Android KitKat is right around the corner, with a rumored announcement date of October 15th. We thought it was high time we compiled some of our biggest wants for Android's next installment.
Performance modes a la Sony’s Stamina Mode
Android already has fantastic functionality when it comes to manually controlling your battery drain. The Quick Settings menu makes it super easy to disable and adjust battery-hungry things like GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, mobile data and screen brightness without having to resort to full flight mode restrictions.
A suite of pre-programmed, or even programmable, performance modes that disable certain functions while keeping others running would be a handy way of saving battery in a pinch without manually adjusting every setting. Sony’s already attempted something similar to this with its Stamina Mode. We’d like to see how Google handles the concept.
Kids Corner
Kids Corner is a very useful function that came in with Windows Phone 8. It essentially disables certain areas of the phone like messaging and emails, while granting access to games. It’s a must-have for parents with smartphone-hungry young ones and wouldn’t be difficult for Google to implement as a native feature.
Better Messaging
Google has promised better messaging for what seems like ages now. Originally known as Babel, Google has planned a cross-platform messaging system similar to Apple’s iMessage, but with the potential to go much further.
Google’s approach would not be restricted to Android devices. It would work on PCs, Androids, Macs, iPhones and potentially Windows Phone.
A free messaging service (so long as you have a data connection) that could bridge the gap between platforms and even offer synced notifications. Which reminds us…
Synced Notifications
Another of Google’s promises, albeit far more recent. We want to see a system that, if you check a notification on one device, that notification is then regarded as checked on every subsequent device that is logged in to the same Gmail account. This is something needed by every OS and currently we’re not seeing much of at all.
Swype as a native app
Swype is a seriously awesome keyboard. It comes as default on most Samsung phones and costs around $3 (depending on region) for the rest. It’s a seriously awesome style of typing that we think is under-used, despite its rampant popularity.
We’d like to see Google reward the good folks at Swype by paying to include it on every new Android device. Obviously not as the default keyboard, but at least have a pop-up suggesting it during the initial phone setup.
Significant Google Now improvements
Google Now is already pretty useful, but we’ve tasted blood and we want more. The card-based quick-answer system could be expanded almost indefinitely.
The main problem with the whole process is that the more detailed the information you go in to, the more specific it becomes to certain geographical regions. Obviously the US is always going to come first here, after which Google has to make sure that its other major regions aren’t missing out.
We understand the limitations, but that doesn’t mean we can’t demand satisfaction.
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