Android 4.3 is painfully boring ( that's a good thing)

At a press even dnesday, took the wraps off Android 4.3, the new Nexus 7, Chromecast.

’s dnesday announcement of Android 4.3 may not have carried the same amount of pizzaz as the company’s Android 4.1 presentation in ne 2012, but then again you can only fling your executives out of blimps so many times before it starts to get stale. though the latest release of ’s mobile OS carries with it new features that are important to developers—like Bluetooth 4.0 w Energy OpenGES 3.0 support—it wouldn’t be too inaccurate to say that this Android update is drab, dreary, any other synonym of the word “boring” you want to throw in there.

Minor changes for everyday users

There are a few neat extras for regular folk. A new phone dialer auto-completes your phone numbers, though I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone getting excited for an updated dialer. Touch response has also been improved, which should help make the OS feel slightly faster, though the improvement is negligible most people probably won’t notice it. There’s also a new emoji keyboard, in case you’ve ever wanted your text messages look like they were sent by a teenaged girl.

Finally, multiple user profiles with content app restrictions. aka “Kid mode”

rhaps the change users will most easily notice is Restricted ofiles. You can set up multiple accounts on an Android 4.3 device, restricting access on a user-by-user basis for apps content. rents can set up profiles for their kids, or stores can create a “kiosk mode” profile that locks everything down.

The changes brought about in Android 4.3 aren’t half as dramatic as the ones in Apple’s iOS 7, it overall looks works like the version of Android we’ve all been using since last year. isn’t trying to redefine its mobile OS: It’s trying to iron out the kinks give developers the resources they need to build better apps.

Boring, under-the-hood changes are good

demonstrates how Bluetooth 4.0 will work with fitness tracking devices.

You want these types of boring updates because in the long run it means you’ll get to use even cooler software on your phone. Sick of how slow laggy Android can be at times? These are the kinds of updates that fix that sort of thing. nt your Fitbit to sync wirelessly with your Android phone?

ll, Android 4.3 will let you do that because it added a feature you can’t see without busting out a code editor. Bluetooth w Energy support means that you’ll start seeing all those fitness trackers other pieces of wearable tech work across all Android phones (once they’re updated to 4.3) not just the select few made by the likes of HTC or Samsung.

OpenGES 3.0 adds new graphics capabilities, like excessive lens flare.

kewise, the OpenGES 3.0 support in Android 4.3 will ultimately lead to better-looking games—something I’m sure many Android users game developers will appreciate. OpenGis an interface that developers use to draw 3D objects control visual effects in games, with newer versions of OpenGletting developers create games with console quality graphics.

Certain Android phones already have support for OpenGES 3.0, but it’s usually because manufacturers make their own drivers so that the OS will work with this interface—all of which work behave differently depending on the device you’re using. Developers don’t create games for iOS first because they hate Android, but rather because they would have to spend all that extra time dealing with a mess of different drivers. (st ask any gamer they can tell you how much of a nightmare driver revisions can be.)

New DRM will allow more apps to stream 1080p content.

“DRM” is a dirty word to a lot of enthusiasts, but without it, you don’t get streaming services like Netflix or Hulu. Android 4.3 includes new DRM As for developers of streaming media apps, Netflix is the first to make use of it.

The latest version of the Netflix app, already available on the ay store, will allow 1080p streaming on Android 4.3 devices (of which the new Nexus 7 is the first).

st what Android needs

’ve become accustomed to OS updates giving us flashy new features, new type-faces interface elements, bundles of live wallpapers. ile those types of updates are easier to sell, they don’t really fix any of Android’s problems they don’t address the complaints of the developers who make the hot apps accessories that make the phones so useful.

Android has grown up ’s just now started the process of polishing smoothing out the edges. For now, developers are going to come first because they are the lifeblood of any mobile platform—just look at ndows one 8 its utter lack of must-have apps if you want to see the alternative.

dging from how hled its 3-hour keynote at I/O this year, that’s just the way things are going to be from here on out. Apps like the Calendar, Keyboard, Hangouts will be broken out updated separately from the core OS, any updates you care about will likely come directly from the ay Store.

The company is done pering to you me is instead putting its focus back on the people who’ll make Android better—the developers. At least, we hope, until Android 5.0.

Android 4.3 may not be the most exciting update, but it’s just what Android needs, it’s shipping on the new Nexus 7. In addition, it will be delivered over-the-air to the Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Galaxy Nexus first-gen Nexus 7 starting dnesday, ly 24.

Updated at 3:49 p.m. with a video report on Nexus 7 Android 4.3.