Besides a major visual revamp, Android 5.0 Lollipop is also the biggest update to the OS in terms of security. Right from the get go, Lollipop includes a number of new security features that are aimed to protect your personal data. 

Google today highlighted these features in a blog post explaining users how these new measures will better prevent their data from prying eyes. In the blog post, Adrian Ludwig, Lead Security Engineer, Android, explains that a screen lock is the most basic form of security that most phones nowadays. However, most people avoid using a PIN or Pattern lock because it requires an additional step from the user before they can use their device.

To make things a little easier, Lollipop includes a new feature called ‘Smart Lock’ that uses Bluetooth, NFC or Face Unlock to automatically lock/unlock your device. Additionally, the ability to display certain notification on the lockscreen means that you will have the most important notification always at your glance without compromising the security of your device.

Next, Ludwig explains the new encryption feature in Android 5.0 that is enabled right from the first boot using a unique key that never leaves your device, which is the safest way to encrypt a device.

The third step taken by the Android team in Lollipop to make it more secure is to switch SELinux to Enforcing mode. SELinux was introduced in Android last year and since then the team has worked with the open source community to improve it even more, making it the perfect solution for enterprise users.

Besides the above three changes, there are a lot of other security patches in Android 5.0 that makes it more safe than any other previous release of Android. As Google puts it at the end of its blog post, Lollipop is not only the sweetest release of Android yet, it also comes with a kevlar wrapping on the outside and a rigid Lollipop stick for the core.