Google
updates its Android OS every year, but Android Marshmallow offers the
biggest improvement we’ve seen in awhile. With new features like the
battery-saving Doze mode – or the brand new Google Now on Tap, Android
Marshmallow is more revolution than evolution, and brings some great new
features along with some much-needed bug fixes. Here are 13 reasons we
think Android Marshmallow is the best version of Android we’ve seen.
1. Android Pay
Much like Apple Pay, Android Pay allows users to store credit and
debit card information on their smartphones, and then wirelessly pay for
goods and services quickly and securely. To make it more secure,
Android Pay uses a virtual account number instead of your own, and also
keeps a detailed history of purchases made using the app.
If you’re unlucky enough to lose your phone, Google has you covered.
Android Device Manager makes it easy to remotely lock and wipe your
Android device in the event of loss or theft.
The only catch? Android Pay has been in the US since late September, but we still don’t know when it’s coming to the UK.
2. USB Type-C
USB Type-C represents the holy grail of connections. It’s
silly-fast, can be used any way up – and it’s going to be the most
commonly used connection in the next few years. What’s
more, it also allow for much faster charging than conventional cables:
it can fully charge a Nexus 6P in around two hours.
As
you’d expect, Android Marshmallow is futureproofed with built-in USB
Type-C support, so as long as your smartphone has the connection,
Marshmallow can take advantage of it.
3. Now on Tap
One of the biggest changes to Android Marshmallow comes in the form
of Google Now. Although it may look the same as before, Google Now is
now pre-baked into every area of the OS, and it’s cleverer than ever.
Google Now’s focus is now on “context”, and that means the digital
assistant will be better at understanding where you are, and what you’ll
need to know as a result.
4. System UI Tuner
Marshmallow fixes one of our biggest pet peeves with the
Android operating system. Google’s mobile OS uses the status bar at the
top of your screen for key information about reception, battery life and
more – but it can get crowded and scruffy at times.
With the System UI Tuner, users can now add their battery
percentage to the system tray, and choose which other things they want
to be displayed there. The result? Your Android phone will only show the
information you want to see.
5. Improved Copy and Pasting
Although
it seems like a relatively simple task, previous versions of Android
made cutting and pasting text a fiddly, frustrating affair. Before,
Google’s OS forced you to go to the top of the screen to cut, copy and
paste – but Marshmallow lets you hover just above the selected text. If
that sounds familiar, that’s because it’s exactly what iOS already does –
but we’ll forgive Google as it’s a vast improvement over its original
solution.
6. Custom Google tabs
Google
Chrome is one of the best mobile browsers around, and Marshmallow makes
it easier for developers to integrate into their own, third-party apps.
That means you don’t have to switch applications when you need to
browse the web, and it also means that when you are let loose on
Google's browsers, all of your passwords and logins are stored and ready
to go. The result? The whole browsing experience is much more seamless.
7. Clear permissions system
Although not one of the most glitzy features, Marshmallow’s app
permissions overhaul will have an immediate effect on how you use your
phone. Previous versions of Android forced the user to configure app
settings at the point of install, making downloading apps an overly
complex, drawn-out process.
Instead, Marshmallow only asks for your permission when it
needs to. So, rather than configuring something such as Snapchat when
you first download it, Android will ask to use your phone’s camera once,
and only the first time you use it.
If
you want to go back on your original decisions, Marshmallow has you
covered. The new OS presents things by permissions rather than apps, so
you can quickly see what apps are using your camera, accessing your
photos, location data and much more.
8. Personalised lockscreen message
Having
a stable, fast OS is all well and good, but Google isn’t afraid to
inject a sense of personality into its software. New for Marshmallow, a
new textbox just under the lockscreen time helps personalise your phone –
and could be a perfect place for motivational quotes, important
reminders, name tags and much more.
9. Storage is easier to manage
Smartphones have more storage than ever, but they need it: we now use handsets for everything from playing Angry Birds
and using Periscope, to shooting 4K videos and downloading films. Even
with removable storage available, we still run out of space.
Android Marshmallow makes it easier than ever to manage your
storage. Replacing Lollipop’s mix of colours for a much more streamlined
interface, Marshmallow shows users how much storage space they’ve used,
and a breakdown of how they’ve used it. That way, it’s even easier to
know what to delete.
What’s more, Android Marshmallow also makes it easier to see which apps are using the most RAM, too.
10. Smoother app experience
There's
another feature that doesn't sound spectacular, but makes a huge
difference to your Android experience. When clicking on app-specific
links – such as those for Twitter and Instagram – previous versions of
Android would present the user with an "Open With" dialog box. As well
as being ugly, this also made using Android a less than seamless
experience. Thankfully, Android Marshmallow is much more intelligent and
will know which app to open when you click on a specific link. That
means, if you click an Instagram link, the Instagram app will
automatically open and display the content. It's simple, but effective.
11. Doze
Smartphones such as the Nexus 5X pack in a range of sensors for
fitness tracking and much more, but Doze uses them for a different
reason. As well as of working out how many calories you’ve burnt, Doze
uses motion sensors to detect when your phone’s not moving, and enters a
deep sleep. The result? Your smartphone will stop all non-essential
tasks such as Wi-Fi, syncs and jobs until the handset starts moving
again. That means your battery should last much, much longer.
Interestingly,
Doze will have control over all apps and other functions – unless
otherwise stated – so Android users will benefit from improved battery
life across the board.
12. Fingerprint scanners
Fingerprint
scanners have been on Android phones for a while now, but Marshmallow
is the first time they will be used properly. Rather than a tacked-on
feature for unlocking your Android phone, Google's new OS pushes the
fingerprint reader front and centre, which makes it compatible with a
range of third-party apps.
In
Marshmallow, fingerprint sensors can be used to log into apps like
Evernote, or even buy things via in-app purchases. Simply put,
authentication will be easier across the Android experience.
13. New app drawer
Marshmallow
uses a brand-new layout for the app drawer, and it makes looking for
applications a quicker, simpler process. Rather than scrolling sideways,
users now have to scroll down vertically, and, if you’re too impatient,
a search box at the top means you can find the app you’re looking for
by typing the first few letters.
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