Android 4.2 review

Google currently has a full range of up-to-date, own-branded Android devices, all of which come with the latest version of the mobile operating system – Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). In fact, if you want the latest version of Android then Google’s own devices are the only place to get it right now, thankfully they’re all great picks.

Still looks the same, but there's a couple of big changes

There’s the excellent Google Nexus 4 smartphone (made by LG), the aggressively priced Google Nexus 7 tablet (from Asus), and it’s bigger brother the technically impressive Google Nexus 10 (by Samsung). It’s undeniably the best line up of Android devices to date.

The move from Android 4.1 to Android 4.2 includes some great new features, some of which have never been seen before on modern mobile devices. Here’s our rundown of the most important.

MULTIPLE USERS

Android tablets, but not smartphones, running Android 4.2 can now have multiple users. This is a huge feature and one we've been crying out for ages. It means you can share a tablet with other people in your home, with everyone having their own apps, email etc. Having a family tablet that everyone can use is a great idea, and something that's not available on iPad, and is unlikely to ever be available.

Adding an extra user is easy -just go to Settings, Users and follow the instructions

Adding a second user is easy, you just go to Settings/User and tap the Add User button. The new user then logs in with their Google account, or creates a new account. Once logged in, the tablet appears to be as new, with clear homepages, just the pre-installed apps. They can even adjust settings, such as screen brightness or timeout duration to their own desires.

The new user can install their own apps, though they will need to buy these for their account, so for example, they won't be able to play games owned by the tablets original user. On the plus side, you will be able to have your own save games and preferences in apps.

These coloured buttons, on the lock screen, switch between users

You can easily switch users from the lock screen by simply tapping on the coloured circles at the bottom of the screen to select your user. If you want, you can have a PIN or other security method, as per usual, to stop others logging into your account. At present these are full accounts, and the original user can't limit the ability to install apps or use the web browser. We'd like to see more limited accounts (such as on the Sony Xperia Tablet S) for use by children.

NOTIFICATIONS AND SETTINGS

There wasn't much wrong with Google's handling of notifications and settings, but they've been improved all the same. The notifications bar is still accessed by swiping down from the top of the screen, though now the notifications themselves have been improved with the addition of buttons that let you take direct actions.

For example, if you have a missed call notification there will be Call Back and Message buttons below it, so you can take these common actions immediately, rather than having to tap through to the dialler and then find the right button there. Alerts for events can be snoozed and social updates can be shared onwards. It's all a matter of reducing the number of prods you have to make.

Notifications are now easier to react to thanks to context-sensitive buttons like these

On smartphones bar you can access the new settings menu from the notifications bar by pressing the button in the upper-right corner. Here are numerous regularly used settings in an easy to jab tiled layout. It tells you things such as what Wi-Fi network you're on and how much battery you have, and pressing them takes you through to the full settings menu.

You can check settings and change them from the new menu

On tablets, the settings and notifications menus are completely separate. To get notifications you swipe down from the top on the left-hand side of the screen, while swiping on the right gives you the settings menu. It's a good way of making use of the extra screen space on tablets for a useful shortcut.

Speaking of tablets, the update for the Google Nexus 7 means its home page now functions in landscape too, rather than just in portrait as before. This is a huge improvement when flicking from movies or games to the home screen and back.

LOCK SCREEN WIDGETS

The lock screen has also undergone an upgrade, with the addition of widgets. These allow for at a glance information without having to unlock your device and browse to the appropriate app.

Calendar widget on the lock screen

By default the time and date are shown, but by swiping left you can add further widgets, such as a calendar or email Tap on an item and you then need to unlock the device to view the full entry. Swipe right and you can go straight to the camera, if your device has one.

WIRELESS DISPLAY

The latest version of Android can mirror what's being displayed onscreen via a Wi-Fi connection to a compatible receiver. It uses the Miracast standard, which is now supported under Intel's WiDi 3.5. It uses Wi-Fi Direct to achieve this, so no router is required. It's pretty handy if you want to watch YouTube videos on your TV, but most people will settle for a cable instead.

CAMERA APP

We cover the new camera app and the new Photosphere picture feature at length in our Google Nexus 4 review. In short here, we didn't like the new camera interface, it felt excessively minimal and we'd rather have some more obvious menus. Most smartphone users won't have to deal with this though, as the vast majority of manufacturers prefer to use their own camera apps.

Photosphere is a neat new feature, but we've seen better examples

Meanwhile, the Photosphere function lets you take multiple pictures and stitches them together automatically, it's good fun but the results can't live up to those created by Microsoft's Photosynth. That's not available for Android unfortunately, despite appearing on iOS.

BENCHMARKS

We ran some benchmarks on the Nexus 7 and Nexus 4 and couldn't see any significant differences in terms of results, and certainly no consistency across different hardware that might show the update is significantly faster or slower than its predecessor.

MORE JELLY BEANS

The new version of Android has some useful additions, with multiple users being by far the biggest addition. The updated notifications are also handy, though we doubt we'll use the lockscreen widgets or WiDi support. Tablet users should cry out for an update for their hardware – or just buy the Nexus 7 or Nexus 10 – but for phone users it's less of a big deal, with no must-have changes from Android 4.1.

Source: http://www.expertreviews.co.uk