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Motorola
With the sale to Lenovo now complete, Motorola is showing that no matter who is technically in charge, they’re out to deliver for their customers. Motorola has possibly the best reputation among Android OEMs for updating their phones quickly and they’re about to do it again, with changelogs for an Android 5.1 update hitting their support pages in the US.

The updates are being targeted for the Moto E (gen 2), which so far hasn’t launched in Australia yet, but there’s also Android 5.1 updates for the 1st and 2nd Gen Moto X in the pipe as well. The support pages are specifically targeting the US Carrier versions of the Gen 2 Moto X for T-Mobile and AT&T, but the existence of the update means we’ll be sure to see it rolling out globally in fairly short order.

The changelog for Android 5.0 to 5.1 for the Motorola series includes :

Notifications & Interruptions

Usability improvements include:

  • Block interruptions until your next alarm. This choice will show only when you have an alarm set within the next 12 hours. It will prevent you from missing an alarm when you choose ‘No interruptions’.
  • You can choose to enter a scheduled downtime early. For example, if you are going to bed early and change your notification settings, you can choose “Until your downtime ends”. This option will be visible when within 4 hours of the scheduled start of your downtime.
  • Adds icons to the volume settings panel that match those that will show in the status bar (None, Priority).
  • You can now alter notification volume controls while media is playing. With the volume controls showing, a tap on the bell icon will bring up notification volume controls.
Heads-up
Notifications		 In addition to dismissing a heads-up notification, you can now swipe it up to remove it from your screen. It will remain in your notifications tray and you can dismiss it later.
Quick Settings You can quickly select different Wi-Fi access points or different paired Bluetooth devices with a new pull-down menu on each tile. Conditional settings tiles that only show if you use the feature – like “Invert Colors” or “Hotspot” – can now be hidden via a long-press on the tile.
Device Protection Lost or stolen devices will remain locked until you sign in with your Google account, even if reset to factory settings. Note that you must have a Google account on the device to automatically enable this feature and set a PIN, password or pattern screen lock.
Performance Improvements in the Android Runtime (ART) lead to faster application launch times.
Lockscreen If you have enabled Ambient Display, the minimum swipe distance has increased to reduce accidental interactions.
Bug Fixes

Issues fixed in this release include:

  • Clock in the status bar isn’t updating and alarms are not going off
  • Can’t delete SMS messages when the SIM card is full
  • No ringer audio while making an outgoing call
  • Calculator floating point calculations
  • Chrome crashes on launch
  • Frequent restarts while watching Netflix
  • Wi-Fi will not automatically reconnect to your home Wi-Fi
  • Wi-Fi not connecting after being idle all night
  • Wi-Fi connection issues with multiple routers in one location
  • Bluetooth discovery is not triggered when you refresh settings
  • CPU wakelocks that contribute to heavier battery drain
  • Connection and synchronization issues with MS Exchange servers
  • Incorrect default APN
  • Can’t unlock the SIM with a PIN/PUK code
  • Can’t play ‘pinned’ content
  • General stability improvements

We’re looking forward to seeing the update for the Moto handsets, but we’re more importantly looking forward to seeing that gen 2 Moto E. We’re hoping to have more on the Australian release of that – as well as information on whether it will come with Android 5.1 out of the box – in the coming weeks.

Source: Moto E Gen 2Moto X Gen 2 (AT&T)Moto X Gen 2 (T-Mobile)Moto X Gen 1.

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Bert

never gonna happen. moto are liars. the moto e 2 will get NO updates.

deanomalino

Has the Moto G first gen got 5.0 at least yet?

Benjamin Neale

Yes. My wife has 5.0.2 on her Moto G first gen for several months.

deanomalino

Do they have the 4G model? 😮

Benjamin Neale

She has the 3G model. I don’t know about the 4G model, sorry.

toast

Someday… some day….