Android M 6.0 Release Date, Features & Download: 5 Important Things to Know Right Now
Here are the latest details about Android M, Google's upcoming operating system.
Official Name
A lot of speculations have been going around regarding Android M's official name, and just recently, Android Origin found out that the OS will probably be named as Android 5.2. Internally, Google labeled the mobile software system as MNC.
Release Date & Availability
According to Gotta Be Mobile, Android M will be released in this year's Q3, which will happen between August to September.
The OS update is currently available in Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and Nexus Player in beta form, the news outlet noted. Google also released two Android M Developer Previews (betas) for those users who want to test the OS.
Listed below are the download links containing Android M Developer Preview 2 OTA zips for Nexus devices.
Significant Changes
Android M is said to be free of the huge design changes that are present in the Android Lollipop, Gotta Be Mobile wrote. However, the upcoming OS is still expected to bring significant features that will focus mostly on improved performance.
Demo Mode
A separate report from Android Origin noted that the second Android M Developer Preview showcased a brand-new feature called Demo Mode.
The feature will get rid of all of the notification icons located in the status bar. Demo Mode will also show the battery power and signal strength as full, and then change the time to 5:20, the news outlet wrote.
"Anytime Google advertises a new version of Android (after it has been released) we always see the time set to the actual version of Android that we are at so this means that we could see Android M released as Android 5.2," Android Origin explained.
Other Expected Features
We previously reported that Android M's other features will include an improved snooze button, a fixed app drawer, and an expanded system UI tuner.
The latter will include the percentage readout in the battery's status bar, Ars Technica took note. Users can choose to hide signal bars and alarm clock icons as well. The fixed app drawer, meanwhile, will now support auto rotate.
Other features, such as App Permissions, Doze, Custom Chrome Tabs, and Now on Tap, among others, are also expected to show up in Android M, Android Origin listed. Users should also expect RRO (Runtime Resource Overlay) Theme Engine, Tap Now, Doze, and fingerprint support to be included in the new OS.
In addition, Android Geeks wrote that a feature called Direct Share will learn the contacts you regularly interact with and place them to the top of the list.