Instead of jumping ahead a full version number from 4.0 to 5.0 with
Android this year, Google has wisely decided to slow down the new
feature freight train just a little, instead expanding upon the solid
foundation introduced with Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich last year.
Where Android 3.0: Honeycomb
was exclusive to tablets and Ice Cream Sandwich attempted to port the
slicker UI over to smartphones as well, Android 4.1 is intended to
smooth out the platform's remaining rough edges – while hopefully having
more success at widespread adoption than its predecessor did.
As a longtime iPhone user, this particular critic has been quite
vocal about Android's shortcomings. Although many of our complaints were
wiped away with the introduction of Ice Cream Sandwich, the majority of Android users are still suffering with a heavily skinned version of the now prehistoric 2.3 Gingerbread. After
using Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for the last week, it's much harder to
rationalize any lingering negativity toward this platform. Instead, our
frustration turns to the carriers and handset manufacturers who continue
to defile Android, usually with tepid results.
While turning on a stock Android 4.0 device filled the screen with a
breakaway rainbow of colors during boot, Jelly Bean briefly follows the
familiar white Google logo with a pulsing blue, red, green and yellow
"X" here.
We compared the boot time of two Samsung Galaxy Nexus handsets, one
running Android 4.0.4 and the other running Android 4.1, and found a
noticeable difference in start-up time: 50 seconds for the elder
software, versus 34 seconds for Jelly Bean. (The 4.1-powered Nexus 7
came in somewhere in-between, at 43 seconds.)
Aside from fresh wallpaper, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean doesn't look
appreciably different from 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at first glance.
Google sidestepped any potential infringement of Apple's "slide to
unlock" patent by allowing users to swipe left (for camera, on devices
so equipped), right or down to unlock, now made clearer by a rippling
grid of dots.
Android widgets have always been an important competitive advantage
over iOS, and 4.1 Jelly Bean makes them so much better, it's hard to
imagine even Apple could top it – assuming they choose to implement them
in the first place, that is. Where previous versions of Android
made it tricky for widgets to be placed just anywhere on your home
screens, Jelly Bean now moves icons or even other widgets out of the way
so users can get exactly the customized layout they want. Even more important, supported widgets are now resizable: Tap, hold
and up pops a blue dot on each of the four sides. Grab one, move it to
your liking and then tap outside of the widget to commit the change. While this change might seem like overkill on a smartphone, it really makes a critical difference on the Nexus 7,
which comes out of the box with a number of media-centric widgets
squarely aimed at taking on the likes of Amazon's Kindle Fire by pushing
Google Play content front and center.
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean also includes a new Sound Search widget, adding a
Shazam-style "What's this song?" query anywhere on the home screen. Tap
it while a song is playing and the device will throw up EQ-style meters
as it analyzes the tune; if recognized, track, artist and cover art
info will be displayed next to a button for immediately buying the song
from Google Play Music.
Final But Important
All of the above would probably be enough for most Android users, but
Google didn't stop there: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean also includes a number
of smaller features, too. Google's mobile Chrome browser is
finally out of beta and now installed by default with Jelly Bean. We've
had a mostly dislike-hate relationship with the stock Browser since
we've first laid eyes on it, but Chrome successfully makes the
transition to mobile in first class style.
While we found the Ice Cream Sandwich soft keyboard to be one of the
best available on any mobile platform, Jelly Bean kicks things up a
notch or two by making the keyboard smarter and more accurate than
before. Text-to-speech is also improved with Android 4.1, while voice
typing now works even without a data connection. (Take that, Siri.) On
the flip side, Android Beam didn't live up to a lot of its promise with
Ice Cream Sandwich, largely because that OS has been slow to take off. There
are now plenty of devices on the market offering near-field
communication (NFC) chips, and that means Beam is finally ready for
prime time with Jelly Bean. In addition to sharing contacts, web
pages, YouTube videos, directions or even links to apps just by touching
two Android devices back to back, Jelly Bean enables sharing of photos
or videos in the same way. There's just one caveat: This can't be
done with devices still running Ice Cream Sandwich, which throws up an
error about large file transfers not being supported.
Maps users now have the ability to save such data offline, which comes in quite handy for a Wi-Fi only device like the Nexus 7.
(This functionality also works for any device running Android 2.3
Gingerbread or later.) We were able to select the majority of the county
we live in and one adjacent to us while staying below the roughly 80MB
limit for a single offline zone, but the new "My Places" menu allows you
to save as many as you'd like.
Conclusion
Android 4.1 Jelly
Bean isn't a gigantic, innovative leap forward; Google acknowledges this
by bumping the version number only slightly. It's a bit like
Apple's move from Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 to Snow Leopard 10.6 on the
desktop: An operating system overhaul that tunes up what's under the
hood rather than attempting to dazzle users with a volume of new
features.
Hokey name aside, "Project Butter" delivers the goods. Android is now fast, fluid and ready to go toe-to-toe with Apple on performance and features. If this were the only new feature offered by Jelly Bean, it would be significant enough to justify the update, let alone consider an upgrade to a new handset that takes maximum advantage of it. Notifications have always been one area where Android excelled over iOS, and the tweaks made in Jelly Bean only further widen that gap. We're also big fans of mobile Chrome and very glad to see it's now the default browser.
We don't actually dislike Google Now – it's a fascinating addition that promises to get better with time.As it exists today, the feature is clearly intended for city dwellers more than suburbanites, so we'd like to see Google offer additional functionality to the millions living beyond city limits. For all of its enhancements, Android 4.1 is still behind the times when it comes to the security of lost or stolen devices. In addition to lacking remote features such as wipe or lock, Google has yet to offer something akin to Apple's Find My iPhone, which helps users locate a missing device. Sure, there are alternatives available in Google Play, but they're more likely to be ignored by casual users there. This bit of nitpicking aside, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is strictly a win-win situation for those who can install it. Unfortunately, at this writing that's limited to Samsung's Galaxy S or Galaxy Nexus handsets, Motorola's Xoom and Google's own Nexus 7 tablet. While time will tell if this tasty treat can ultimately remedy the platform's larger fragmentation problem, manufacturers and carriers have less reason than ever to load up devices with their own UI enhancements. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is a thing of beauty, and should be a nice boost for Google's own Nexus-branded hardware. For those who have been on the fence, you'll definitely want to give Jelly Bean a look – this could be the version to finally sway you into Mountain View's camp.
Hokey name aside, "Project Butter" delivers the goods. Android is now fast, fluid and ready to go toe-to-toe with Apple on performance and features. If this were the only new feature offered by Jelly Bean, it would be significant enough to justify the update, let alone consider an upgrade to a new handset that takes maximum advantage of it. Notifications have always been one area where Android excelled over iOS, and the tweaks made in Jelly Bean only further widen that gap. We're also big fans of mobile Chrome and very glad to see it's now the default browser.
We don't actually dislike Google Now – it's a fascinating addition that promises to get better with time.As it exists today, the feature is clearly intended for city dwellers more than suburbanites, so we'd like to see Google offer additional functionality to the millions living beyond city limits. For all of its enhancements, Android 4.1 is still behind the times when it comes to the security of lost or stolen devices. In addition to lacking remote features such as wipe or lock, Google has yet to offer something akin to Apple's Find My iPhone, which helps users locate a missing device. Sure, there are alternatives available in Google Play, but they're more likely to be ignored by casual users there. This bit of nitpicking aside, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is strictly a win-win situation for those who can install it. Unfortunately, at this writing that's limited to Samsung's Galaxy S or Galaxy Nexus handsets, Motorola's Xoom and Google's own Nexus 7 tablet. While time will tell if this tasty treat can ultimately remedy the platform's larger fragmentation problem, manufacturers and carriers have less reason than ever to load up devices with their own UI enhancements. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is a thing of beauty, and should be a nice boost for Google's own Nexus-branded hardware. For those who have been on the fence, you'll definitely want to give Jelly Bean a look – this could be the version to finally sway you into Mountain View's camp.
Some Images of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
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| 4.1 Jelly Bean Intro With Logo |
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4.1 Jelly Bean Home Screen
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| 4.1 Jelly Bean on Landscaped Nexus 7 |
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