If a new rumor is to be believed, Android’s location access screen is getting a makeover in the upcoming Android 4.4 KitKat update.
The news comes by way of Android Police, where the site has recently received screenshots of the new changes. As you'll see in the images below, not only is the Location Access screen's layout quite a bit different in Android 4.4 KitKat, the screen name has also been shortened to simply "Location'.
So what's new here? First, the location on/off toggle is moving to the top right corner of the location screen. Next, the location source checkboxes are gone and have been replaced by a new sub-screen called Location Mode.
Within the location mode screen you'll find three different location modes: High Accuracy (GPS/Wi-Fi/Mobile network), Battery Saving (Wi-Fi/Mobile networks) and device sensors only (GPS). This might not be a massive change, but it certainly is a bit of an easier, straightforward way of doing things as opposed to the old checkbox method.
Left: Android 4.4 KitKat Right: Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
Left: Android 4.4 KitKat Right: Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
The final noticeable change in the new 'Location' screen is that there is now a spot that shows recent location requests, which could certainly come in handy if you want to get a better idea of what apps are accessing your location data. The recent location requests info may also be useful in figuring out GPS-related battery drain issues.
Although none of these changes seem particularly crazy or unbelievable, it's important to remember that the new location access changes are currently unofficial. Even if the screenshots are legit, there's no way to guarantee these changes will make their way into the release build of Android 4.4 KitKat – though it certainly wouldn’t surprise us if they did.
What do you think of the new 'location' screen, like the changes or not?
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