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5 Thoughts on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

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Earlier this month, Google’s latest piece of software, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, arrived for owners of the Nexus 7 and the Galaxy Nexus. The update also debuted on the Nexus 4 and the Nexus 10 tablet, two of Google’s latest Nexus creations. The update, while troubled, is still a solid addition to the Android family. That being said, here are some thoughts and observations about Google’s latest software.

Android 4.2 is Google’s latest operating system and the second edition of its Android Jelly Bean operating system. It was announced, very swiftly due to Hurricane Sandy, back in October of this year and was released to the public a few weeks later.

Read: Android 4.2 on Nexus 7 Review: Final Impressions and Performance.

jb-new-logoFor the past few weeks, I’ve used it on my Nexus 7 tablet, and so far, I’ve enjoyed it immensely. Specifically, the standout features include the new Quick Settings menu which allow you to change the important settings extremely quickly, the multi user functionality for tablets, and the new lock screen widgets that allow me to view things like Gmail extremely quickly.

Past just the features though there are some other interesting observations that I’ve made about Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, its features, its issues, and its forthcoming releases that I wanted to share.

Here are my thoughts on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

My Favorite Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Feature

Hands-down, my favorite feature in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean is Quick Settings. Quick Settings allows users to pull down on the far right hand side of the Notification Bar to use things like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, screen orientation and more.

Read: How to Use Quick Settings in Android 4.2.

I find myself using this on almost an hour basis to tweak something and it’s the feature I appreciate about Android 4.2 Jelly Bean the most.

No Issues Here

There are a lot of Nexus owners out there who are experiencing a host of issues with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. From random reboots to a slow charging bug to performance issues, there are quite a few issues that Android 4.2 has seemingly brought with it.

Oddly enough, I haven’t seen any of the major issues that have plagued Nexus owners. Besides the month of December being gone for a few weeks, the only other bug I’ve seen is the flickering when auto-brightness is turned off. This isn’t a bug that is native to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean though and it only have happened on occasion with my Nexus 7.

Other than that, it has been smooth sailing with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, at least for me.

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The Verizon Galaxy Nexus probably has a long Android 4.2 wait ahead.

Verizon Galaxy Nexus

While it’s exciting that I have Android 4.2 Jelly Bean on my Nexus 7 already, it has also further solidified the fact that my Verizon Galaxy Nexus isn’t a Nexus at all and is just a standard Verizon Android phone with the Nexus name attached to it. The Verizon Galaxy Nexus, as it stands, sits three updates behind the other Nexus devices and I doubt that gets remedied any time soon.

Maybe it’ll get Android 4.1.2 before Android 4.2. Or maybe we’ll see Android 4.2 before Android 4.2.1. Who knows at this point. What I do know though is that Verizon Galaxy Nexus owners are in for a wait.

And it’s also now abundantly clear why Google decided to take the Nexus 4 to non-CDMA carriers. What a mess.

Expect Long Waits

With many phones still waiting for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, including the Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II, Galaxy S3, HTC One on AT&T, HTC EVO 4G LTE on Sprint, and more, you would think that carriers and manufacturers would just skip right to Android 4.2.

While that would be nice, I doubt that occurs. Instead, expect Android 4.1 then Android 4.2 and that means, given wait times of the past, that many Android phones slated to get Android 4.2 Jelly Bean will get their update in early to mid 2013, close to when Google will likely announce Android 5.0.

Android 5.0

Speaking of Android 5.0, presumed to be called Key Lime Pie, don’t expect the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update’s late 2011 release to have an impact on Android 5.0’s release date. Expect Google to announce the software either in June or July at Google I/O and for the update to hit Nexus devices soon afterward, complicating things even further.

Think of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean as an incremental update.

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Android 5.0 should bring some across the board battery life improvements.

That being said, at this point, it’s hard to think about what to expect from Android 5.0 given the impressive software that is Android 4.2. That being said, here are a few things that I’d love to see with Android 5.0.

  • More widgets, especially for the lock screen
  • Extensive battery life improvements
  • Condensed and easier to navigate Settings
  • Dependable Built-In Apple AirPlay-Like Feature

Now that Android 4.2 is out, what would you like to see from Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie?

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Eeyore

    11/30/2012 at 7:24 pm

    Eat $#!+ and die, Verizon.

  2. George

    12/02/2012 at 5:58 am

    the random resets definitely need fixing. happens on my galaxy nexus once or twice a day. i only notice them sometimes because i copy a frequently used password onto the clipboard. very often now i pick up the phone and there’s nothing to paste, in other words its done a reset without even being used.

    a minor annoyance rather than an ios maps catastrophe, but needs fixing.

  3. Technewz

    12/02/2012 at 4:21 pm

    I wish Samsung update SGS III soon, until than i am very happy with Android 4.1 jb :)

    Mysite: http://www.technewz.gr

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