One of Google’s worst kept secrets, along with the Nexus 5, is the leak of KitKat. So you all already know what KitKat brings along to the Android playing field amirite? OK, so this ends my review, thanks for readi…. HOLD UP. This can’t be the end of a review of what is a pretty sizeable overhaul to the Android system? Well, of course not.
So first things first, what does KitKat bring to the table other than a chocolatey mess *pardon the pun*?
Well, KitKat brings along a refreshed user interface that incorporates the old Holo user interface which graced the previous versions of Android from Ice Cream Sandwich to Jellybean, with lighter and less robotic tones which helps to make Android more appealing to the masses – of course only till the device manufacturers like Samsung or LG ruin it with their stupid looking custom UIs… TouchWiz i’m looking at you.
Google has also managed to trim down the requirements of KitKat such that older/budget devices can run on it – of course don’t expect your Galaxy S or HTC Sensation to receive an official update, the manufacturers are arseholes. And with KitKat, the Dalvik JIT (Just In Time) runtime is finally no longer the only runtime in Android, the all new ART AOT (Android Runtime, Ahead of Time) runtime is available as an option in the developer options.
Refreshed user interface
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The KitKat home screen
Android 4.4 KitKat brings a totally refreshed user interface with a whole smattering of transparent elements such as the transparent navigation bars, transparent status bars and finally… NO DOCK DIVIDER! The system fonts are no longer limited to Roboto but Roboto Condensed as well, as seen in the new launcher. Google has also revamped a few of the transitions and animations in KitKat such as the transition to enter Google Now which is now accessible by swiping right from the home screen or via the traditional ‘swipe up from bottom’ method.
Accessing Google Now from the home screen
And speaking of Google Now, you can now call up Google Now from anywhere in the home screen by just saying ‘OK Google’ and Now will pop up, just like on the Moto X except that it only works from the home screen. The process for adding reminders in Google Now is also streamlined with the ability to manage/add reminders with a touch of a button at the bottom of Google Now.
In previous versions of Android, the home screen is made up of 5 different screens with the main screen placed in the center. However, this is replaced in KitKat with the main home screen placed at the left and additional home screens only available if new widgets/shortcuts are placed. To users of previous Android versions upgrading, the process may seem a bit awkward at first but you’ll get used to it pretty soon.
The colours used in the accents of the user interface have also been changed from the old blue to white. Icons systemwide have also been altered with icons looking slightly larger than before and generally more visually appealing. Full screen apps can now make full use of the displays of devices that leverage Android’s onscreen navigation bar, with the nav and status bars sliding out of the display to enhance the full screen experience. So on 5-inch displays like the Xperia Z or Nexus 5, full screen apps can finally leverage the entirety of the 5-inch canvas whereas previously, only 4.7 inches would be permitted due to the fixed navigation bar.
Updated apps
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KitKat brings an update to the various system apps which include an improved dialer, SMS integration in Hangouts, a refreshed clock, downloads app and a new file picker.
The updated phone app in KitKat no longer features a prominent dialer but instead replaces it with a list of featured contacts (most dialled). Also, the default way to place a call is to search for a contact with the search bar at the top. The search bar can also be used to search for places of interest such as companies, restaurants, etcetera. This functionality is powered by the Google Maps API so it’ll work with every company or shop that is listed in Google Maps.
SMS in Hangouts
Google Hangouts finally pulls an iMessage and integrates Google’s excellent IM and videoconferencing service together with SMS capabilities. However, the integration could have been done in a much more polished manner as in the current iteration of Hangouts, SMS conversations are kept seperate from Hangouts conversations. It should have been like iMessage where iMessages and SMS from the same contact are kept in a single conversation thread.
The clock app in KitKat also receives some UI touchups with the alarm time panel being changed from a number pad to a analog clock face and a fancy circular scroller to select the time. KitKat’s Downloads app also gets some of the KitKat polish with the interface being changed to white instead of the traditional black. And to round off KitKat’s userland changes, a new file picker has been introduced to replace the old file picker for media selection operations such as attaching an image to Gmail. The new file picker emphasizes more on Google+ integration with the ability to pull images straight off your Google+ account along with the rather excellent Google Drive.
BACKEND IMPROVEMENTS
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As previously mentioned, KitKat brings a whole new dimension of efficiency to Android devices with the ability to run on devices with minimal specs, vastly improved battery life and an even smoother interface than Jellybean. This is all down to the slimming down of system resources and optimisation of how memory is managed, with ZRam memory compression and serial launching of services to prevent large memory draw, and thus allowing KitKat to be run smoothly on devices with minimal amount of RAM – 512MB to be exact. This is a huge improvement compared to the previous iteration of Android, which had a Google-specified minimum RAM of 1GB. Of course Jellybean ran rather smoothly on unsupported devices running custom ROMs, therefore it is safe to say that KitKat will run even smoother. And all these improvements brings about a massive leap in battery life for idle times and a marked improvement in on screen battery life. Interface wise, KitKat brings about a new feature set to its UI handler, surfaceflinger, OpenGL ES 2.0. For graphic intensive apps such as games, OpenGL ES 3.0 makes an appearance here.
Over the past few years of Android development, one thing has plagued both developers and users whether they know it or not. The Dalvik runtime. What the Dalvik runtime does is essentially compile, in real time, the Java code in apps to Android native code that the system can run. Originally, Android was conceptualised around the basis of using Java code to run apps so that developers do not need to learn a new fork of code just to program on Android, like you do on iOS if you’re not already used to developing on OS X with Objective C. But in order to run Java code on Android, a compiler was needed to translate the Java code to a form where the Android system can run it and because back then, Android devices usually have less than 512MB of storage space and therefore precompiling the Java code was not an option due to the scarce storage space, thus the Dalvik compiler was used as it was a “Just in Time” compiler. As per the name, the Dalvik JIT translates code in real time and this wastes valuable CPU cycles and precious battery, an especially important factor in mobile devices. And so in KitKat, a new runtime has been introduced as a future replacement for the Dalvik runtime, the ART runtime. What the ART runtime essentially does is precompile the Java code in apps, allowing much faster app startups, improved response times to interactions and less system overhead which all results in generally better app performance. The ART runtime is still a beta function and is accesible via the developers options in the settings app. Most apps can run normally under the ART runtime but some apps like Whatsapp will refuse to run or even install, its up to the app developers to fix it.
There are so many more system improvements in KitKat that I don’t have time to cover in this writeup such as DAC Audio Tunneling which tunnels all audio to the DAC without any system intervention enabling vastly improved audio playback battery usage. If you’re really interested in everything that KitKat brings, you can follow a link that is below the article. What I have outlined in the above are basically the major changes in the underpinnings of Android.
FINAL WORDS
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Android 4.4 KitKat is basically more of an under-the-hood update that brings even more perfomance, stability and security to the world’s most popular smartphone OS. But with many addition and improvements to the user interface such as the new launcher and transparent navigation and status bars, KitKat also freshens up the stagnating user experience of the previous iteration of Android of which its UI dated all the way back to Ice Cream Sandwich which was released late in 2011. As with every release of Android, unless you’re on a Nexus or Google Play Edition device, don’t expect to be receiving the update anytime soon. You can probably look forward to a release date of at least the first quarter of next year if you are rocking flagship or recently released phones such as the Xperia Z1/Z, HTC One, Galaxy S4/Note 3 or the LG G2/Optimus G.
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