Android’s latest Jelly Bean update has quite a few features and upgrades to offer. The latest Jelly Bean update, build 4.2, is believed to arrive with a host of new and improved features that add to the usefulness and functioning of the OS.
Google previously launched Jelly Bean build 4.1 for the Nexus 7, nearly six months back, and now the new OS is already set to feature on Nexus 10 tablets and Nexus 4 phones from Nov. 13, with updated features and improved and enhanced functionality.
As far as the features are concerned, users will note that while there are no noticeable improvements in smoothness or performance, that shouldn’t be much of a problem, especially since the OS is already quite fast and effective, and there could be nothing more to add on that ground, as of now.
One of the most interesting features set to arrive with Jelly Bean 4.2 is the availability of multiple user accounts. Per a TabTimes report, the new ability to create multiple user accounts on the same tablet “is potentially huge news for businesses, not least those SMBs trying to mobilize their workforce without spending a whole heap of cash.”
The report states that multi-user support provides each tablet user their own section for saving apps and data, apart from allowing the user to customize his or her home screen and related widgets. What’s more impressive is that other users won’t have to download an app that has already been downloaded by another user.
Added features arriving with 4.2 include Photo Sphere and contextual controls as far as the camera is concerned. Now, instead of giving the user a list of settings to pull down, the camera setting can be found right where the user puts his or her finger and, therefore, the user doesn’t face any problem while accessing or even searching for the camera. What the feature actually does is it removes clutter and makes using the camera simpler.
Now a feature for parents is also available and lets them control their child’s use of their Android device, with an important PIN in place that will block children from downloading or buying censored content. However, this feature is only for Android tablets.
Another important feature found on the new build is the Google Gesture Typing. “This is merely the same way of entering words as found on the popular Swype app. You merely Swype your fingers across the letters and they form words. With this Google has added some predictive technology, so that when you swipe ‘good’ it automatically suggests ‘morning’,” a Northern Voices Online report states.
Moreover, more improvements have also been made to the notification menu that will now let users perform actions on the notification itself without going into the app. The Google Nexus 7 is currently set to get Android 4.2 Jelly Bean by mid-November.
