Android M developer preview

Two 'Android M developer preview' stories June 2015 - July 2015

Waze for Android updated, appears to work on Android M now

Tom Maxwell Jul 7 2015 - 8:59 am PT

If you’re someone living on the bleeding edge by running the Android M Developer Preview on your main device, you may be happy with today’s update to the Waze traffic and navigation app.

After many complaints in the Waze forums (like this thread) and other locations around the web about the app crashing on startup for users on Android M, version 3.9.5.0 released today seems to fix the issue. Before I downloaded this update the app would not work at all, and as soon as I installed the update it to function. One commenter on APKMirror indicates that this update fixed the app for them as well.

This update only seems to include bug fixes like this support for Android M – I haven’t been able to find any above the hood changes. Though if I do, I’ll update this post. The size of the update is 37.56MB, and can be downloaded from Google Play or as an APK from APKMirror (click here). If you’re running Android M there’s a good chance you know how to install an APK.

Sony makes Android M developer preview available on select Xperia devices

Tom Maxwell Jun 22 2015 - 7:03 am PT

0 Comments

Google only ever makes its Android developer preview versions available on its own Nexus devices – these devices are designed partly with developer modification and testing in mind, after all. But Sony has gone ahead and done the necessary legwork to make the preview version of Android M work on those of its devices in its Open Device program, and even has a handy guide on how to install it.

Ensuring a device can run the M Developer preview without too many issues, device manufacturers have to include in the software support (drivers) for all the hardware – the chipset, connectivity radios, etc. Over on Sony’s Open Device page is a list of devices in the program along with two downloads to get M running, the AOSP (Android Open Source Project) – Android M itself – as well as software to get the hardware working properly on M. Only a couple of its smartphones and tablets are currently supported right now.