Android features I want to see in May in Android 5.0 KLP [Android 4.3/JB 3.0]

Of course we don't know for sure that Key Lime Pie will be numbered 5.0 or even that the next version of the Android operating system will be called Key Lime Pie. One thing is for sure, though; Google will be announcing it in May at Google I/O. Since my introduction to Android at version 2.2 (froyo) Android has come a very long way but there is still room for improvement, there always will! (Apple might think they have had the perfect OS since day one but that's a different story). At any rate, there are some pointers that I have for Google when it comes to the next version of Android.

UPDATE: It is highly expected that the next iteration will be Android 4.3 Jellybean. This doesn't change much for me in terms of expectations, how about you?

Accessibility:
I realize this is a little-used menu for most people but for those that need it, it is a vital part of every OS. In terms of accessibility, Android is eons behind its biggest competitor, iOS. I probably would be just as blind  (hehe) as most people when it came to this subject but recently it became necessary for me to make the audio on my device mono output rather than stereo. For me, it was because I was connecting my phone to a single speaker and wanted to be able to hear both sides of the audio when I was using it. In my quest to find such a feature (knowing it might come only as a root feature) I came upon the real reason this feature needs to be implemented. There are a lot of people in the world who are deaf in of one ear only. When listening with headphones, these people have only one option: hear only half of the music. You might not realize that your music has different parts panned to either side but it becomes painfully apparent when you can only hear one side. iOS has had this feature since version 3, I believe (for some reason it was only on the 16GB & 32GB models, but it was there). I do have a temporary solution, though, for those of you who have been searching with no avail. PowerAmp Music Player, which I will link to at the bottom of this post is an extraordinary music player and it has a mono setting! This will only work for music that you have loaded on your phone, so if you have limited space and prefer to keep your music in the cloud, this might not be for you but since my old Galaxy Nexus (toro) has been converted into an MP3 player and it has 32GB of space, I have no problem storing all of my music on the internal memory. This, among other features that I'm sure others have been complaining about need to be added to the Android accessibility menu.

The Toggles:
With the iteration of Android 4.2.2, Google took a big step by making the WiFi and Bluetooth buttons on the "Toggles menu" into real toggles. I have to appreciate their effort but it's just not there yet. First, they need to be made into normal toggles; tap to toggle, hold to go to the full menu. That extra second may not seem like much, but isn't that the reason we wanted real toggles to begin with? Secondly, please let us customize the toggles menu! I don't think I've ever touched the airplane mode toggle or the brightness button since I first set up my phone. Not to say some people don't use them more than I do, but that's the point! I would much rather have things like a tethering toggle or a button that turns on the LED to make a flashlight. For those looking for these features, who can't stand to wait for Google to come up with them for you, there are plenty of custom ROMs that have implemented these exact features that I've mentioned. Cyanogenmod, MIUI, and AOKP all have done this, just to name a few.

More Productivity:
I realize that it isn't the responsibility of Google to make all of the apps for their ecosystem but when no other real contenders step up to the plate, they need to be willing to step into their place. When it comes to productivity apps for the tablet on Android, there is almost nothing there. I really expected Microsoft to bring Office 2013 to the tablet (non-windows) in January but the time came and went and no Office 2013, not even on iOS! I would be perfectly happy to pay a premium to use a well-made word processing application for android but one has just not come along yet. Google bought Quick Office a while back so they could include the free version on all of the nexus devices so users would at least be able to read all documents out of the box. That's great, but where has that really gone? The Quick Office Pro app hasn't had a noticeable update....well, ever. Not as long as I can remember, anyway! Google needs to take charge and make viable production apps for the platform because they already exist in iOS so what's selling a business consumer on an Android tablet when they can pay a little more and have an iPad and have all of the productivity in the world? It's certainly something to think about and I hope that Google will take it into consideration. It doesn't have to happen in conjunction with the next version of Android but it would be a nice addition to the platform.

Multitasking:

This is another small tweak that Google needs to make to the OS. Multitasking in Android is awesome, don't get me wrong. It beats the hell out of the "multitasking" in that other OS. But it can always be improved. For example, being able to leave a tab open in Google Chrome when I move to another tab. Every time I move to a different tab in Chrome it has to be reloaded, that's not necessary on my computer, I have 15 tabs open at a time a lot of the time and it isn't a problem. That would be a bit extreme for the phone but it's something worth noting. Additionally, I realize Google is afraid of getting in trouble with music labels over this but I want to be able to run YouTube in the background while I'm doing other things. That type of thing would bring the multitasking age of phones into the new age. Lastly, for most people, when they go to kill running apps on their phone, they are going for everything! Not to say we should get rid of the ability to kill each app individually if there are apps you want to keep running and kill others but there needs to be a button that kills everything at once. Almost every custom ROM and every skin of Android (TouchWiz, Sense, MotoBlur) that I can think of has that feature, already! It needs to come to stock Android so I don't have the urge to flash custom ROMs anymore. 

Emoji Support: 

As of Android 4.2 Android did add support for Emoji-style emoticons, and while I do commend Google for attempting to appease the special folk who actually have been known to choose iPhones over Android phones specifically for their emoji support, it wasn't and isn't good enough. I would never every buy an iPhone specifically because it supports emoji emoticons but I have to admit that they are fun to use and can add to a conversation over text message or otherwise. The fact that Android included support for it in 4.2 is almost a joke because it is included in a separate keyboard! If I want to use emojis on my stock messaging app then I have to go to input & language settings, enable to emoji keyboard and then when I want to imput the emojis in a conversation I have to switch to the other keyboard (possibly mid-sentence) and then input the black and white only emojis! Come on, Google. You can do better than this. I realize they aren't really your style but if people want them, then just include them. There's already an emoticon button on the existing stock keyboard, just change it into an emoji selection grid, rather than things I can easily type on my own.
For those that are interested, if you download Handcent SMS and the Handcent Emoji plugin you can send endless emoji emoticons to all of your friends without having to change keyboards mid-sentence. It isn't ideal, but it's better than nothing. 

As of now I am running stock on both my Nexus 10 and my Nexus 4, Android is definitely getting to the point where it doesn't need to be dubbed over anymore but there are still a lot of things that could be implemented. I really appreciate the addition of lockscreen widgets that we saw with Android 4.2 and I really hope that it continues into future versions. Do you have any new features you want to see in the newest version of Android or features you are glad to see or features you hope will stick around? Let everyone know in the comment section below or on the original post on Facebook or Google+!

PowerAmp Music Player (Trial)