Great New Theme !
The current Jelly Bean-esque Holo theme is gone. Android 4.4 KitKat takes onto a dark/white gray contrasting one, and we actually ended up liking it, despite it feeling a bit lifeless.Google has done a splendid job of integrating the new color scheme – it flows through the near entirety of Android 4.4 KitKat. One exception is perhaps the dialer, which still looks nearly unchanged, except in terms of its design, of course. Some aspects of Android 4.4 KitKat seem to indicate that Google is going in the general direction of iOS. It feels simpler than ever and more intuitive in some regards, to the point of blatantly obvious. One such example is the slight redesign of the lockscreen, which now features an arrow on the very bottom, indicating the presence of Google Now, along with a camera shortcut icon for all the people that never realized that swiping left already does that.
Great New Features !
New features included in Android 4.4 KitKat include a new 'Home' menu that will allow you to better manage your different launchers, like Nova, Apex, Trebuchet and whatnot. We've also got a still mysterious Tap & Pay new menu in the settings, and though the overall idea is quite clear, we're a bit in the dark in terms of how Google plans to execute this one. Unfortunately, Tap & Pay does not work on our build, so we can't provide any particular insight, past the fact that only Google Wallet appears to be working with it for the time being. It's obvious that Google wants to streamline the process by allowing you to set a default mobile payments app, but we may be some time off having some actual competition there, seeing as Wallet is still riddled with limited availability.Scrolling further down the menu, we've got the new Location and Printing menus. As far as the former is concerned, there's no new functionality, it's just more organized, intuitive and informative. Printing, on the other hand, is an altogether new feature, though we didn't manage to get it to detect any printer at the office whatsoever. Early builds are like that. Printing nevertheless appears to be well integrated into the core Android functionality, and you'll be able to quickly print a photo or a document by accessing the triple dot menu that you've come to recognize, though it's missing in obvious areas like E-mail.
The Great New Apps !
Google is including some new base-line apps with Android 4.4 KitKat, while also updating some of the existing ones. To start off, productivity suite QuickOffice (which Google bought earlier this year) is now installed by default – a more than welcome addition. Also 'new' is (Google+) Photos, which can automatically back up your snaps in the cloud, in addition to making them look better with Google's Auto-Awesome feature that some of you no doubt know all about.The list of apps that have received some fine-tuning includes several. The Downloads app, for example, can now sort your downloaded content, and now has a grid or a list view option. Hangouts has also received a hefty update, and can now be made your default SMS app, though these are still separate from the IM chats. The Clock, too, has been refreshed, and is now ever so slightly more intuitive. Another interesting observation is that Google Earth appears to now be part of the baseline app cache for Android, meaning that you can get the so-called Flyover view of the world through Maps easily, in case you want a more dimensional understanding of a particular area. Last, but not least, the Dialer has also undergone some visual and design changes and now has a persistent search bar to help you sift through your contacts. A nice extra: you can voice search, without having to resort to the Voice Dialer (which, oddly enough, is still present in our build).
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