Google Performs Silent Launch Of Android 5.1 Lollipop With Budget Android One Smartphones

Google announced its Android One initiative in mid-2014 in an effort to put another billion smartphones in the hands of people across the globe. While consumers in developed nations have flocked to pricey smartphones from the likes of Apple, Samsung, and HTC, Google’s aim with Android One is to cater to developing markets with devices that are priced at around $100 and below. 

Google partnered with Karbonn, Spice, and Micromax to provide Android One smartphones for the Indian market, and the company today announced that Indonesia is the next stop on the low-cost train. While that news in and of itself isn’t exactly earth shattering, what is interesting is the fact that new Android One phones launching this month in Indonesia will come preloaded with Android 5.1.

This is definitely a shock to us, as the most recent version of Lollipop that we’ve heard about is 5.0.2, which started pushing out to Nexus tablets earlier this week. But Android 5.1 is an entirely different beast, and as its version number indicates, this should be a pretty significant update with regards to feature additions and bug fixes (as we will see later).

In fact, Android Pit indicates that the Indonesian market Android One smartphones will be closely followed by Android 5.1 updates for the Nexus 5, Nexus 6, and Nexus 9 -- the site has already uncovered earlier builds of Android 5.1 for those devices. As for what’s included in Android 5.1, Android Pit’s sources indicate have coughed up the following unofficial changelog: 

• Silent mode added after missing on Android 5.0
• General improvements in system stability
• Improved RAM management
• Fixes for sudden app closures
• Improved battery management
• Excessive consumption of network devices when used Wi-Fi fixed
• Issues with wireless connections fixed
• Problems with Okay Google function solved
• Notifications problems solved
• Some sound problems experience by certain devices fixed
• Other improvements and changes
• Changes in the Material Design color palette

Android 5.0 Lollipop was first introduced in November 2014 and has slowly been rolling out to customers across the globe. Just this week, Lollipop finally showed up on Google’s Developer Dashboard (Android versions with less than 0.1% distribution do not show up on Google’s charts) with a 1.6% share of all Android builds. Lollipop’s predecessor, Android 4.4 KitKat, is currently holding firm with a 39.7% share.