Welcome to Android 5.0 Lollipop – the largest and most ambitious release for Android yet! This release is packed with new features for users and thousands of new APIs for developers. It extends Android even further, from phones, tablets, and wearables, to TVs and cars.For a closer look at the new developer APIs, see the Android 5.0 API Overview. Or, read more about Android 5.0 for consumers at www.android.com.
One of the most prominent changes in the Lollipop release is a redesigned user interface built around a responsive design language referred to as “material design“. Other changes include improvements to the notifications, which can be accessed from the lockscreen and displayed within applications as top-of-the-screen banners. Google also made internal changes to the platform, with the Android Runtime (ART) officially replacing Dalvik for improved application performance, and with changes intended to improve and optimize battery usage, known internally as Project Volta.