Google ‘s the next version of Android in the form of Android M. It will be officially arriving in Q3 this year, but the company is releasing the developer preview todayAccording to Google, Android M is its most polished version till date and it includes hundreds of improvements to offer better user experience.
There are now more than one billion Android users worldwide—a long way from when we launched the first Android phone back in 2008. And there are 4,000 unique Android devices on the market, from more than 400 manufacturers and over 500 carriers. the end of this year, 35 car models will offer Android Auto, helping you access Search, Maps, music and other information through your car’s controls. And the first sets running Android TV have now arrived.
Android Permissions
Google is allowing the Android users to control what Android apps can access on their devices. Also, instead of giving permissions at the time of installation, the users will offer the specific permissions when they are needed in the apps.
Web Experience
Google is moving from Webview to custom Chrome tabs on Android to offer better web experience. Custom Chrome Tabs will be faster, secure and include more features like support for saved passwords, auto-fill, and web sign-in
App links:
Rather than giving you options to choose from multiple apps to open a web-link, Android M will use app and service code to identify the right app and automatically open the link in that.
Android Pay
Google Wallet might have been a flop for the company, but Google is not done with mobile payments. The new Android Pay in Android M allows the consumers to pay using their NFC-based smartphone at supported stores. Android M also works with web-based services and can be integrated with on-board fingerprint sensor. More on Android Pay in our separate report.
Fingerprint support
Yes, Google is including the native support for fingerprint sensors in Android M. The support will enable users to unlock their devices by just using their fingerprint or authenticate purchases in apps and web-services. Third-party applications will also be able to use the sensor data using available APIs.
Power and charging
Android M will also pack several improvements on the battery and power front. The new release will come with something called “Doze,” which will use the device sensor data to identify when the device is not in use for a long time and puts the device in deeper sleep by intelligently stopping unnecessary background processes. Google claims that Doze improves the overall battery-life of the devices by almost two times. Other power-related changes include support for USB Type C and using your phone or tablet as a charger for other devices with USB Type C.
Doze
Doze is the new iteration for already familiar Project Volta. It is to improve the battery life significantly. Android is known for battery hungry mobile operating system, so it is good to hear that Google acknowledged it in major Android OS release. We are expecting to see substantial improvement to the battery this time and Google also claimed that Nexus 9 lasted twice as longer than on Lollipop, which is serious breakthrough for Google. Doze work along with various sensors in the device. It will retrieve the data from different sensors to make sure the user is not active with his/her device. If it recognizes the sleeps state, the doze will collect the data from various sensor and put the system in even deeper sleep state to save the battery
Family star new features for browsing by age and interests.
On the Apps, Games and Movies & TV homepages, you can now tap the Family button to browse our new family-friendly experiences. On the Books homepage, tap the Children’s Books button. Since toddlers and tweens have different interests and abilities, these pages let you browse by age range to find content that’s the best fit for your family. Barbie and other kids and family brands are some of the most popular searches on Google Play. To help you browse Google Play content around a favorite character, we’ve created special pages featuring dozens of top characters from across the globe, like PBS KIDS, Pororo and Peppa Pig. From the Play store app, take a tour through all of our popular characters to find apps, movies, books and more from your family’s favorites.
Google Photos
- With Undo Send—now for the first time on your phone—you can take back an email right after sending in case you spotted a mistake, or have second thoughts
- If you’d rather get rid of messages, you can make ‘Delete’ the default swiping action
- If you want to personalize your sent messages, you can now add a custom signature
- When you create Reminders in Keep, they’ll now appear in Inbox
- When someone emails you a to-do, Inbox might suggest adding a Reminder so you don’t forget
- When you get an email from HotelTonight or Eat24, you can now open your reservations and food orders within their app, directly from Inbox