Android 4.2 features

We’ve heard about Android 4.2 quite a few times. It appeared in benchmark scores, in rumors too before getting quashed sadly, and some other few times too without anything official ever. But we do know for sure that Android 4.2 is real and has gotten more travelling than ever. Even then, the release date of Android 4.2 is not known yet and it could be this that it launches with the LG Nexus 4 itself – supposedly the launch device for the Android 4.2 – or, since we’ve seen LG Nexus 4 run Android 4.1.2 for good number of times, the Nexus 4 would make do with Android 4.1.2 at launch, only to receive Android 4.2 as an update later on, in which case, Android 4.2 couldn’t be assumed to be very near. But let’s hope the v4.2 of Android releases along with the LG Nexus 4, and Google releases the Android 4.2 to AOSP pretty soon after that, as always, so that we can rely on the development community to get us Android 4.2 via custom ROMs on our favorite android device.

The Android 4.2 update by Google, frankly, might not be as big as one android fan would always hope for, but I believe it will sure pack in some serious guts – like Android 2.2 Froyo did. And to prove that, let’s talk about some new features we’ve come to know about just now.

Android 4.2 Features

Notification Bar can be pulled two times
Yeah, you read it absolutely right! We’ve been swiping down the notification bar for ages now to get to notification panel to check out all notifications and stuff, but it appears Google is introducing one more swipe down of notification bar on the notification panel itself, which will reveal a new panel, dubbed as Quick Settings. Well, more on this in the second point right below. But it needs mention here that such an ability in the Android OS should mean a lot to developers, who shall be able to use it for variety of purposes.
Quick Settings Panel
On the second swiping down of the Notification bar, it seems we will see a new panel in Android 4.2, dubbed as Quick Settings. Of course, you can expect your favorite settings toggles here. To guess with, this new feature in Android 4.2 should get you toggles for: Wi-Fi, Mobile Data, Auto Rotate, Auto Sync, Brightness (maybe?), Bluetooth, Sound On/Off/Vibrate Only, Battery, etc. OEMs like Samsung, LG, HTC, Motorola. etc. have had their version of toggles bar under the notification panel for long now, which were good but used to eat up limited and precious space available there for notifications, which some times isn’t cool. Custom ROMs like AOKP allow us to hide the toggles and bring the toggles back only when needed but that requires exra effort to disable the toggles bar when not needed and for me, is not as neat as Google’s new way of doing this, by simply swiping down the notification bar again. Kudos to Android team for this really bright idea!
Notification Bar remains visible in Android 4.2
On Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, pulling the notification bar brings down the panel and hides the bar itself. In Android 4.2, the bar will remain visible after you pull it down once (or twice, for that matter) as it used to be on Android 2.3 and before, and that makes perfect sense too given the newly found second pull down ability to reach for Quick Settings. The bar has to remain visible to be pulled down, otherwise this the quick settings would sound too hideous.
Notification bar won’t drop all the way down
Ever since Google introduced the notification panel, the bar when pulled down would cover the whole screen all way down, expect on Nexus 7 where it doesn’t goes far to cover the whole of left, right and bottom of the screen. In Android 4.2 too, the notification bar might not cover the whole screen and although it will cover left and right space fully, some 15-20% space below it could be left blank, showing off home screen itself, as you can check in the video below. But this feature could simpy turn out to be a bug, in line to be fixed by the time of final release. But if this thing stays, that’s cool, too, but I do think it would be better if notification bar fully comes down when there are more notifications enough to make use of the full length of screen, which is never too much on the phones. Leaving some space below the bar uncovered is pretty helpful too, as users can simply tap on the empty space left uncovered by notification bar to hide the bar back, without needing to pull it off by reaching the bottom, nor using the back button for that purpose, which you would know is helpful if you have used Nexus 7.

These features are definitely, cool. There could be more, and, there would be more. It’s Google and Android we’re talking about here, so expect whole lot of cool updates in next iteration of Android, v4.2. In case you are wondering whether Android 4.2 is Jelly Bean itself, or not, well, there is no rumor or official word available in this respect, yet. It could turn out to be Key Lime Pie (otherwise, this tag would go to Android 5.0), but we’ve heard the Android 4.2 is now being called JellyBeanMR1. What do you say, about Android 4.2 and its new features, including quick settings? Long awaited, right?

Would this update mean we will become more less likely to go for custom ROMs at the pace and craze we go today? Would this totally eliminate the need of HTCs and Samsungs to install an odd-looking toggle bar eating up precious real estate in the notification panel? Let us know in comments below.