Honestly Is Lollipop better or worse than kitkat?

[Haalcyon]

On my 3 phones Lollipop is better as performance and battery life seem the same but now my Note Edge, Note 4, and Note 3 have full access to their SD cards.

from the n.3 Monolith

 

[Invader3K]

I just installed it and I'm not sure I like it better so far. I can't get used to the changes they made in the Chrome browser, especially.

It does seem to run a bit smoother, but is it worth all the other aesthetic changes? I'm not sure yet. I really don't care for the light blue color scheme they implemented. Is there a way to change that?

 

[gpo1956]

I honestly can't tell a lot of practical difference, other than my Note 4 is a bit less laggy.

 

[Fedginator]

Prefer lollipop. But still like kitkat

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[MilkTheDraggon]

I hate it so much I want to cry. Why did they have to change the way menus look and work. At least when windows brings out a new version there is an option to have traditional windows menus. Very tempted to accidentally break my phone and get a new one on the insurance, then I wouldn't upgrade. The problem I have is that I wasn't aware there was a new version of Android coming out, I don't live my life on a smartphone so when I got a notification that a firmware update was available I thought it was just bug fixes so I "updated" how I wish I knew better before tapping update. Now all I can here in my head is Cher singing "If I could turn back time" :'(

 

[Crashdamage]

As far as the new Material Design UI elements, I could pick at this and that, but overall I like it. The animations are cool and subtle enough to not be annoying. I like some of the colors, others suck. Not really a big deal though because several apps that I use have dark themes or can set custom colors. Hopefully those that don't soon will - Contacts, Messaging, Calendar, Keep - mostly Google stuff, I'm talkin' about you. But I gotta admit, and I didn't think I'd be saying this, I kinda like the continuity across apps that Material Design brings.

Under the hood, ART is definitely a major step forward over Dalvik. And Lollipop has been running trouble-free for me on several devices. No way I'd want to go back to KitKat. I know Lollipop has been a headache for some and you have my sincere condolences. But for me it's probably the biggest step forward Android has ever made in a single leap.

Since Android 1.0 I've seen the arguments over whether to upgrade or not. Every time a new update is released you have two groups of users:

1. Those who have to have the latest and greatest. They flash it immediately or if waiting for the OTA it never gets to them quick enough. That's OK, it's part of the fun of foolin' with phones.

2. Those who, after upgrading, hate the new version and want to downgrade. It may be for good reason, it's just not working for them. Maybe they don't like some changes, or change in general. Fine, those are legitimate reasons.

But here's the thing...
Eventually, even those who downgrade do move on. Eventually, they adapt to a newer version. Eventually, either because of hardware, software or both, they have to. Nobody seriously runs Cupcake anymore.

And they DO adapt. They get used to a new version or find ways to customize it to their liking. But some who are complaining about Lollipop now will be wishing they could go back to it after upgrading to M&M or whatever the next version is called. It happens every time.

I would rather put time and effort into adapting and moving forward than trying - and inevitably failing - to stay put. Mobile technology is moving much too fast for that to be sustainable.

Android since v1.0. Linux user since 2001.

 

[Bruce39]

I do not want to update, am perfectly happy with Kit-Kat (works great & don't like change) BUT I will. Not updating is a no win situation; Eventually you will be forced to, no matter what you do. Your post says it all, much better than I could.

 

[zorak950]

I like Lollipop fundamentally. I don't like how Lollipop was released: too many bugs, too many silly little oversights. It came out half-baked and really damaged consumer perception of Android. Lollipop is a great next step for Android, but they should have waited six months for general release and 5.1 should have been 5.0.

 

[Brent Michael]

I updated to lollipop on my HTC one m7. Never had any issues, we'll major issues. Only annoyance was that apps sometimes took a second longer to actually start opening but when it did it seemed to be a smother open. I also now have lollipop on my Galaxy s
S6. Haven't had any noticeable issues. Do and don't like how some of it looks but typically use nova launcher if not another custom launcher so I have more look choices.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[BullGuard8]

I downgraded to Kit Kat after not liking the battery life so much in lollipop but then I kept getting nags to upgrade all the time so I upgraded again. There is no way (that I know of at least) to stop the nags so I just sucked it up

I don't know why many say you cannot downgrade it took me a few mins to downgrade:

How to downgrade the Galaxy S5 from Lollipop to KitKat - AndroidPIT

 

[smooth3006]

Been running lollipop on my n5 with lag and memory issues. For the hell of it i tried miui 4.4.4 today and WOW does kikat run circles around lollipop. Id go as far as to say android L is the buggiest release we have had yet. :/

 

[Ringo75]

Even if it weren't for the aesthetics, and the slowdown, the bugs, the battery drain, and the extra useless animations for absolutely everything, I'd still say lollypop is worse.

The ability to set your phone to mute/vibrate/sound by holding your power button is gone.
The ability to view the time of your next alarm from your lock screen is gone.

What are the added features besides the mysterious "more security" footnote?

I don't see removed features as an upgrade.

 

[bubbbab]

SGS4
Email app takes 10-15 seconds to load. Never seen anything like it. On the other hand in email the select boxes are easier to tap without accidentally opening the email.

As for the look I feel like they've fixed a lot of stuff that wasn't broken and that I've never heard anyone complain about. Needs a dark theme and the ability to change themes. Can't do either now. Colors are WAY too bright for my personal liking.

Stick keyboard now has full emoji eliminating the need for 3rd party keyboard. I also have swift key which was ok functionally but not enough space between buttons causing me to accidentally hit space instead of bottom row character. On the downside very limited or no customization with the new keyboard. A plus for swift key.

I've heard there's a stock flashlight app but I can't find it.

Still new to lollipop so that's my quick tick so far.

Samsung Galaxy S4 And 4.4.2 Switched from Z10 July 26.2014

 

[jckatz]

With kitkat I could keep a VPN stable for maybe 10 minutes. Now with lollipop I hardly ever drop my vpn... But they made disconnecting very difficult...

 

[NotSoHumblePie]

My Samsung Galaxy S-4 was 'born' with KitKat, I selected this smartphone because the menus' white text on black backgrounds were easy to read (I'm visually impaired) the configuration menus were well organized and easy to locate/change. The forced Lollipop downgrade changed the landscape (and my entire phone) to an unusable state. The non-bolded black text on a white background is almost impossible to read without a magnifying glass and my contact list was all but unusable until I lucked onto the Contacts+ app, which allows me to choose a familiar white-on-black look and feel for my contact list. Only NOW can I see who I'm dialing (I don't prefer to call attention to my affliction by using voice commands). KitKat worked and worked well, to change my device's look, feel and functionality was unwarranted, unwelcome and unwanted. There's so much trash in 5.1's OS I'm surprised it didn't come with an 'Undo' button (which is sorely needed). Even the 'color reversal' and 'HUGE' font settings cannot restore my device's former functionality because it affects all icons and graphics rendering everywhere. Speaking of trash, that's just where this OS belongs. Thank God for apps, it's the only way we have to fix a broken phonecourtesy of Android. I spent 3 days after Lollipop trying to get my old usefulness back to my S-4 . . . the factory reset and deletion of my cache folder didn't help a bit. Lollipop works just fine if one can put up with its visual non-appeal, which is only apparent after being forcibly crippled by Android's meddling. We all got Screwgooled sad to say. I knew I should have considered an iPhone but I was stupid. Don't be fooled like me, thanks to Verizon I'm stuck with a (GREAT phone with a) crummy OS for the next two years. Grrrr

 

[gone down south]

Again, those are Samsung design choices, not Google s.

 

[bubbbab]

Again, those are Samsung design choices, not Google s.

So you're saying that the bright white background is only on samsung ? Pretty sure I've seen other manufacturers in some of the OS complaints.

It's not all bad there are some improvements but it certainly looks as though changes were made that weren't in line with market opinion.

Samsung Galaxy S4 And 5.0.1 Switched from Z10 July 26.2014

 

[Ringo75]

Can anyone comment about the removal of the "mute/vibrate/sound" options from the hold-power menu or the removal of the alarm time from the lock screen?

Are there any fixes for this?

 

[happee2bmee]

I thought I was the only one with the txt hurting my eyes!

 

[B Posey]

I love the lollipop update on my Note 4. No complaints at all...

Posted via my Note 4...