Android 5.0 Lollipop begins rolling out OTA to Nexus devices

It’s definitely one of the most highly anticipated software updates that Android has ever seen. Today, the Android 5.0 Lollipop update—that was first previewed earlier this year at Google I/O—has begun rolling out OTA to Nexus devices everywhere. “Dessert is served,” Google says. We haven’t heard reports of any devices actually having access to the update quite yet, but with this tweet from the Android team, one can expect updates to start appearing very soon.

A huge part of this update is Android’s new “Material Design” aesthetic, which provides a crisp and clean interface that uses shadows and perspective to achieve its effect. Google has also updated its Roboto typeface for this update, saying that the new version is  “slightly wider and rounder, giving it greater clarity and making it more optimistic…”

Along with a newly designed interface, Lollipop focuses on providing a faster and smoother experience. Performance improvements are widespread, with Android now running exclusively on the ART framework, which vastly improves app responsiveness. Android Lollipop also packs in support for 64-bit architecture, and while Google’s own Nexus 6 offering doesn’t even take advantage of this, a Lollipop-running 64-bit device is surely around the corner.

Rounding out the more obvious enhancements, Android Lollipop also features a completely revamped way of handling notifications. Important notifications now appear as a drop-down banner, and you can easily adjust settings so that only notifications that you actually want reach you. You can also now address certain notifications straight from the lock screen.

#AndroidLollipop rollout has started and will soon be available on most #Nexus devices. Dessert is served. pic.twitter.com/XVFX2tEbHv

— Android (@Android) November 12, 2014

The update is rolling out over-the-air to Google’s main lineup of Nexus devices, including the Nexus 5, 7 (both generations, but not LTE/3G versions yet), and 10, while rollout for LTE/3G models of the Nexus 7 as well as the Nexus 4 will be coming at some point in the near future. Additionally, factory images should start appearing on Google’s Android Developers website soon.