What’s new in Android 4.1: Jelly Bean

Android OS has been ruling the current Smartphone market with the largest number

of android activations compared to any other Smartphone OS in the last fiscal year.

The first android based Smartphones were sold in the year 2009. And since then it

has grown to become the biggest Smartphone OS.

Google regularly comes up with newer version of Android. The recent update which

is coming up with all the latest android based phones is Android 4.1 named Jelly

Beans. Now, every time Google rolls out the new version there are few good changes

in it than the previous one. Continuing the trend there are a few positive changes in

this update of Android 4.1 too.

System:

Now long press the ‘Power’ button to boot your device in the safe mode.

A new button ‘Reset app preference’ is added which allows resetting default

applications for specific activities.

Newly customized widgets:

Personalizing the home screen was never so easy. When trying to set the

widget on the home screen all other items moves automatically to make room

for the new widget.

If the size of widget is too large, it automatically resizes if you want it to.

Improved Browser

The advanced browser in Android Jellybean performs better for animation on

webpages, and with updated JavaScript Engine (V8) the pages are loaded

faster.

A better HTML5 video support and that too with new user friendly interface.

Beam

Tap and share is like the slogan of this new advanced sharing feature of

Android. One can easily pair with Bluetooth devices like headsets and you can

easily share music and photos with other device supporting ‘Beam’.

Calendar

A ‘Today’ button is added to the action bar which shows the current day and

events pertaining to it.

Swiping between days is better in the calendar and many animations are

added in the app.

If you have a huge list of emailing a whole lot of guests’ emails in the event

detail then you can mail them all with a single tap.

A new option in settings allows you to create a default response for emailing

guests.

Camera & Gallery

New features have been added to the camera and the gallery app to make it more

user friendly. A new animation has been added to switch between front-facing and

back cameras.

Focusing on a particular object gives you visual feedback on the focus state of

the object.

The most important change in this app is that you can now easily shift from

camera viewfinder to review the photos you have already taken. All this can

be done without leaving the camera app.

Phone

Quite a few modifications have been made in the system app on the phone.

The dial pad is now even more responsive under the Project Butter.

If you miss a call then with a single touch you can either return the call or

reply by SMS.

Play the incoming visual voicemails with one touch which are displayed in a

new notification area.

As Google is coming up with newer updates the Android application developers are also

developing new skills to develop more advanced and useful apps for the Android OS.

Android application developers in India are gaining worldwide

acknowledgement because of the highly advanced applications developed by them

at comparatively cheaper rates.

About the author: Smartkathy is in the field of mobile development since 2007. Her

focus has mainly been on android application developer and for creating better

opportunities for the apps development for android.