Retrospective Showdown: 2023’S Android Versus the First Lollipop Release in 2014

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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