Google has released the name of their next version of Android, with the M standing for Marshmallow. Marshmallow is to be released for Android users in fall, and the official developer SDK is ready for developers to test their apps on the updated platform. The official Android 6.0 SDK up in the Android Studio for download through the SDK Manager for developers to target the new API Level 23.
There have been new features designed into Android devices, like fingerprint scan and Android Pay (Which uses NFC technology.). The Android version 6.0 SDK has an updated Android Support Library v23 that is backwards compatible. The v23 contains new support libraries, such as customtabs, percent, recommendation, preference-v7, preference-v14 and preference-leanback-v27.
The finished version of Android 6.0 can be updated in the app project by changing the compileSdkVersion to 23. For testing, Android 6.0 can update the targetSdkVersion to 23 to find out how the app works with features changed in v6.0, such as auto-backup and app permissions. The permissions model is new in Android Marshmallow, aimed to streamline the app installation and update process. This may mean that behaviours of apps designed for the previous version may differ on the new version. Developers are recommended to thoroughly test their apps to make sure there aren’t any unwanted or unexpected behaviours when using the new version.
New in the final API update is an Android Platform Change and API Change. The platform change is the Final Permissions User Interface that changes the permissions user interface and has enhanced permissions behaviour in some instances. The API change takes into account updates for the Fingerprint API. This is for better error reporting, fingerprint enrolment experience and enumeration support to help with reliability.
To get the update, Android emulator and developer system images are available for Nexus supported devices (Nexus 5, 6, 9 and Player.). The developer preview site has device system images ready for download. Over-the-Air (OTA) updates will be available over the next couple of days, as with previous updates. These images of Marshmallow 6.0 aren’t for the consumer, and require a manual re-flash to replace the testing version with a factory version for consumer OTA updates.
Google Play is now open for apps that use API 23 to be uploaded to the Google Play Developer Console on release channels Alpha, Beta and Production. The Marshmallow 6.0 Android OS comes out for customers in fall this year.
Source: Android
