Earlier this week, a leaked copy of Android 5.0 Lollipop was making the rounds all across the internet while eager Android developers fiddled around to see what they could get out of it. Most noteably, a handful of new Google apps surfaced from this leak, including updated Material versions of Calendar, Messenger, Gmail, Google Play Music, Books, Drive, Fit, and Keep.
Android tech site Phandroid took a look at a few of these new apps and gave descriptions of what they saw running on a Nexus 5.
Messenger
Messenger replaces the previous Messaging app with a new way to send SMS and MMS text messages. It features an aesthetic redesign, as well as an easier way to add attachments. Color-coded messages separate each new text message, which Phandroid says "will take a little getting used to."
Google Play Music
Phandroid says that the Google Play Music app doesn't look much different, but they note that the version they have may not be the final product, especially considering the fact that Google is showing off some shiny new animations that may be coming to the app at launch.
Google Fit
Google Fit looks to be catered more towards the casual fitness enthusiast with goal tracking and timed activities front and center. A user stated on his Google+ page that he got the new Google Fit running on his Nexus 4.
This OS leak stems from a recent system dump of the 5.0 Lollipop Developer review that was meant for the Nexus 6. But because these app APKs were signed with test keys, they were locked onto the one specific Android device. Luckily, a few crafty XDA developers ported the new apps over to work on all Android devices running the earlier 4.4.4 Kitkat version. They can be sideloaded if you have root access to your Android phone.
If you want to brave the install, you can find a complete list of the new Google app APKs at the XDA forums. Be sure to make a backup beforehand, and note that you can dive into the system/app/ folder to manually delete the APKs if you run into any problems.
If you simply want to see these apps at work without the hassle or complication of getting them onto your own phone, you can check out a video preview over at Phandroid where they flashed Android 5.0 onto the Nexus 5.
