Top 10 New Features of Android M
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At the conference, Google senior VP of Products Sundar
Pichai said that the Android M operating system will concentrate more on
improving the stability and usability of the platform. There will be a lot more
emphasis on the quality of the platform rather than a radically new look.
While not a major overhaul, it has some new features that
make it worth getting excited about. Here are some cool new features you can
expect to see in Android M.
Chrome Custom Tabs
Android M delivers an improved web experience with Chrome Custom
Tabs. This new feature will let you include Chrome web view within a particular
app, so you don’t need to switch to the Chrome browser on your phone. The
Chrome browser will run atop your app (in case you click on any link within the
app). Chrome features such as automatic sign-in, saved passwords, auto-fill
will work on the apps seamlessly
Android Pay
Android M will also come with Android Pay, a Google’s new
mobile payments system designed to make the checkout process easier and faster.
Burke said that Android Pay will be available at 700,000
stores across the United States, and will work at any payment terminal equipped
with NFC. To use it, all you’ll need to do is just unlock the phone and place
it in front of a NFC compatible POS terminal.
Fingerprint Support
Google will “standardize support” for fingerprint scanners
on phones running Android M. The new functionality will allow fingerprint
scanners to be used not only to unlock phones, but also to make purchases using
Android Pay.
Of course, your device will need a hardware fingerprint
scanner to begin with, but with Google’s full support, expect to see these
appear on many more devices in the future.
Google Now on Tap
android m google now on tap
With the release of Android M, Google Now will become more
contextually aware than ever. Now, you’ll be able to get contextual information
on anything you have currently running on your phone screen. So if you’re
watching a video on YouTube, simply hold down on the home button to find out
more information about someone in the video.
Other additional Google Now improvements include the ability
to say ‘OK Google’ wherever you are in the Android operating system.
Doze mode
android m doze mode
Android M will feature a new function known as Doze to
improve device standby time. This feature uses the device’s motion sensors to
detect when a device has no activity for a period of time and will
automatically shut down some process so apps that use a lot of power doesn’t
drain your battery. Since it is in the Doze stage, the system can still get
activated by alarms and high priority notifications. According to Google, this
feature has helped increase the standby-time on the Nexus 9 by almost two times
over the Android 5.0 Lollipop.
App Permissions
android m app permissions
Currently, you have to accept all permissions when you
install an app, but with Android M, you can decide which permissions that you
want to allow or revoke, based on when those particular functions are used.
For example, you can give WhatsApp access to your camera,
but not to your microphone if you wish. You can even modify the permissions
granted to apps at a later date in your Settings and see which apps have that
permission granted.
App Links
android m app links
Android M also make it easier to link from one app to
another without having to land on a web page in-between. Android M’s new app
links use a special verification method to ensure that app-specific links go to
the right place. For example, clicking a Twitter link in an email will take you
right to the Twitter app, instead of the Twitter web page that you’re probably
not logged into.
Direct Share
android m direct share
Android M has a new feature called ‘Direct Share’ which lets
you share content to your most frequent contacts or apps with a single click.
Your Android will learn which app you share content to the
most and place it at the top of the list, so if you share photos to the
Facebook app a lot, it will be at the top. Direct Share also lets you share
content to specific people that you contact the most, so they are placed
directly in the share sheet instead of having to hunt them in the contacts
list.
Simplified Volume Control
android m simplified volume controls
With Android M, Google has simplified the volume controls.
The new simplified volume control will let you independently change ringtones,
media, or alarm volume, directly from the volume rocker.
Auto App Backups
Another feature that Google introduced in Android M is the
ability of the OS to automatically backup app data to Google Drive, so if you
accidentally deleted app, you can now download it again and it will be set up
like it was before. Until the final version of Android M is released, Google is
limiting the backup size of per app to 25MB, though this space is not counted
towards the free 15GB storage space offered in Google Drive.
Like previous versions of Android, the final release is
expected out later this year but you can download the developer preview now if
you have a Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, or Nexus Player.
From androidtipsz
