse! The settings, for example cleaned up very nicely! Sadly, the same could not be said for its cousin the quick settings... Once a large customizable page of quick easy to use settings now condensed, set in stone, and in a weird cubby above the notification panel. Which also removes its svelte black look for a less striking one.
The multitasking looks like the tab browser in chrome, something that while new, is familiar to operate at least. (I think HTC has the best concept of this "recents" screen, as well as quick settings, in its Sense UI)
The only problems I have met so far (and this is not the final build so it is expected) are just in the appearance of certain apps when they display a popup menu, for example viewing comments in the Facebook app, where the text appears but without a background. And that there aren't buttons to quickly clear the notification panel OR the multitasking screen.
I'm guessing this update is all about features, and appearance was put on the back burner... I felt like holo, was a lot more "unifying" design for google as a whole than this material design seems to be. I hope it will get refined in the future! And android is still the best
Posted via Android Central App
First of all the new look is a little odd. The feint colors and weird shadows make it feel like a tampered version of android rather than the stock, vanilla, and perfectly neutral android I've come to love. Holo, and its emphasis on black and white is gone, replaced by pale blues, greys and greens. The new look isn't bad enough that I won't get used to it in a little while, but its hard to love for the time being. Also while I hated the shapes at the bottom (especially the triangle), I actually got used to them pretty quickly!
The stock keyboard took a turn for the worst... No lines is so hard to type on and especially so on a tablet screen. (I guess it's not too bad cause I typed this review with it). Here you see some of the design changes. The green, the gray, and the removal of detail. (Edit: you can change it to the old formating under settings! Thanks Darth Spock)
Not everything looked worse! The settings, for example cleaned up very nicely! Sadly, the same could not be said for its cousin the quick settings... Once a large customizable page of quick easy to use settings now condensed, set in stone, and in a weird cubby above the notification panel. Which also removes its svelte black look for a less striking one.
The multitasking looks like the tab browser in chrome, something that while new, is familiar to operate at least. (I think HTC has the best concept of this "recents" screen, as well as quick settings, in its Sense UI)
The only problems I have met so far (and this is not the final build so it is expected) are just in the appearance of certain apps when they display a popup menu, for example viewing comments in the Facebook app, where the text appears but without a background. And that there aren't buttons to quickly clear the notification panel OR the multitasking screen.
I'm guessing this update is all about features, and appearance was put on the back burner... I felt like holo, was a lot more "unifying" design for google as a whole than this material design seems to be. I hope it will get refined in the future! And android is still the best
Posted via Android Central App
Last edited:
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