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5 awesome Android Lollipop features you’ve probably never heard of

Published Nov 26th, 2014 12:30PM EST
Android 5.0 Lollipop Best New Features

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By now we’re all very familiar with the big features Google added to Android with its Lollipop release, highlighted by the addition of its gorgeous Material Design user interface. Droid Life, however, has dug below the surface and has unearthed some lesser known gems in Lollipop that we think are really worth highlighting.

FROM EARLIER: Here are all the most annoying Android 5.0 Lollipop bugs – and how to fix them

Droid Life goes over a lot of great features in its in-depth Lollipop review but the five most intriguing from our perspective are:

  • The Do Not Disturb mode that gives you the ability to tell your phone to stop sending you notifications at a given time. This works very well in tandem with some of the added notifications control features that Lollipop has to give you more control over what kinds of information your phone alerts you about and at what times.
  • The new Tap & Go feature that uses NFC to help you quickly zap all of your Google accounts, backed-up apps and data from your old Android device to your new one.
  • Ambient Display, which makes your phone light up whenever you take it out of your pocket or pick it up off your desk, or whenever you get a new notification.
  • A more powerful version of Android Beam that makes it much easier to share large files between devices.
  • And Smart Lock, a new feature that Droid Life explains lets you have “select Bluetooth devices paired to your phone” so “you can tell your phone to let you bypass a secure lock screen without having to enter a PIN, password, or pattern.”

To get a full rundown of these features and to watch terrific videos accompanying all of them, we highly recommend you check out Droid Life’s full guide at the source link below.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.