Things you need to know about Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Android 6.0 Marshmallow:

Android 6.0 Marshmallow is the 13th version of Android OS. It was launched by Google inc. on September 29th, 2015. The first devices to get updated to the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow were the Nexus 5x and Nexus 6p.

It normally takes more time for other original equipment manufacturing (OEM) companies get their customers to update to the latest Android versions depending upon their own time frame, and also the devices to which are going to be updated.

Android 6.0 Marshmallow is not a major upgrade to its previous version which is Android 5.0 Lollipop, rather it can be seen as a further advancement of Android Lollipop 5.0 and enhancement to the core functionalities of Android Lollipop 5.0. Android 6.0 Marshmallow has many advanced functionalities which will shortly be discussed in the next part of this article.

Part 1: The main Features of Android 6.0 Marshmallow

• 1. Android 6.0 Release Schedule
• 2. App Permissions
• 3. Spot-On Answers / Now on Tap
• 4. Chrome Custom Tabs
• 5. Android Pay
• 6. Fingerprint
• 7. Battery Saving
• 8. USB Type - C with Reverse Charging
• 9. Greater Security
• 10. Google Settings App
• 11. Voice and Assist API
• 12. Notifications and Quick Settings
• 13. Micro SD Full Support
• 14. New RAM Manager
• 15. Automatic App Backup
• 16. Encryption of Phone
• 17 . Google Smart Lock

1. Android 6.0 Release Schedule:

Android 6.0 Marshmallow release schedule is not something very defined in nature. Google's nexus devices are always the first ones to get the latest Android update. However, as far as Android 6.0 release schedule is concerned, the OEM companies vary in time frame to provide for the Android 6.0 update due to reasons that they have to modify the pure Android 6.0 Marshmallow according to their own versions. Therefore, it takes a minimum of 2-3 months for OEMs to update their devices to Android 6.0 Marshmallow and most of the eligible devices are still yet to go under the process of getting updated.

2. App Permissions:

Previously, the users of Android OS had not much control over the permissions granted to the applications installed in their phones. Starting from Android Lollipop 5.0, the app permissions feature is now more advanced in Android 6.0 Marshmallow and you have greater control over the permission your installed applications request from you. An example of camera permissions has been depicted in the following picture:

3. Spot-On Answers / Now on Tap:

Spot on answers is a version of google now cards on Android 6.0 Marshmallow in which you can bring up Google now just by long-pressing the 'Home button'. Previously, Google now app was not that much developed. In Android 6.0 Marshmallow however, now on tap feature enables Google to read all the content on the current screen and presents you the right information cards at the right time, then and there. This is a major improvement in the Google now feature starting from Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

4. Chrome Custom Tabs:

Chrome customs tabs is an in-app feature of the Google Chrome web browser by Google inc. This feature tagets the developers, and developors can enable it to use it on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Chrome custom tabs lets the developers to view the web page content from a specific app directly in a pop up that appears over the app itself and hence, there no need to go to the full fledge google chrome. It makes web browsing easier than ever. Further developments are under process for practicle uses.

5. Android Pay:

This feature is same as that of Samsung pay, Apple pay etc. The Android Pay function comes starting from Android 6.0 Marshmallow through which you can use your phone as a wallet through NFC. This means that you just have to feed the data of your credit / debit cards to your phone and then your phone can be used as an ATM card for shopping purposes. Android 6.0 Marshmallow Android Pay feature requires NFC in the device to work. And yes, ofcourse this is secure.

The Android Pay feature:

6. Fingerprint:

Android 6.0 Marshmallow fingerprint API is a great tool to have in a phone whereby everything is under control by you only. Through fingerprint sensoring, only your fingerprint can unlock the device. This feature has been extended in Android 6.0 Marshmallow whereby your fingerprint can also used system wide. This means it can even be used while purchasing applications and stuff.  Now, some compatible apps can now be accessed only though fingerprint scanning which make it secure for you to store passwords etc. You can also pay for the apps in Google Play Store only through fingerprint API so that you can securely pay. An example of this:

7. Battery Saving:

Battery saving features such as 'Doze' and 'App Standby' in Android 6.0 Marshmallow are more than advanced. With Doze, Android 6.0 Marshmallow can easily identify when your phone is not being used for a while and then hibernates the phone so that the battery juice doesn't get used which results in greater standby time. It's pretty handy when you are asleep and when your phone is not used that much. The standby time multiplies with upto 4 times. The other battery saving feature named 'App Standby' lets the user of a phone running Android 6.0 Marshmallow analyze their phone usage, and then Android 6.0 Marshmallow will automatically put the applications which are not used for a while into deep sleep mode. This way, the deep asleep applications would not use the resources such as ram or background processing and this enhances the battery timing.

Similarly, Android 6.0 Marshmallow has a battery optimization application that enables the Android 6.0 Marshmallow users to optimize other applications in order to get the maximum possible battery timing on a phone running Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

8. USB Type - C with Reverse Charging:

Android 6.0 Marshmallow supports the latest USB universal protocol through type C ports. With USB type C ports, there is no up and no down side of the usb port. One can put the cable etc. in the ports of the Android 6.0 Marshmallow phones in any direction. With this, quick data transfer rates and charging rates can be achieved. One of the exciting features is the 'Reverse Charging', which enables one phone to charge another phone. This will make your phone an ulta portable battery bank.

9. Greater Security:

Google has introduced monthly security patch updates starting from Android 6.0 Marshmallow. This means a great upgrade to your phone's security as every month their security patch is going to be more advanced and will not let any hacker etc. to misuse your personal and important information. The security patch updates can be checked in the About section in the settings app. An example of this security patch updating has been shown in the following picture.

10. Google Settings App:

Previously, Google settings could only be reached through the Google now application. In Android 6.0 Marshmallow however, there is a full fledge Google settings extension in the phone settings from where you can access and edit all the settings regarding your Google account. The integration in Android 6.0 Marshmallow of Google features just got even better. As you can see in the following picture, there is a fully independent Google settings feature in the phone settings which is a good start for an even better Google integration.

11. Voice and Assist API:

Voice API and Assist API is a handy feature in smartphones and similarly, through Google's own Voice and Assist API starting from Android 6.0 Marshmallow, there so much more one can do than just setting alarms and stuff. Now your voice commands will also be replied back by third party applications such as Whatsapp etc. with Google's Voice API and Assist API.

12. Notifications and Quick Settings:

In Android 6.0 Marshmallow, the same overall notification panel and UI has been used with slight modifications and better functions. First slide down reveals all the notifications on the notification panel whereas the second swipe down touch screen gesture brings out the quick settings where you can easily and quickly toggle and access settings. These quick settings have bigger support now and can be modified according to user needs. Now you can also delete the taken screenshots right there from the notification panel.

13. Micro SD Full Support:

Micro SD cards have been in and out from the phones lately. The trends were unusual. However, considering the demands of customers, Android 6.0 Marshmallow has introduced a pretty interesting feature which lets the users of Android 6.0 Marshmallow change the default storage of their phones. This means, you can use internal storage as a secondary storage and all your app data etc. can be saved directly and operated directly from micro SD card.

14. New RAM Manager:

Ram manager had been pretty much the same since Android KitKat 4.0 in Android OS. However, with the release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, some changes can be seen to the usual RAM manager feature. Now, the users can get to know their devices even more with the detailed and useful information provided by the RAM manager in Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

15. Automatic App Backup:

App backup feature was not much of a good thing before Android 6.0 Marshmallow. There were limitations to it previously, but with the release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, users can easily and automatically backup the app data and related settings of applications to their respective Google accounts in a folder in Google Drive which can be easily recovered afterwards.

16. Encryption of Phone:

Android 6.0 Marshmallow is the most secure Android OS till now. With its latest security features, you can also encrypt your phone, and not just to the part where your data is stored, but completely. This process normally takes less than 1 hour but afterwards, in case of emergies, your data cannot be retrieved by anyone else except the user itself. Also, this awesome feature lets the users now encryt their whole phones in Android 6.0 Marshmallow and this will also warn the users of Android 6.0 Marshmallow at every boot whenever the encryption process thinks that their software is corrupted.

17 . Google Smart Lock:

Google inc. now offers to us to put our faith and trust to Google in order to save all our passwords and accounts of other websites such as facebook etc. on our Google account in Smart lock feature of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. This makes it easier to access in short time to the sites we use by using smart lock by Google Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Part 2: Phones eligible for upgradation to Android 6.0 Marshmallow

You may find the smartphone manufactures' list of phones which are upgradable to Android 6.0 Marshmallow here:

Samsung:

1. Galaxy S6
2. S6 edge
3. S6 edge+
4. Note 5
5. Note 4
6. Note 4 edge
7. Samsung Galaxy Alpha
8. Samsung Galaxy A8
9. Samsung Galaxy A7

Oneplus:

1. Oneplus 2
2. Oneplus X
3. Oneplus 1

LG:

1. LG G4
2. LG G Flex2
3. LG G3

Sony:

1. Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2. Sony Xperia Z5
3. Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
4. Sony Xperia Z3+ / Z4
5. Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
6. Sony Xperia C4
7. Sony Xperia M5
8. Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
9. Sony Xperia Z3 / Z3v
10. Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
11. Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
12. Sony Xperia Z2
13. Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
14. Sony Xperia Z Ultra GPE

Asus:

1. Zenfone 2 series
2. Zenfone 2 Laser
3. Zenfone 2 Deluxe
4. Zenfone Selfie
5. Zenfone Go

HTC:

1. HTC One M9 Plus
2. HTC One E9 Plus
3. HTC One M9
4. HTC One E9
5. HTC One (M8)
6. HTC One (E8)

Motorola:

1. Motorola Moto X Pure Edition (3rd gen)
2. Motorola Moto X Style
3. Motorola Moto X Play
4. Motorola Moto G (3rd gen)
5. Motorola Moto X Pure edition (2nd gen)
6. Motorola DROID Turbo
7. Motorola Moto MAXX
8. Motorola Moto Turbo

Xiaomi:

1. Xiaomi Mi Note 2
2. Xiaomi Redmi 2
3. Xiaomi Redmi 2 Prime
4. Xiaomi Mi 4i
5. Xiaomi Mi 4
6. Xiaomi Mi Note
7. Xiaomi Mi Note Pro

Huawei:

1. Huawei Ascend P8
2. Huawei Ascend P8 max
3. Huawei Honor 6 Plus
4. Huawei Honor 7i
5. Huawei Honor 7
6. Huawei Mate S
7. Huawei MediaPad X2
8. Huawei Mate 7
9. Huawei Honor 6
10. Huawei Mate 7
11. Huawei Honor 4X
12. Huawei Honor 4C
13. Huawei Ascend G7

ZUK:

1. Lenovo ZUK Z1