Android 6.0 Marshmallow

One of the major improvements found in Android M and highlighted during Google’s I/O developer conference was two new features meant to significantly increase standby times of smartphones running the OS over previous versions, and now we have some more numbers that should make the differences concrete.

For the uninitiated, the two new features meant to tackle battery life are Doze and App Standby. Doze uses what Google calls “significant” motion detection to determine when a device has been left unattended for an extended period of time, and when it does find that your device is idle, backs off background activity (like apps syncing data) to go into a deeper state of sleep and drink less power in standby.

Taking a look at all the little Android M features that really make it great [Gallery]

Stephen Hall Jun 4 2015 - 11:22 am PT

Android M is now available in developer preview, but only for those that own a modern Nexus device. Specifically, owners of the Nexus 5, 6, 9, and Player can grab the latest developer build of Android M, and the dozens of new visual and functional features that the operating system brings.

But while Google spent a while at I/O going over the big-picture changes it hopes to bring with M (granular app permissions, fingerprint support, better battery life, and more), there are a lot of smaller changes coming to the OS as well that reimagine how some of the most basic user-facing functions of the OS work. In many cases, these changes are more than welcome.

Google said at I/O last week that they’re putting a “big focus on quality end-to-end” with Android M, so let’s find out what that means in terms of the general user experience…
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Pro tip: Chrome already has similar granular permission controls to Android M

Tom Maxwell Jun 1 2015 - 9:36 am PT

One of the big additions to Android with the unveiling of Android M last week is more granular permission controls, allowing developers to ask for access to things like the microphone or GPS only once they need them, and for users to be able to revoke one or all of these permissions when they’d like. What wasn’t discussed on the keynote stage, however, is that the Chrome browser already has these features. Here’s how to use them:

How to install Android M developer preview factory image on Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and Nexus Player

Stephen Hall Jun 1 2015 - 7:44 am PT

Google finally introduced to the world the next version of Android, dubbed Android M for the moment, at its Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco. And while the currently-available version may be a developer preview (and those who are developers likely wouldn’t need this guide), many who aren’t as familiar with how to flash factory images might want to try the latest build of the mobile OS as well.

That’s why we made this guide. If you have the Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, or Nexus Player (and possibly others in the future), there’s a build of Android M available for you to install prior to the update’s official unveiling later this year. Be warned however, as this is a very early build of the OS and is riddled with bugs, glitches, and overall performance jankiness. If that doesn’t sway you, though, keep reading…
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Smart Lock Passwords is hitting pre-Android M devices now, web interface live

Tom Maxwell May 29 2015 - 11:49 am PT

We reported earlier today that support for Smart Lock Passwords, a new cross-platform password manager tool for Android and Chrome/OS, was already beginning to hit major apps including Netflix. Now it seems that the greater rollout is pushing on quickly, with the web interface now live and reports spreading that Smart Lock Passwords is showing up in the Settings app of Android 5.1 Lollipop devices for some owners.

By visiting passwords.google.com you can toggle Smart Lock for Passwords on and off depending on whether or not you want to save app and website passwords to your Google account. The benefit of using Smart Lock for Passwords, especially if you’re a Google loyalist, is that it’s a simple, clean way to save login credentials for all the apps and websites you visit using Chrome and Android and log in automatically. I also imagine it’s a scary addition for apps like 1Password which, while now have many other features to differentiate themselves, initially built their businesses off saving login credentials in one place. Saving login credentials and not other things like credit card details and drivers license info is probably enough for the average person, too.

As mentioned above there have also been reports of Smart Lock Passwords hitting the Settings area of some Android phones running newer versions of Android 5.0 and Google Play Services. This would lead us to believe that it’s either a server-side change or Google had hidden Smart Lock Passwords in a recent version of Play Services, but it’s probably the former. Here is what that looks like courtesy of AndroidPolice:

Be sure to watch out for the change and let us know if Smart Lock Passwords hits your device.

Thanks to USB Type-C support in Android M, you’ll soon be able to send power in both directions

Tom Maxwell May 29 2015 - 9:06 am PT

Android VP of Engineering Dave Burke’s presentation on Android M yesterday saw quite a few huge new additions coming to the OS from granular app permissions to improved battery standby management and, of course, Android Pay (check out our roundup). But one thing that might have got lost in the noise for some of you was Google’s newfound embrace of the USB Type-C standard and what it will actually do for you in practice.

USB Type-C is both flippable and bi-directional. That first attribute means that you won’t have to fiddle in the dark with plugging the USB cable connector into your phone the right-side up, because there isn’t a right-side up with Type-C.

More interesting, though, is the bi-directional ability of USB Type-C and Android M’s new interface support for it. What this means in theory is that, while this wouldn’t be practical, you could connect your Android phone to your laptop and charge your laptop with your phone instead of the other way around. You can also send files in either direction as was obviously possible before, but the new interface you see above for managing all these abilities in one place looks quite convenient.

Finally as you might be able to make out from the image above, Google is ready to welcome in more musicians with the warm embrace of MIDI support. This is big because while because 5.0 Lollipop brought support for some audio devices like USB microphones and amplifiers, it left out a lot of musical instruments that use the MIDI standard to send data back and forth between other devices. Maybe this will encourage more musicians and music app developers to consider Android again.

This is what text selection actions look like in Android M

Tom Maxwell May 28 2015 - 10:05 pm PT

There was a lot to digest in today’s Google I/O keynote but one small, interesting new behavior change of note going into Android M is a new text selection floating toolbar, as you can see in the GIF above.

Whereas in the past primary actions of Cut, Copy, Paste, as well as other app-specific actions related to selecting text would probably be saved for a contextual action bar (an example of which is below), developers who want to keep their apps up-to-date with platform changes will now utilize this new toolbar which appears just above the text selection area. As you can see above, pressing the More icon will reveal a secondary menu where developers can add their own extra actions; the company in its design documents provides the example of Share, Search, and Translate actions appearing within the secondary menu in Gmail.

Another interesting system behavior change in Android M is a battery management tool called “Doze,” which we detailed in our Android M roundup, that disables most background activities when the OS detects that the device has gone unused for an extended period of time. The company says this has resulted in upwards of 2x longer standby time for Android devices running M versus those running Lollipop.

1Password demos Android M fingerprint login integration

Chance Miller May 28 2015 - 8:35 pm PT

https://vine.co/v/ebTvvF7577K

Earlier today, Google unveiled its highly anticipated Android M update. One of the highlight features of Android M is the support for standardized fingerprint recognition, which Google says developers will be able to take advantage of via new APIs in the operating system.
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Android M allows Android TV developers to create channels of continuous content, users to format USB drives as internal

Tom Maxwell May 28 2015 - 4:21 pm PT

We’ve already done a roundup of the core changes coming in the next big release of Android, simply called “M,” so you should check that out. But we haven’t yet covered what additions and changes Android M brings to Google’s Internet TV platform, Android TV.

Google announces Android ‘M’ with a focus on ‘quality end to end,’ developer preview coming soon (Update: dev preview live now)

Tom Maxwell May 28 2015 - 10:44 am PT

Update: Developers can find the preview images of Android M for Nexus 5 (GSM/LTE), Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and Nexus Player on the Preview SDK page. Google has said updates to the preview version will roll out regularly and that they’ll come down over-the-air, so you won’t have to flash your phone again each time it’s updated.

Google has announced the next major iteration of Android, called Android “M,” which Android VP of Engineering Dave Burke emphasized has a “focus on quality end to end.” Here are the six core changes coming to Android with this release.

Google announces Android Pay mobile payment service, launching with Android M this year

Zac Hall May 28 2015 - 10:07 am PT

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Following that Android Pay logo we saw this morning, Google detailed its Android Pay mobile payment service coming to Android M.
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Tune in live to Google’s I/O 2015 keynote starting at 9 AM PT/12 PM ET [Livestream]

Stephen Hall May 28 2015 - 7:48 am PT

Google’s annual I/O developers’ conference kicks off in San Francisco, California in just about an hour, and the Mountain View company is providing a livestream of the event to keep you in the loop on what’s being announced. As is always the case with the first day of I/O, we’re expecting a lot of announcements from the two-hour (plus) keynote, including Android ‘M’, a new Chromecast, some surprises from Google’s ATAP, Cardboard, and more.
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More information emerges regarding Android M’s detailed app permission controls

Chance Miller May 27 2015 - 4:04 pm PT

Earlier this year, a report emerged claiming that Google was planning on giving Android users more control over app permission settings. At the time, it was rumored that Google would add the ability to give users the ability to manually select what pieces of information to which apps have access. Android Police today corroborates the report from earlier this month and offers up a few more details…

Google’s Hiroshi Lockheimer confirms Android M for this year, talks Android and Chrome OS convergence, more

Stephen Hall May 26 2015 - 9:23 am PT

Prior to this week’s Google I/O developers’ conference in San Francisco, Google’s Vice President of Engineering for Android Hiroshi Lockheimer sat down with Fast Company to talk about the current state (and the future) of Android, Chrome OS, and more. Lockheimer confirmed the upcoming announcement of Android M, and offered much insight into where Android came from, where it’s going, and how it’s evolving in a world with more and more interconnected devices…

Google’s Android ‘M’ is codenamed ‘Macadamia Nut Cookie,’ said to focus on battery life and RAM

Stephen Hall May 26 2015 - 7:14 am PT

In just a couple of days, Google will—almost surely—be taking the wraps off the latest version of its mobile operating system, Android “M”. It’s rumored to be codenamed “Macadamia Nut Cookie” thanks to the latest versions of the Android Open Source Project sporting scattered mentions of “MNC,” and new information from Android Police suggests that this year Google is going to put a big focus on battery and RAM performance…
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Google reportedly launching native fingerprint authentication w/ Android ‘M’

Stephen Hall May 21 2015 - 1:38 pm PT

Google is set to launch Android ‘M’ at Google I/O next week, and now a new report from BuzzFeed News suggests that the company will be launching native fingerprint authentication features with the new version…

Google’s new mobile operating system, Android M, will include native fingerprint authentication, BuzzFeed News has learned. The new functionality will allow users to log in to all of the supported applications on their Android devices without entering a password.

The report is very light on details, but it does note that users will be able to log in to “all supported applications” on their devices without entering a password. Unless there are some unforeseen circumstances, it seems we’ll be hearing more about the feature in just about a week…
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Android Wear rumored to be getting speaker support and on-watch calling features

Stephen Hall May 18 2015 - 1:40 pm PT

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It wasn’t that long ago that Android Wear got its big update to Android 5.1.1, but now rumors about the next revision of the smartwatch operating system are starting to pop up. According to the well-connected Artem Russakovskii, the Android Wear team is currently cooking up support for watches with built-in speaker hardware, as well as planning to introduce on-watch calling…

Sprint’s Samsung Galaxy S4 is now receiving Android Lollipop

Stephen Hall May 8 2015 - 8:00 am PT

According to Sprint’s support website, the carrier’s Samsung Galaxy S4 should today start receiving its update to Android 5.0 Lollipop. As you likely are already aware, the update brings the famed Material Design aesthetic, changes to the OS notifications system, and other improvements.

Lollipop is still just now being pushed to various flagships across the major carriers, and this is just one more added to the list. If you’re a Verizon customer with the Samsung Galaxy S4, you should have received your update sometime in late April.

Google is set to announce the next major version of its Android mobile operating system at Google I/O at the end of this month, codenamed Android “M”. We’ll be on the ground in San Francisco during the I/O keynote to keep you in the loop on all the latest developments.

Poll: What do you think Android ‘M’ will be called?

Stephen Hall May 6 2015 - 11:43 am PT

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Android ‘M’ has been basically confirmed to be coming at this year’s Google I/O (thanks to an Android for Work Session description that has since been removed from the site), but that means one big question that always plagues us before the official launch of a major Android update is now upon us.

What do you think the “M” will stand for?

What we expect to see from Google in 2015

Stephen Hall Jan 1 2015 - 2:23 pm PT

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It has been a pretty exciting year for Google in a lot of ways. Android Wear has started to ignite excitement behind the future of wearable technology, the best version of Android ever—dubbed Lollipop—was released, a couple of brand new Nexus devices (one of which we leaked) came to fruition, and the Mountain View corporation’s new Material Design language has taken the Play Store by storm. Everything that was already great was made better in 2014, and the company has been sprinkling a bunch of exciting innovations in along the way to keep things interesting—like the self-driving car, for example.

In 2015, Google is probably going to do much the same. Android “M” (milkshake, maybe?) will likely be unveiled at Google I/O this upcoming summer, we’ll probably see a round of new Nexus hardware come later in the year, Google will likely keep pushing Chromebooks in the affordable segment of the PC market, and Android Wear devices from countless manufacturers will continue to get thinner and have better and better battery life. But Google surely has some drastic innovation planned in a variety of areas, as well, with the potential return of Google Glass on the horizon and the second spiral of Project Ara to be unveiled in a couple of weeks.

Reuters: Google planning new ‘Android M’ specifically for cars

Mike Beasley Dec 18 2014 - 3:06 pm PT

Google is planning to create a version of Android that will run in cars without the need for a connected smartphone according to a new report from Reuters. The updated version of Android Auto said to include “all the features of the Internet,” such as streaming music and GPS navigation.

The software would also reportedly include the ability to use the car’s sensors (like GPS) to feed information about consumers’ driving habits to advertisers.