UI comparison – here's now the Note Edge's new Lollipop TouchWiz looks next to the old KitKat version

UI comparison – here's now the Note Edge's new Lollipop TouchWiz looks next to the old KitKat version

So, just a week after the first Android 5.0 update appeared for the Galaxy Note 4, Samsung has now started to roll out the lollipop-flavored TouchWiz for its Galaxy Note Edge, as well. The new version brings a few visual and functional rehashes, slight "flattening" of a few of Samsung's proprietary apps, and forces the handset to operate in the new ART runtime. Of course, there's probably more than what meets the eye, but it's well tucked under the hood, so for now – we can just cross-compare the new UI with the old, see what has changed.

Lock screen, home screen, and app drawer

The lock screen will now, finally, show us a preview of whatever notifications have come through while the display was off. Also, we noticed that, while the lock screen is on display, the clock that can usually be found in the rightmost part of the notifications area is hidden. This is done so that the screen does not display the same information twice over – not an essential thing, but a tasteful design choice.

The home screen and app drawer are, as you can guess, unchanged. Dropping down the notifications tray shows us the second hint of Lollipop – the controls area has much brighter, popping colors, and the notifications are stickied to a transparent background, instead of a solid one. Read more>>>