This year the company has already shown version 6 of its Android mobile operating system. It was called Marshmallow. This is exactly what M stands for, about which fans have been speculating and making bets all summer. Despite the fact that this is not 5.2, but the whole 6.0, there are much fewer new features and noticeable updates than there were in 5. But this is not surprising, because 5 set a new direction, and 6 simply strengthens its position. So, what's new in "Zefirinka"?
Google Now on Tap
This is probably the main feature that the creators boasted about and the fans were waiting for. It analyzes the contents of your screen at a particular moment and offers interesting features. If you're browsing the latest movies in the app, Now on Tap will show you a list of upcoming shows. By listening to music, you can get comprehensive information about the artist, and by communicating in the messenger about a specific restaurant, you can book a table there or call. Thus, Google knows even more about you, but uses it only to your advantage.
Support for new standards and technologies
Here it is worth mentioning two innovations at once. Fingerprint sensors, which were brought to the market by Apple and USB Type-C, which everyone has been talking about for a long time. Many companies, including Samsung, have already installed fingerprint sensors in their devices, but they used their own developments, but now this function is native, that is, any manufacturer can add a sensor to their smartphone and not create special software for this. USB Type-C new standard, which will finally rid everyone of the problem of inverted cables. Now the cord can be inserted in any direction without wasting precious time. It will take at least a year before this technology comes into widespread use, but Google's attention already speaks volumes.
Setting application permissions
Surely, many users, when installing new applications, wondered why a particular program needed so much access to personal data or individual smartphone functions. If access to the camera for an application for creating photos can be explained, then the permission to view SMS for the next game looks quite strange. Now any user can control what functions each application installed on their mobile device will have access to.
Doze – another step towards effective energy saving
The new power saving mode uses your battery smarter. The smartphone understands when you are not using it and disables all background processes as much as possible. Due to their inactivity, the charge is mainly saved.
Chrome Built-in
This innovation will appeal to both developers and fans. Chrome browser. Thus, creators of applications that require opening web pages will no longer have to embed or create third-party solutions. Google's browser will play this role. In addition, it will integrate well, and the user will not even notice when the web page is actually open, and when the content of the application itself is on the screen.
New features for working with a memory card
Google, like Apple, actively fought with memory cards, but at some point they stopped and reached the point where now on any device with Android control 6 Marshmallow you can use the memory card as a system volume. This is a useful feature for those who do not have devices with a large amount of built-in memory.
Android Pay, improved text tools, themes and more
Launches with Android 6 payment system Android Pay, which, unfortunately, is not yet available to us. For those who often copy, cut and paste text, the developers have simplified this process a little by adding a context menu with commands right above the selected text. Also in the settings, users can choose a dark or light theme for the OS. Smartphones running Marshmallow can now act as chargers for other devices. Now, finally, users can do backups systems without the help of third-party applications.
It's safe to say that Marshmallow is a high-quality update for the Android operating system that simply improves the user experience, but does not introduce radically new features. And rightly so, considering that the global update took place only a year ago.
Now update and install the operating system of your smartphone or tablet to latest version it just got easier. Now, to install new firmware, just download Android 6.0 from our website, follow the instructions from the downloaded archive, download and install the application on your smartphone or tablet with the Android operating system.
In four years, Android has transformed from a small but ambitious project into perhaps the most complex and feature-packed mobile OS of our time. Android supports a huge number of technologies and functions, many of which are hidden from the user or hidden in places you wouldn't even think to look at. This article is a collection of tips and tricks that can be applied to any Android device without the need to root.
01. DISABLE THE AUTOMATIC CREATION OF ICONS ON THE DESKTOP
I think I’m not the only one who is annoyed by the way the market behaves when installing an application. For some reason he thinks that for any more or less software or the next game I definitely need an icon on the desktop, and he successfully creates it. And I have to delete it. And then another one. And so every time.
Fortunately, this behavior is easy to disable - just open Google settings Play (in the left panel) and uncheck the “Add icons” option. There you can also disable the forced password request every 30 minutes when purchasing applications, as well as the hated auto-update of applications.
02. DISABLE GOOGLE SEARCH AND OTHER USELESS SOFTWARE
The standard firmware of Android smartphones includes a huge amount of useless software, ranging from a bunch of Google applications (do you know that Google requires manufacturing companies to include almost all the software it develops in the firmware of their devices?) and ending with all sorts of junk from the smartphone manufacturer . All of this (or at least most) can be disabled.
Go to “Settings → Applications → All”, tap on the desired software and click “Disable” (of course, you will be warned how “dangerous” this is). By the way, when disconnecting Google search will disappear and Google Now, as well as the search bar from the desktop (after reboot), which will be replaced by an empty area.
03. RESET TO SAFE MODE
Few people know, but Android, like many other operating systems, has a so-called Safe mode. This is a mode in which the operating system boots with disabled third party applications. Not very skillfully written malware (one that is not registered in system partition) in this case falls off, like any software that interferes normal operation systems. Safe mode can be used to bypass screen blockers, applications that cause the smartphone to freeze, or, alternatively, to identify who is actually eating up the battery - the next firmware or software update.
The mode is turned on in a rather simple, but not at all obvious way: by holding down the power button and then holding your finger on the “Turn off power” item. After rebooting, the culprit of the problem can be removed through “Settings → Applications”.
04. GET RID OF INSTRUCTIVE NOTIFICATIONS
“The construction of the castle is finished!” - how did you get these notifications? Everyone who is not too lazy is trying to notify me about all possible and impossible events: “Vasya Dzhubga replied to you on Twitter,” “You have 100,500 new messages,” “You won surgery to enlarge your right leg.” You swipe away one notification, and three new ones appear in its place.
How to get rid of all this slag: hold your finger on the notification for a long time and uncheck the “Stop” button. This is the recipe for KitKat. In Lollipop, everything is a little different, but the essence is the same: hold down, then the i button, in the window that opens, put a checkmark on “Block”. There you can also force the notification to be a priority so that it is always at the very top.
05. DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE SERVICE MENU
Another not at all obvious function is service menu. It can be opened by dialing *#*#4636#*#*. Basically there are different Technical information like IMEI numbers, signal strength, current location, or network type. But there is also a very useful function for some situations to force the smartphone to switch to the desired type of network (2G, 3G, LTE).
In conditions of poor 3G/LTE signal levels, the device tends to reset to 2G in order to save battery power and ensure subscriber availability. This behavior can be disabled. Open the service menu and in the “Set up preferred network type” item, select WCDMA only or LTE only. In the same way, you can switch your smartphone to 2G - GSM only. It will help if you need to save battery power and the Internet is rarely used. By the way, you can also disable the radio module there altogether (until the next reboot, of course). 
Smartphones based on Chinese MTK chips have their own and much more sophisticated service menu. His number is *#*#3646633#*#*. There is various system information and a huge number of tests, among which you can find several useful settings, such as adjusting the volume level during a call or, for example, changing GPS/AGPS settings. The menu itself is terribly illogical and contains so much varied information that I don’t even dare to describe it, but simply send the reader to three letters - XDA.
06. USE A STANDARD BROWSER
I don't know why users don't like Android's built-in browser so much. In my opinion, he is wonderful. Lightweight, fast, based on the Chromium engine, can synchronize with Google account(that is, it immediately includes all bookmarks and passwords from Chrome), but most importantly, it has a very convenient and almost ingenious navigation method. This is the so-called radial menu, which can be activated in the settings (only in Android 4.0–4.4).
07. MANAGE YOUR CONTACTS FROM YOUR COMPUTER
Google has web services not only for remotely installing software, blocking and searching for a smartphone, but also for managing contacts. All people's contacts ever saved and synchronized when connecting a new smartphone can always be found on the page google.com/contacts. They can be viewed, edited, added and deleted. Moreover, oddly enough, it is essentially part of Gmail.
08. MONITOR YOUR PROCESSOR LOAD
Android has a built-in function to show the current CPU load and active this moment processes on top of the screen. In theory, it is intended for application and firmware developers and is hidden from ordinary users, but no one is stopping us from activating it. But first you will have to reach the “For Developers” settings section, which by default does not exist at all.
Go to settings, then “About phone”, find the line “Build number” and tap on it seven times in a row. The message “You have become a developer!” should appear on the screen. This means that the “For Developers” item is now open, and we go to it. We rewind almost to the very bottom of the screen and in the “Monitoring” section we find the “Show CPU load” switch.
Turn it on and see a list in the upper right part of the screen. The first line is the so-called loadavg, which shows the number of processes that had to run or wait their turn to run in the last minute, five and ten minutes. To put it very roughly: if these values, divided by the number of processor cores, are above one, this means 100% processor load in the last minute, five or ten minutes, respectively. Below is a list of the most power-hungry processes (essentially, an analogue of the top command from Linux).
09. USE ADB TO BACKUP SOFTWARE ON YOUR COMPUTER
We have already written more than once about a wonderful tool called ADB, which can significantly simplify managing a device from a computer for a person who is familiar with the console (here we are mainly talking about Linux, of course). In addition to the ability to install software, transfer files to a smartphone, view logs and other useful things, ADB has recently made it possible to backup all smartphone settings and applications.
To use this functionality, install the universal ADB driver (goo.gl/AzZrjR), then download ADB itself (goo.gl/3P7klM), install the driver, then expand the archive with ADB, connect the smartphone to the computer with a USB cable, launch command line and execute the command
A message will appear on the smartphone screen asking you to specify the encryption password for the backup - you can safely press “Next”. The application backup process will begin, which will affect both the APK packages themselves (the -apk flag in the command) and their settings. All applications from the memory card will also be included in the backup. You can restore a backup using the following command:
$ adb restore backup . ab |
10. DISABLE BACKGROUND DATA TRANSFER IN APPLICATIONS
Working in the background, applications can actively use the Internet for a variety of purposes, from updating their content to leaking information about your location. In addition, such activity in any case leads to increased battery consumption. 
Android has the ability to selectively restrict applications from transferring data in the background, but it is located in a place where most users would hardly ever look. To prevent any application from using the Internet in the background, you need to go to settings, then “Data transfer”, scroll down the screen to the list of applications actively using the network (for some it will be a surprise that it is there at all) and tap on the desired software. At the bottom there will be an option “Limit background mode" It is worth keeping in mind that the option will disable data transfer only over the mobile network, so data will continue to flow over Wi-Fi.
11. USE THE SEARCH BAR
Often, smartphone owners Android based neglect the search bar at the top of the main screen. This is really logical, given the ability to search by typing a query into address bar any mobile browser.
Meanwhile, the desktop search bar does much more than just redirect your request to google.com. It allows you to search contacts, applications, calendar events, bookmarks and web browser history in automatic mode. During normal smartphone use, it may not be so useful, but when connecting an external keyboard, it indispensable tool. Just click
12. USE SMART LOCK
Smart Lock is one of those features that you don’t think about, but once you try it, you can’t live without it. This is one of the most notable new Android Lollipop products and one of the most useful functions, added to Android recently. The idea of Smart Lock is extremely simple - it disables the PIN code or other lock screen protection if there is a specific Bluetooth device or map location nearby.
By default, Smart Lock is “sort of” disabled. That is, it does not light up anywhere, but after pairing with a new Bluetooth device (of any type), it will definitely offer to add it to its white list. After this you will forget about her again. But only until you enable lock screen protection in the “Security” section of the settings. Now it will work as it should.
Sami Smart settings Lock are in the same section, and, in addition to adding new Bluetooth devices, you can specify “safe places” there, and immediately with a list of options based on Google Now “observations”. By the way, if you disable it, as described in the first tip, then this functionality will also be lost.
13. SAVE ENERGY RIGHT
Another notable innovation from Lollipop is its power saving mode. IN standard Android it migrated from the firmware of smartphone manufacturers, who previously sold it independently. Now the function is available in pure Android - you use your smartphone to the fullest, and when the battery charge reaches 15%, the system suggests turning on the power saving mode, which turns off background data transfer, reduces the brightness to a minimum, turns off some sensors and reduces the screen rendering FPS to a couple of dozen frames per hour. give me a sec. For clarity, the status bar and on-screen buttons at the bottom of the screen turn red - so you don’t forget.
To save battery life on a smartphone with an AMOLED screen, you can set black wallpapers and use apps with black backgrounds.
The energy saving mode is customizable. Go to “Settings → Battery → menu → Power saving mode.” Here you can specify the condition for automatically turning on the mode (though the choice is meager: 5%, 15% or never) and, most importantly, turn on the mode right now. Very convenient if you have a long trip ahead without the possibility of recharging.
14. MONITOR TRAFFIC
Most likely, smartphone manufacturers, as usual, will shovel standard interface Android 5.0 and everything will change (hello Samsung - the biggest fan of breaking interfaces), but in the standard Lollipop curtain, or rather, in the “second curtain” with 
flasks quick settings There is one highlight. The data transfer button in the center does not switch data transfer at all, but expands into an interface that allows you not only to view the current traffic consumption, but also to disable data transfer using the switch on top.
15. SHARE NOT YOUR PHONE, BUT THE APPLICATION
Especially for those who like to give their phone to other people, Lollipop has a Screen pinning feature that allows you to lock your smartphone on one application without the ability to close it or switch to another. Like many other useful features, it is completely invisible and hidden quite deep in the settings. To activate, go to “Settings → Security”, scroll almost to the very end and turn on the “Block in application” option.
Now if you click the view button running applications(“Browse”), an pushbutton will appear at the bottom of the current application’s thumbnail. Once you tap the icon, the screen will be locked on the selected app and you will need to hold the Back and Overview buttons simultaneously to go back. In this case, you will have to enter a PIN code if it is set for the lock screen.
XX. USE ACITIVITY LAUNCHER
Any graphic Android application includes one or more so-called “activities”. Each of them is an application window (screen), for example main screen or a settings screen, maybe even a file selection window. By default, you can open directly (from the desktop) only those activities that the application developer marks as main; the rest are accessible only through the application itself and only if the developer himself allows this.
However, having the right tool at hand, you can reach any other activity of any application and even create a shortcut for it on the desktop. Activity Launcher does just that. Just install the application, select “All actions” in the menu at the top and find the software you need. All of her activities will appear on the screen, and any of them can be opened with a simple tap or placed on the desktop by holding your finger for a long time.
An example of useful “internal” activities is the Chrome bookmarks window (Chrome →Bookmark), access to the hidden AppOps mechanism in Android< 4.4.2 (Настройки → AppOps), запуск поиска в TuneIn Radio (tunein.ui.activities.TuneInSearchActivity). Очень много активностей имеет в себе ES Проводник, включая редактор, музыкальный плеер, просмотрщик изображений и многое другое. Любую из них можно запустить напрямую с рабочего стола. Таким же образом можно открыть любой раздел настроек и получить доступ к некоторым функциям ОС, достучаться до которых проблематично. Это абсолютно легальная функцио нальность, и она не требует root.
Android has a large set of hotkeys for connected keyboards. You can use Arrow, Tab, and Enter to navigate the desktop and various menus. In addition, the following key combinations are available:
Esc - “Back” button;
Win + Esc - Home button;
Ctrl + Esc - “Menu” button;
Alt + Tab - switch between applications;
Ctrl + Space - switch layout;
Ctrl + P - open settings;
Ctrl + M - manage installed applications;
Ctrl + W - change wallpaper;
Win + E - write a letter;
Win + P - music player;
Win + A - calculator;
Win + S - write SMS;
Win + L - calendar;
Win + C - contacts;
Win + B - browser;
Win + M - Google maps;
Win + Space - search;To find out your MAC and IP address, go to “Settings → Wi-Fi → menu → Advanced
new functions". MAC and IP will be at the very bottom.Lollipop has a built-in Flappy Bird style game. Go to “Settings → About phone”,
Tap on the “Android Version” item several times, then hold your finger on the “Lollipop” that appears. Let's play.Google Now supports a large number of Russian-language voice commands. All of them can be divided into two groups: voice search and the voice commands themselves. Voice search allows you to perform smart searches on Google, where the system displays a specific answer on the screen instead of a list of links, and voice commands allow you to perform certain actions, for example, send an SMS or set an alarm. The list of commands is shown in the Google Now Voice Commands image. Voice search includes more than a dozen various types questions:
Weather. What will the weather be like tomorrow morning?
Addresses. Where is the nearest pharmacy?
Flight information. When does Aeroflot flight number 2336 depart?
Time. What time is it in London?
Events. When is sunset today?
Computing. What is the square root of 2209?
Translation. How do you say "cucumber" in Spanish?
Sport. When does Spartak play?
Finance. What is the S&P 500 index today?
Data. What is the height of the tallest building in the world?
Exchange Rates. Convert 2600 rupees to US dollars.
Images. Show photos of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Interestingly, Google Now understands a large number of much less obvious questions in English. As an example we can give:
Should I wear a jacket today?
How much tip for 420 rubles?
Where is my parcel?
This, of course, is not all that could be talked about, but it will not be possible to lengthen the article, and many of the other possibilities are already known. Don't forget about these tricks, and your smartphone will become
a little more convenient. at January 26, 2017.
When Android updated to LolliPop 5.0, we all saw that a clunky OS can look stylish. Material Design, which came with an “A”, continues to develop. In Marshmallow 6.0, Android did not look any different - there is, of course, a difference between 5.0 and 6.0, but it is not as striking as KitKat and LolliPop had. But a lot of things have changed inside the system itself. What exactly – we will discuss further.
Loading applications in Android 6.0 now happens beautifully - programs seem to open from icons, regardless of where they are located on the desktop. In the menu of installed applications, everything is also different: now, instead of flipping through several pages of the menu in search of the desired program, you can simply scroll the list. So new Android features 6.0 may seem inconvenient at first: before, let's say, you knew exactly which menu page you needed to scroll to in order to launch the application - and many did this automatically, without thinking - but now you have to put up with quickly scrolling through the list and try to get to the desired icon from the first times.
In order not to search for a long time, you can move frequently used applications to the desktop, say, combine them into folders or install widgets - you will say, and you will be right. But Google also offers a third way: now the 4 most frequently used programs will hang in a separate block in the application menu. So to speak, a quick access menu. The order of programs in this “four” and its “composition” can change not only based on how often you use this or that application, but also when exactly you prefer to use them. Thus, if you have a smartphone/tablet in your hands - not only for checking social networks and games, and you and your gadget live according to a schedule - you go for morning runs on Mon-Wed-Fri, on Saturdays you read books, and on Sundays you prefer to listen random selections on Soundcloud - the system will take this into account, and in the application menu header it will look different every day.
Plus, applications in this menu You can search using the alphabetical index: if you scroll, sticking to the right edge of the display, you will see the alphabet. When there are really a lot of applications, this option can be useful. Although the easiest way is to search the desired program, using the search bar located in the same menu above the four favorite programs. Start entering the name - the system will find the desired program in the list of installed ones or in Google Play, if suddenly it is not on your device.
Another: a new version Android offers to delete applications directly from the desktop. Let us remind you that in previous versions In the OS, it was only possible to clear the desktop of icons, and deleting applications was only possible from the menu. Now, when you hold an icon, you can choose the option to delete - only the icon or the application itself.
Notifications
Here's what, and the update of this menu back in Android LolliPop confused many users. The fact is that the menu that allows you to give priority to certain applications to notify you about updates was in fact of little use to anyone - it was done, perhaps, with the best intentions, but it did not look like something practical. Now, being in the quick settings menu, the “stub” has every chance of becoming useful.
The “Do not disturb” mode in the new Android has three variations: “Complete silence”, “Alarm clock only” and “Important only”, which determine when and which applications can notify you about something. Each column in Android 6.0 can be configured in meticulous detail, and this is the second point that makes Marshmallow almost the most customizable operating system. Rate:
"Complete silence." It turns off all signals, including vibration and light signals, your phone number is still accessible, you can only find out that they are calling you by constantly looking at the black display of your smartphone while waiting for an incoming call. As in the other two menus, in this one you can set the deactivation time “Until I turn it off” or set the exact duration of the “quiet” mode.
Click “Configure” – “Important only”. In this menu of the new Android, you can set exceptions: which applications can report something to you in this mode. Alarms, Reminders, Events can be turned ON/OFF, and for the Calls and Messages items you can specify from whom to receive notifications (From anyone, Only from contacts, Only from tagged contacts or From no one). In the same menu there is a “Repeated calls” item, when activated, even with the most strict “Do not disturb” settings, you will be notified of an incoming call if the persistent subscriber who tried to call you dialed you two or more times in the last 15 minutes. Very good: what if it’s really something very important?
There is also a “Rules” item, aimed at those who live according to a schedule and know exactly what they will be doing next Tuesday at 19:00. In the “Rules” you can create or use a template to activate the “silence” mode automatically on a certain day and time. For example, you want not to be disturbed in the evening on weekdays from 22:00 to 07:00 the next day (except for the alarm, say). And here you are - please - sleep peacefully, putting your smartphone away from the bed.
Or the second classic scenario: turn on silent mode during any events that you previously agreed to attend through the Calendar application. It’s also very convenient: your office is going to a movie in the evening, someone proactive sends out invitations to everyone on Google+, you accept the invitation, which is immediately synchronized with your calendar. And - woo-ala! – go to the cinema and don’t worry – the phone won’t ring during the show.
The “Important Only” and “Rules” items are located in the general settings of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, i.e. the entered values will be valid for each type silent mode.
Working with text inAndroid 6.0
Tapping and holding on a piece of text of interest is nothing new. However, now the “Copy/Paste” menu and other functions do not pop up in the screen header, as before, but directly above the selected characters. Plus, new options have appeared in Android 6.0 Marshmallow: for example, “Translate” - the selected text can be translated into any of the languages available in Google Translator, and with the press of one key you can replace your Russian language with the desired foreign one (just note that Google Translator, of course, is capable for many things, but he is not omnipotent and does not always translate the text correctly).
Directshare
There can be only 8 such “quick” contacts for sharing information, and a maximum of only 5 recipients are assigned to one application in this list. Yes, it would be illogical to transfer a little bit of everyone to the quick send menu, cluttering it with icons, but for some eight recipients may not seem enough. The disadvantage of this option is that this list The recipients may not be the ones with whom you would like to share something: for example, the last active chat you had was with the boss, and his icon appeared in this menu. You cannot remove him from the list - he writes so much to you! - but throwing links from the network is not at all part of your circle of business interests with him.
The function, it must be said, is still at the finalization stage and has every chance of becoming usable. All that's left to do is give more applications synchronize with Direct share and allow the user to edit the quick access list.
Device Memory Manager
It’s not a fact that 90% of users will ever look at this menu item, but by going to Settings – Device – Memory, you can see which applications used the memory of your device at one time or another and how much they loaded the RAM.
And in the “Storage and USB drive” menu you can now find a file manager. It's not omnipotent - it can only move, delete and send files to selected contacts - but it's the first such built-in option in Android.
Application Settings
Another rather interesting point - additional settings Applications where you can, for example, change permissions installed programs or set/change default applications. In the “Links in Applications” menu, you can configure which programs open links.
Nailprograms: Google Now on TapAndroid 6.0
The coolest thing, at the time competing with the new capabilities of Siri. So, now, no matter what application you are in and no matter what you do, hold physical or touch button You can call the Now on Tap function at home. It will evaluate the contents of the page and give you Additional information about the most important search object. For example, we listen to music. In Google Music, hold down Home and get a choice: artist pages in in social networks, address of his official website, links to albums, news, concert schedule, etc.
And so with absolutely any application. If you receive a message mentioning the title of a film, press Home and receive a synopsis, links to trailers, a promo site, and a schedule of shows at a nearby cinema.
The only “but”: for now, the Now on Tap option only works if the system language of the smartphone is set to English. But at the same time, the new product recognizes not only ENG, but also copes well with Cyrillic (and here is the proof below).
We repeat: for the option to work for now, you need to select English as the system language and, of course, turn on Wi-Fi or 3G.
Camera andUSB
Android 6.0 Marshmallow now supports USB 3.1 Type-C, i.e. new devices with this operating system will not only have a universal charging interface, but will also increase data transfer speeds (up to 10 Gbps, just a second!).
The camera interface in Android 6.0 Marshmallow has also been changed: for convenience, some settings have been placed directly on the display and, in general, everything has become more convenient, although nothing major has changed, by and large. For now, however, only owners of the Nexus 5X and .
conclusions
This is not “another Android”, but a system worth waiting for. Even though we saw its visual component last year, with the official release and Material Design, the inside of 6.0 now also looks amazing! Thanks to new, broader settings, you can reduce battery consumption, optimize device memory, find anything with Now on Tap, share information directly with open pages browser, set automatic switching on Do Not Disturb mode by synchronizing it with your Calendar or your daily routine. In a word, a great new thing.
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Elizabeth
Without a twinge of conscience, I ask for “phone numbers” from guys and girls I don’t know well. To check whether the lock button fits comfortably under your finger and whether the autofocus works quickly :) I would like to visit MWC and conduct a live blog from the thick of things.
We decided to figure out what features Google added to the new version of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Most of the new products turned out to be deeply hidden in the operating system.
The lock screen has become cleaner
Google has tried a lot of different things with lock screens in recent years. There were good ideas, but more often for some reason they were bad. Luckily, the developers decided to keep the lock screen simple and useful.
Marshmallow's lock screen system is just that: the clock is larger, so you don't have to strain to know the time when you glance at your device. The notification panel has been improved with the addition of a quick settings drop-down menu. The dialer shortcut located in the bottom left corner has been replaced with Google Now, so you can now launch a voice search without even unlocking your device. And if you set up protection using a password or graphic code, the system will offer you a convenient panic button, which can be useful if you find yourself in an emergency situation.
We've never been crazy about widgets and other things that clutter up the screen while you're locked, so we're glad they're gone from Marshmallow.
Copy and paste made easier
Android was one of the first mobile operating systems to feature copy and paste capabilities - and now Google is jumping in over its head again.
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In Marshmallow, Google uses a copy and paste feature that is simpler and more convenient than what we've seen before. Latch pressing now works faster and you don't have to wait for the action selection window to appear. Additionally, Google has gotten rid of the clunky edit menu, replacing it with more obvious options that appear right next to the text you select. And if you have Google Translate installed, the copy and paste settings allow you to instantly translate text. This feature alone makes life easier.
Settings menu - more informative
Each new version of Android has a slightly more user-friendly settings menu. Unfortunately, for now this can only be considered a sign that Google is still determining how Android should be structured.
For example, if you scroll down to the About Phone tab in the Settings menu, you'll find a section that tells you when you last received system security updates. It's nice that such operating system transparency is becoming generally accepted. However, the developers also pursued their own goals, in particular, trying to dispel myths from the “Android is unsafe!” series.
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The rather strange Google Settings app has also disappeared. Instead, a menu item appeared in Settings. It seems this decision was obvious before, but better late than never. You can also go to the new Memory Management menu to see how much RAM your device is using and whether it's running normally.
Now on Tap is now tracking you. And it's not that bad
If you've always wondered why you're being asked to provide Google access to your information, you will find the answer in Google Now on Tap. Not only is this one of Marshmallow's best features, but it's also a reminder that Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana still don't get the job done.
The Now on Tap API examines everything you see on your screen and offers relevant search results. Hold the Home button to turn on Now on Tap, and the feature will do its best to get to know you better.
For example, in a news story about a Marshmallow update, Now on Tap was able to ignore references to numerous Android models from OEM partners, recognizing that the context of the article was about when the update would be released for those devices. The feature also provided us with links to additional materials.
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Now on Tap works with third-party apps too. For example, on Instagram you need to tap the screen 2-3 times to open Google Maps and continue the route to the place where your friends checked in. But now, with Now on Tap, all you have to do is hold down the Home button when a photo is shown on screen, and you'll get a quick link to view the street where it was taken. If you select this option, Google will show you a real photo of the place you are interested in. It's much easier.
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But our favorite experience was using Now on Tap in conjunction with the reminders service, where Google Now simply doesn't work. For example, many girls like to take care of themselves on the weekends, but they often forget when it is time to dye their hair and when they need to go for a manicure. Now you can hold down the “Home” button while directly in the mail application and quickly add an event reminder to your calendar. All you need to do is make two clicks!
Now on Tap works from the moment you enable it, just like Google Now works from the first moment you sign in to your device. The idea here is: if you use Google phone, search system Google will give you more contextual information. And it seems to make life a lot easier - no more copying words and other things and then just pasting them into other applications.
Applications can be controlled
App permissions have been one of the most emotional topics for several years. IN Android versions 4.3, to help users find out which apps were taking on too much, Google introduced App Ops, but it was quickly abandoned because it wasn't useful. Today, if you don't like an app having access to an important part of your OS, the only option you have is not to install it.
Marshmallow really helps solve the dilemma of separate app permissions. Play Store will no longer prompt you to approve all permissions before installing an app at once. Instead, the app will ask you for permission when it needs to access some part of your device, such as the camera. And now only you will decide whether to allow it or not. If you deny an app, its features that depend on that permission will not be active - but everything else will work.
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Control over your personal operating room Android system- no longer an illusion. Giving permissions to applications is very important point, because they voice the context in which they need something. In addition, permissions create a new level of confidence for those users who would otherwise refuse to use Android due to the latest security issues.
Data is backed up correctly
Android was a really bad operating system for those who change devices frequently. This was true before the advent of Tap & Go in Lollipop - before, switching from one test device to another was a real hemorrhoids.
Luckily, though, Tap & Go made it easy to transfer your apps to a new device, but unfortunately your data didn't move with them. And although Android had a solution for Reserve copy, but ever since Froyo it never worked properly.
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Marshmallow offers an Auto Backup feature and it seems to work. Here's how the solution works: Marshmallow uploads all application data to Google Drive, including user-created elements such as Accounts and settings. The system stores all your call protocols and Wi-Fi passwords, and this data is not taken into account and may exceed the storage quota. By default, an automatic backup will be created every 24 hours when the phone is not in use and connected to Wi-Fi. You can check whether you're backed up through the Google Drive app, but you can't control what data is saved or what apps are backed up.
Currently, backups can only work on Marshmallow devices - which is strange since Google will be updating this API via Google Services Play. However, it looks like this feature is not finished yet, and we will take another look at it in a while.
Battery power is used more efficiently
Although the name Doze sounds like cough syrup, it's Marshmallow's new and truly impressive battery-saving feature. When you leave your phone or tablet on the table in the kitchen or anywhere else, the device goes into hibernation mode. That is, the same battery charge is actually retained as when you left the device. Network access services and background processes are combined and run intermittently - only high-priority tasks are executed as usual. As soon as you turn on the device’s display, all notifications will “pounce” on you at the same time, as if your device was discharged and just turned on. This is an amazing feature, and we were really impressed by how little power the Nexus 6 consumed after being left on all night. With Wi-Fi turned on, it used only 2% of the energy, and with LTE mode turned on, the system consumed only 10%.
Doze uses an accelerometer to detect when you're sleeping, so it won't turn on if you're walking or driving. To activate it, the device must be at one point for a certain time. High priority messages, such as those from apps like Google Hangouts, will still arrive and won't let your device sleep until you turn off notifications. Google has given developers the power to decide whether their app notifications can break through Doze mode. But we're hoping that messages like bonus coin offers in Pokemon Shuffle won't show up on the device when it should be "resting."
You can disable autorun of pre-installed software
Tired of pre-installed apps popping up on your device every time you reboot? Marshmallow has an App Standby feature that can help you disable them. In Marshmallow's developer options, you can simply deactivate unnecessary applications, and they will no longer launch. We wouldn't recommend this feature unless you're confident in what you're doing, but it can be really useful for those who have serious problems with bad apps on their computers. Android phones from third companies.
There are other options in this section that will help you customize how apps run on your device. Marshmallow is able to terminate an application a minute after you switch to another, and also determine how long background processes can work simultaneously. We are very pleased that users have the opportunity to work with such Android settings, but at the same time, I wonder how all this will work on Android devices from third party companies when they receive software updates.
Fingerprinting for all money
Fingerprint scanners on Android devices are nothing new. Samsung, HTC, Huawei and even Motorola have had them for a long time. But it took a long time for Android to have its own fingerprint API library, and now developers can easily build these functions into their applications, for example, for mobile payments.
Currently, only the Nexus 6P and 5X support native Marshmallow fingerprinting, and we'll be sure to tell you how the library works once we get our hands on those devices. In addition, it will be very interesting whether players such as LG, HTC and others will use the new API or continue to work with their own.
If the search giant Google was quite delayed with the launch of Lollipop for Nexus, then Android 6.0 Marshmallow began to fly away on time. Already, some smartphones and tablets are receiving the coveted updates and introducing users to a number of useful changes, one part of which is aimed at internal changes to the system, and the other at external ones. We will now talk about all the significant innovations discovered in “Zefirka”.
Without lengthy introductions and lyrics about the main accents of the “six,” let’s get straight to the point. The first thing users will see after installing Marshmallow is new animation system boot demonstrating the formation of the Android word.
Lock screen
Next we go to the lock screen, which will surprise you with a new font, which is also used in the case of several widgets for the desktop. He fits perfectly into the overall visual style system and does not look like something from a completely different opera.
One quick launch icon has also changed: on the left, instead of the “Dialer,” there is now a Google Now microphone for voice requests, while the Camera remains on the right. In Lollipop they were activated by swiping right or left, but here you need to swipe from the corner of each icon, which is less convenient.
If the search engine on the left does not suit you, there is an opportunity to return the usual “Dialer”, to do this you need to go to application settings, select default applications, go to “Assistant and voice input" and change the Assistant value to "no". However, it is worth understanding that choosing “Dialer” completely disables Google Now.
Among the new functions, it is also worth noting the ability to leave some kind of arbitrary inscription, which is set in the Security settings item. It may well serve as a reminder or warning.
Application menu and widgets
All installed applications are now displayed as a vertical list, sorted alphabetically. You can quickly find the game or program you need through the search bar at the top or, for example, by holding down the scroll slider - pull it down, and it will show all the letters involved. The 4 most frequently used apps are also displayed at the top of the list.
By the way, this type of menu became available to some Nexus users back on Lollipop; all they had to do was update the Google application. This also applies to widgets, also sorted in alphabetical order. Among them, some new elements have appeared, for example, audio search on Google Play - an analogue of Shazam. Just bring it to your desktop and click to listen and determine the composition.
Curtain and volume
The standard curtain of quick launch icons finally has a silent mode activator " Do not disturb", which can be turned on for a certain time or indefinitely, until turned off. At the same time, a profile of complete silence or with exceptions for alarms and important reminders/notifications/calls is available.
(left - Android 5.1, right - Android 6.0)
The set of quick launch icons can be customized using System UI Tuner, which we wrote about in. The same function, by the way, allows you to select the icons displayed in the status bar and enable a display of the battery charge level in percentage. The last option is not particularly clear.
"Dialer"
The application for making calls has changed slightly in appearance, but its main change is the option to send an SMS message, which is displayed when dialing a number. Its appearance seems quite logical and natural.
Now on Tap
This feature is one of the main functional innovations of Android 6.0. It is a system of contextual automatic search information based on screen content. That is, in essence, anticipates possible search queries by some elements currently displayed on the display.
Kinopoisk Twitter and Now on Tap results
For example, when listening to a musical composition in the Now on Tap player, it will offer you to buy it on Google Music, show information on the artist or album, send you to the artist’s official website, or show last news. Similarly, with text data in letters or tweets about some films, flights, holiday events, and so on - almost everything that may additionally interest the user is taken into account.
watching the actors of the film "Pan" and going to the Radiohead YouTube channel
Launch of Now on Tap carried out by long pressing the “Home” button However, for now, owners of devices with Android 6.0 will have to change the system interface to English to demonstrate the capabilities of the function - Russian is simply not supported yet. Let's hope it doesn't last long.
Work with text
Also worthy of attention is the so-called smart text selection, which significantly simplifies copying, sharing, translation or web search for selected words - all these actions are immediately displayed in context menu when highlighting words or entire applications.
(left - Android 5.1, right - Android 6.0)
Settings: Applications
In the settings item “Applications” appeared ability to set access rights specific applications for SMS messages, calendar, contacts, camera, microphone, and so on. To enable or disable it, just move the switch to the desired position.
A link graph immediately appeared in the settings, demonstrating applications that open certain links from a browser, Twitter, mail, or, for example, a simple SMS message. Available to choose from automatic start or request confirmation.
Here you can also set default applications, allow or deny certain tools access to system settings, or get acquainted with those tools that do not save the device’s battery power. By default, this is Google Play Services only.
Settings: Storage and USB Drives/Memory
This settings item, as before, demonstrates what and how much memory is occupied. The design of the section has changed slightly, but the essence is the same - the total size of images, videos, audio, applications and other things is calculated.
New in the settings is the “Memory” column, which includes data on RAM usage. The average amount of RAM used for a specific period of time (3, 6, 12 hours or 1 day), the available memory size and the number of active applications are displayed.
Settings: Battery
The design of the battery usage section has changed slightly, and the data on the gluttony of a particular application has become more detailed. Plus, the previously mentioned charge saving point, which displays apps and tools that go into standby mode under certain conditions to reduce power consumption.
Settings: Backup and reset
The data backup option that appears here will allow you to store it on Google servers content from applications, access point passwords and other settings. This whole thing works only partially so far, since much depends on the program developers themselves, who must ensure the functioning of such a backup.
The option to reset everything immediately became available network settings, this also concerns mobile networks, and Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi.
Wallpapers and animation
In Android 6.0 Marshmallow, many animation effects have changed, including when opening/closing applications, minimizing windows, various swipes, displaying curtains and much more. And, of course, we can’t help but highlight the set of new wallpapers in the Material Design style.
Easter egg
The role of an Easter egg, launched by the same taps according to the system version in the settings, was a mini-game a la Flappy Bird. You will have to control a small red android, and marshmallows on sticks as obstacles. By the way, this arcade game turned out to be not much simpler than the original from the Vietnamese developer.
Overall, Android 6.0, tested on the Nexus 5, leaves a pleasant impression. The system began to work a little faster, and the animation seemed smoother. There are fewer pre-installed applications - Google added the same settings to the list general settings, which looks quite logical even from a search point of view.
Regarding autonomy, there are also positive changes - the total operating time with mixed use mode has increased by 15 percent - a trifle, but nice. In standby mode, charge savings are significantly better only when communications are turned off - overnight, for example, the battery drains by only 1-2 percent. If Wi-Fi and mobile transmission leave data active, charge losses increase significantly - the work of the vaunted energy saving technology is practically not felt.
In addition to autonomy, Marshmallow also did not live up to expectations in the Camera application, which simply remained the same, although it was assumed that with the system update it would also be updated. However, this may be a matter of time, because the latest version is already available for the Nexus 5X and 6P.