Android 15 vs Android 5 Lollipop: 10 Years Later!

Android 15 is a whole new Android for 2024. And it's a big deal for all sorts of wide-ranging futuristic reasons to do with the Gemini AI being at your fingertips, satellite messaging letting you text from the boondocks -- and a back gesture that, finally, shows you where the swipey thing's gonna take you back to.

But 2024 is also the tenth anniversary of another highly consequential Android release. 2014 saw the release of Android 5 Lollipop -- back when times were precedented, Gs were maxed out at four, and updates -- whether to new software or a whole new smartphone -- were the kind of thing you could really get excited about.

Android Lollipop also ushered in the modern age of Android, with the debut of Material Design, 64-bit support, the ART runtime, Project Volta and a TON of other things we take for granted today. So as the Android 15 and Pixel 9 launch begins, it's time to take a look back at the new Android hotness of a decade ago -- and see how it compares to the latest version Google's preparing for 2025 and beyond.

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[amaljoe]

I still remember the day I installed the Lollipop update on my phone. It was like my phone was suddenly an entirely new device 😅

[welfiblablabla]

Damn... Lolipop is 10 years ago?? I remember waiting for my phone to get this back then, when Sammy was painfully late to updates...

[Snaily]

Oh fuck off is Lollipop 10 years old. It still feels new.

[Xi_Jinping_Pooh_Shill]

HTC M7/M8 still looks good 10 years later. They should make a modern version.

[erick-gdwo]

Back then when Android 5 came out, almost no OEM bothered to provide update to the existing smartphones, even budget phones came out with Android 4 up to two years after Android 5. That's where the other side called android fragmented. Now the situation is better.

[AndreaIppolitoIppo]

Google Now is by far the feature I miss the most. SO useful.

[floppa]

Its so ironic that now that we have the most colorful screens ever we get the most monotone UIs. Sad.

[ShellymanStudios]

Android in 2014 was peak Android. We had so many choices when it comes to Android phones.

[kindofanmol]

This was such a nostalgic trip down memory lane, especially cuz of all that material design footage from back in the day. Thank you XDA team.

[abc_cba]

The reality is that Smartphone Market has reached a plateau.

I haven't seen anything significant with Android after Android 10, now the only sellers for Smartphone market will be cameras and A.I.

Don't expect much.

[GOOD_FARMER]

First phone in our home had Android lolipop back in 2016 or 2017 i think. With 512 mb of ram and 4 GB of storage. Brings back loy of memories

[SanHydronoid]

I still remember flocking up to the parking lot after classes, to see my friend's Moto G that just received the update. Good times back then

[wetzinalvarado]

Lollipop design was peak, the interface still looks modern

[mashrukahmed]

Man!
I remember digging into the xda forum for new android roms and root tweaks back at that time.
Those were the days!

[davidbarker]

As a long-time user of Android on it, I do love the Whimsy of videos like this. I myself never got a phone that came with lollipop. I had to root my device to get Android lollipop on it. It was quite refreshing coming up from Ice Cream Sandwich and Kit Kats and to lollipop. I'm also glad that the material U designs stuck around.

[CalamityBaird]

I miss miss MISS the way notifications showed up in early android. Ticker notifications I think it was called.

If I got a text, the contents of that text would scroll through the status bar without me having to swipe down.

[TM-ddjq]

Damn we're getting old
Nostalgia is simultaneously the best and the worst feeling in the world 😭❤️

[vedanshchn]

I loved the colorful Material Design which they turned into a Back and white mess first and now a colour tint which makes the screen look as if it has underwent a screen burn-in.
I still have a few old Droids and I’d anyway prefer using their UI over what we have today.
The bright red YouTube UI with navigation bar at the top looked so appealing!
The last app which stayed with that design i.e., WhatsApp has also adopted the new Material You design and that particular app looks absolutely horrible.

[Nelly.Jackson]

0:33 That was me back in the days... Now days OS updates is not that exciting because most of features we already have them on custom roms

[docilelikewintercatfish]

A single android update felt like a new phone back then