

Details on Android 4.2 - AndrewDucker
http://developer.android.com/about/versions/jelly-bean.html#1

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baconner
I have to say I'm really surprised that they've dropped the tablet specific ui
tweaks. Seems to me that some especially the centered home, back, recent apps
buttons are a step backwards for usability on larger devices. Given the great
focus they've had in android on making apps that adapt to device size smoothly
its a surprising they wouldn't follow the same logic with the navigation ui,
etc.

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tadfisher
I agree, but I can sympathize with their reasoning.

One requirement is consistency; users of Android phones (of which there are
many) will feel right at home using a phone UI on a tablet (of which there are
relatively few).

Another is, in fact, usability; holding the device in your left hand while
manipulating it with your right is probably a common scenario, and I've
personally sworn at my Android tablet with the traditional UI when my palm
grazes the Back button. This is also annoying in games, where using your left
thumb on a virtual joystick leads to hitting the Back/Home buttons at
inopportune times. It seems that moving these controls back to the center
forces users to have the intention of navigating through the system, and I
have to say that is a pretty good reason.

However, I believe that all of these issues could have been solved with palm-
detection or simply disabling the buttons when swiping from another part of
the screen.

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cageface
I'm pretty happy about the support for nested fragments. Even better, they've
back ported it to the compatibility library so I can start using it in apps
I'm writing now.

