Jellybean

I opted to sideload the new Jellybean 4.2 onto my Nexus 7. May as well. I was going to load it on anyway once the OTA came through (which it did before I published this).

So here are some quirks and improvements.

Quirks

• Setting a new lock widget is awkward. When you initially get to the lock screen, a half rendered box glows on the left, to which you can swipe and it’ll let you add a new lock screen item. Unfortunately you need to specifically design something for lock screen use instead of letting you pick from the existing widget list, so the Nexus 7 only has 4, of which I really only find 1 that I can use (digital clock).
• Daydream seems fun, but I dont really keep images on my tablet. I wish it would have just let me daydream photos from my Google+ album (it does, I just had to select it as so), or better yet, from anyone else’s album, hmm, like Trey Ratcliff.
• New user on tablet if fun. But the initial clock on the lock screen for that user shows that it has an alarm. Nothing is set when I actually go to the clock widget to check it.
• Apps lock up a bit. Not sure why. Never used to happen with 4.1.x. SuperSU seems rather active too.
• (carry over from 4.1 update): Notification pull down is a bit too elastic. I want to be able to inertially pull it down like it was in 4.0. Now it takes more concerted effort to fully pull it down so that it stays open.
• Right notification should also have a toggle for location awareness, which is in the provided widget. And there’s even an empty square. Did they just forget?

Improved

• The “Other apps” button (the double window) now shows all the other apps running, as well as the one that you swapped out from. Which is a nice way to list all the windows, not just the other ones. I like that a lot for some reason.
• The new digital clock is neat. To add other cities, click on the location drop pin at the center bottom. Not sure why, but that one just too me a while to figure out.
• Multiple users. I like the concept. Not sure about the execution. This is one of those times where I wish to “exit” completely out of the other user’s account to make sure everything running there is done and all resources are available for the account I’ll be using. I know it’s supposed to be automatic, but it’s nice if it can be explicit too.
• Notification pull down now has 2 areas, left and right. Left is the usual notifications. Right is more for settings.
• The new swype swipe keyboard is interestingly fun. It works fairly well, though I’m still used to touch typing. Looking to leverage it a bit more and see how well it works.

To Try

• Miracast: Not sure how to trigger it. Don’t have a compatible device to send it to :(. I wonder if Boxee Box will get support somehow?
• Google Now: I dont think I use it enough to notice anything new about it.
• Photosphere: I only have a Nexus 7 so I really havent used the front facing camera. plus it’s awkward to use, but I guess I can try sometime. (update: oh yeah, no camera app on the Nexus 7…)

I’m sure there will be more to add so this list should grow as time passes. Any interesting quirks or improvements to your liking?

sitting out on the nexus 4 till my contract runs out…