Welcome to Android Central! Which phone do you have? Many phones have an Airplane Mode toggle in the Quick Settings menu, which is a quick two-finger swipedown away.
The touchscreen issues sounds more like a glitch, rather than an intentional change in Lollipop. Have you already tried wiping the system cache partition? This can be useful after major system updates.
On my Nexus 6P, there's a Dismiss All button at the lower right of the bottom-most notification. Your phone doesn't have that?
I agree with the change in Silent Mode--that's a fairly common complaint. Personally, it doesn't bother me too much to turn it down to Vibrate Only (since my phone doesn't vibrate loudly). But it would be nice to have a true Silent Mode in the native interface.
The requirement to swipe the screen before getting your PIN entry screen is intended to protect against inadvertent phone unlock attempts (i.e., when the phone is in your pocket or purse)--this can lead to the user getting locked out of their phone. I typically use either the fingerprint sensor or Smart Lock, which bypasses that whole issue. Not a direct solution to your issue, but it works well for me.
06-05-2016 09:33 PM