Earlier today a leaked — and much more closer to final — Android 5.0 Lollipop system dump has been making the rounds, popping up all over the net. It seems this build had a few additional Google apps that didn’t make it to the 2nd Developer Preview (which we gave you a look at on Saturday), with updated Material versions of Google Play Music, Calendar, Messenger (formerly Messaging), Gmail, and more locked inside.
It didn’t take long for someone to extract all these apps, and while most wont work by simple sideloading, we did find 2 — Messenger, Google Play Music — installed just fine on our Nexus 5 running Android 5.0 Lollipop Developer Preview (although we’ve heard others having luck on KitKat ROMs). Just make sure you uninstall the originals before giving these new apps a try.
The rest? Well, most will require root access and you placing them inside the /system/lib folder on your device. Might wanna perform a backup just in case.
Messenger
Say hello to Messenger, Google’s new SMS/MMS app replacing the aging stock Messages app. As you can see, the app has a fresh new Material design and doesn’t really weigh too heavy with the features. It’s pretty much your standard SMS affair. The familiar “+” button is always present in list view, with the ability to long press to select or swipe-to-archive conversations.
When in conversation view, adding attachments is straight forward. You simply snap a photo using the in-app viewfinder (you can make it bigger by swiping up), add photos from your gallery, or record a (very low quality) voice message. Each conversation view has its own color which we admit, will take a little getting used to.
Google Play Music
Google Play Music was another app we got up and running on our Nexus 5 and although it’s not the drastically overhauled version we saw from Google’s Material Design page back in June, the UI has been updated enough that it can scrape by with calling itself “Material.”
Really, it’s not too different from the version you’re probably looking at on your device but don’t get too upset. We’re sure this is only an early version (it was leaked after all) and the final will have all those wonderful animations Google is already previewing on their Android.com page.
Google Fit
While we couldn’t get Fit installed on our device, Prashant Gahlot on Google+ didn’t have much trouble getting it up and running on his Nexus 4. Judging from the screenshots, it seems Fit will be geared more to the casual fitness enthusiast, tracking your goals and allowing the user to setup timed activities and goals.
Should you guys get any more of these leaked apps up and running on your device, feel free to post a screenshot or let us know how they’re working for you.
Download links: Google+
Thanks, Josh!
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