Missing / Removed Features / Apps in Lollipop

[Seronac]

I have noticed that it seems that lock screen widgets are gone in Lollipop. I'm not too happy about that.
And I'm not real thrilled about the new notification system; it just looks cluttered to me.
Additionally, the Gmail app has taken over the tasks of the Email app, and the Gallery app is gone. I have mixed feelings about those.
Are there any other things that you find are gone from Lollipop, or that have changed for the worse?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[fredjohnson240]

same here i don't like this lollipop version!!

 

[Brian Low]

I have noticed that it seems that lock screen widgets are gone in Lollipop. I'm not too happy about that.
And I'm not real thrilled about the new notification system; it just looks cluttered to me.
Additionally, the Gmail app has taken over the tasks of the Email app, and the Gallery app is gone. I have mixed feelings about those.
Are there any other things that you find are gone from Lollipop, or that have changed for the worse?

Posted via the Android Central App

I'm actually happy about everything they've done with lollipop. I for one RARELY used lock screen widgets. I know for some they used it but me personally it was Meh. I also never really used the email app either. Always stuck with gmail or downloaded a third party email app like yahoo, and with gmail handling everything now there's really no need for the email app. Gallery app I could have cared less about.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[mrsmumbles]

I'm not happy with the hit to my battery. Now I'm happier using my OPO instead of my Nexus 5 and I dread getting lollipop on it. It's just going to mess up my excellent battery life and I'll probably be forced to do a factory reset and lose my data if I don't get it all backed up.

 

[Harvey Barks]

I'm in UK and got the OTA update last night - 20:30 UK time. I ahve LG Nexus 5. I have the phone in developer mode.

Installed and rebooted - all smooth, no problems.

Problems I found after install:

1. Stock contacts icon and photo gallery icon missing from home screen. All other icons there.
2. EMail: two of my email accounts had completely dissapeared - a googlemail account and an outlook/exchange account. Also, it took nearly four hours to sync my work exchange email.
3. Contacts missing and whilst they were synced with all of my accounts, they weren't anymore - only two - a gmail account and hotmail account. All other accounts contained no contacts.
4. I had a two screens other than icons - one was for flip book and the other had email widget. The flipbook widget screen was still there, but the email widget screen had gone - presumably because gmail is the default app. Not overly happy about being forced to use that app for all email....

Other than that, it's worked fine, seems fast and I think the battery life is better.

Oh one other thing that did not work, until today was FIT. Kept getting message that it could not download my account info. This was the same using either wi-fi or mobile data. I have just get it working now - some 14 hours later.

I don't like the fact I have to swipe up before I can enter lock code...

 

[checkmate]

Here are a few things I don't like in the Lollipop update:

• Swipe up to unlock THEN enter my PIN or pattern? I just want one or the other, not both!
• Lock screen notifications - I'd like the option of just showing the icons at the top of the screen (like in KitKat)
• In 'Recent Apps' you used to be able to tap an empty area of the screen to go back to your homescreen. This doesn't work now.
• I don't like the opaque white Google search bar - it's too bright. How about an opacity setting?
• Does 'Battery Saver' mode really have to have bright orange bars top and bottom? How about just making all the top icons orange instead of white so it's less intrusive.
• The Calendar update is a pain in the bum. Much less functional than the KitKat version (and no way to roll back)
• When I search the phone, why do the contacts not come up first (before google search results)? Okay, so this was an issue in KitKat, but it still bugs me there's no option to change the order.
• I have to swipe down twice from the top of the screen to see battery percentage. Why not show it on the first swipe?

I was really looking forward to Lollipop, but so far it has made me less productive and hasn't really introduced any essential (to me) new features.

 

[AaronTV]

This only addresses one of your concerns but you can still use a two finger down swipe to go straight to battery/settings shade.

Posted with Nexus 5 via Android Central App

 

[brosko]

All These reasons and more is the reason I don't think I am updating to lollipop any time soon. I played around with it in the store and was less than impressed. It just seems that kit Kat is less of a pita to get the simple stuff done.

 

[NannerAirCraft]

Here are a few things I don't like in the Lollipop update:

• Swipe up to unlock THEN enter my PIN or pattern? I just want one or the other, not both!
• Lock screen notifications - I'd like the option of just showing the icons at the top of the screen (like in KitKat)
• Does 'Battery Saver' mode really have to have bright orange bars top and bottom? How about just making all the top icons orange instead of white so it's less intrusive.
  *SNIP

For your first reason although you can't have the pin open right away. You can just swipe up to unlock if you have Swipe selected under screen lock.
For the lock screen go into sound & notification and click "When device is locked" and select Don't show notifications at all and they won't show on the lock screen.
Yes the battery saver mode does have the orange bars at the top and bottom. They are a little annoying but I don't really find if it will really help increase battery life when I need it.
For everything else you mentioned I mostly again, don't really care if I have to swipe twice to see battery % and I don't have an issue with contacts coming up after search. Although I do wish you could change the white backgrounds and have an opacity setting as you mentioned.

 

[xstinkyx]

Here are a few things I don't like in the Lollipop update:

• Does 'Battery Saver' mode really have to have bright orange bars top and bottom? How about just making all the top icons orange instead of white so it's less intrusive.
• I have to swipe down twice from the top of the screen to see battery percentage. Why not show it on the first swipe?

The Battery Saver mode color is supposed to be annoying. It slows down the entire system. The annoying orange reminds people that "hey, things may act slowly/oddly, go plug your phone in!"

For the battery percentage, instead of using the two-swipe method you can also do one-swipe and then click on those icons in the upper-right and then the percentage will display.

 

[sumanthyd23]

1) It will be better if they remove the color of 'Battery Saver' mode as this annoying.
2) Display background color should changeable, only black or white is ok. If not, default color black or transparent are also ok.

 

[Bugslayer25]

Very disappointed with this update on my Nexus 5. With the elimination of the Email app, there is no longer any way to have a combined view in a widget. Gallery, which i favored, is gone. I HATE the solid white search bar. Notifications are clunky and inelegant now. No way to clear them in bulk anymore, and now they are tangled up with Chrome tabs. Yuck. Why do I need a status icon for my account? Plus, my battery seems to drain faster. And they didn't address some real flaws in Android, like the multiple touches needed to go from location (battery saver) to location (GPS only) and back. The only real improvement is that OK Google works from any screen now.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[RickInHouston]

Never Mind. Found it. Gear in upper part of drop down menu.

I really like lollipop. But...

I like being able to get to settings in the drop down menu (now with two fingers). Can I add it back manually?

As for the calendar. I guess I'm the only one that loves it. I made hotel reservations for Thanksgiving weekend. The confirmation came to my gmail account. Gmail automatically created a calendar event from the confirmation - complete with picture of the resort at the top of the event card. That really is impressive!

Now, about that 'settings' button on the drop down? Can it be added?

 

[checkmate]

For the lock screen go into sound & notification and click "When device is locked" and select Don't show notifications at all and they won't show on the lock screen.

I think you misunderstood. I DO want to see notifications on the lock screen. But I want just the small icons in the top bar, not the ones in the middle of the screen. Your suggestion turns off everything.

 

[Jamndroid]

I also immediately regretted updating, when I found out that the EMail with combined inbox and widget was gone. So, I installed blue mail, which does allow a combined inbox with a widget on the home screen.

I also do not like the new calendar; you can't pinch and zoom it, and the week view is landscape-only. That is not what I call a usability improvement.

Now I can't figure out how to remove my other accounts from the system, as they are managed by blue mail.

 

[Anton Apostolov]

Completely agree with you.
What is the point of having a notification card with hidden sensitive information?!! just taking space. to be able to tap it I get it, but i dont tap my weather icon. its place in notification bar is more than enough.

There is so much work to be done on new lock screen.

Why swipe AND PIN to unlock. Face unlock AND swipe. Annoying.
It is hard to detect if face unlock succeeded - I need to look at the small person icon turning to smaller open lock. instead of nice green / red lock so it is visible without staring at it. and touching it to unlock is less engaging than a swipe
When disable notification cards there is no indication in notification bar - not helpful. Huge blank space instead of unlock pad - totally useless. This is top real estate.

And what about calendar - no way to put next few events on lock screen where it makes sense the most. The very app does not allow to select me all my calendars and I can not keep month view by default but that is another story.

Closing browser tab thru overview window is also a bit strange.
Double swipe for settings - really why?
The dialer icon is at the bottom but once in a call all buttons jump close to the top - up and down... hard to reach with the thumb.

And the colors.. is this the new design school? the white background is so bold, merging the items. the grey color spreading thru the item - is it a kid toy or what?! there are so many options to customize app notifications, please put some appearance settings - background, animation effects, etc

No gallery - good. but any chance to easily navigate to local pics? remembering the last view - local pics or albums. why I need to navigate every time again and again....

Do not disturb and flashlight are nice features. Another long expected one is to be able to reorder Share options - like moving translate on the top if you use it the most

Hopefully 5.1 would come soon enough.

 

[Seronac]

I also noticed that the Contacts app no longer has Groups, and the GMail app STILL can't send an email to a group.

It's as if the Android Dev team was taken over by a middle-school programming 101 class. So many annoyances.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[ramnath007]

Most annoying feature is to have notification on the notification bar as well as the Lock screen.No way to choose any one.
In case of sms apps ,Setting notification as sensitive hides both the message and the senders name.
Unlock is a three step process not
1.Wake 2.Swipe 3.Enter pin or pattern

 

[canterp]

I have same issues as posted on this thread. The new email is not very good for combined accounts. The battery drains quickly. To swipe and then enter pin is very annoying.

My question is WHY? Why would Google work for a year to make our us less productive with our phones.

 

[Jack Lagraula]

+1 : the Contacts app no longer has Groups !!! is it how Google is 'improving' it's products ? Who is the f... quality manager in this team ?