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Google's next version of Android 'L' release has a new look, deeper ties to the web
KitKat may have only found its way onto roughly 15 percent of phones at this point, but that won't stop Google from looking to the future. The new version, teased by Sundar Pichai is simply being referred to as the "L" release right now. As previous leaks have indicated, this will be the most dramatic UI overhaul the OS has enjoyed since Ice Cream Sandwich debuted back in 2011. The heart of this overhaul is called Material Design -- a flatter look, with rounder elements and softer edges that will extend beyond tablets and phones to Chrome OS and Google's various web services. You can see some of the new design philosophy at work already in the latest version of the Google+ app on Android. But it goes beyond that. Shapes are simplified and there are smooth transition animations across the UI. And those animations aren't just inside apps; they can also be between apps. For instance, you could view an image in the photo gallery, and then choose to open it in a third-party editor. Rather than laboriously closing the gallery and then opening the editor, the image itself could appear to float above the apps and simply shift into the second app, which is already open to the editing pane. Developers can also add the illusion of depth by adding "elevation" which automatically stacks visual elements appropriately and adds drop shadows.
