Android M: What's New (Google I/O)

Android M: What's New (Google I/O)

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The next version of android, i.e Android 'M' or Muffin as rumor says, comes with many improvements and exciting features. On the Google I/O yesterday, the new features and improvements were discussed. The preview of the new platform release was given by Dave Burke, Vice-President Engineering. Google seems to have polished the quality and solved thousands of bugs in this update. There are improvements in Google Core products such as Google Search, YouTube, Maps, Now and Chrome, Android Wear, Android Development Process, Google Cardboard etc. Everyone were excited about the next version release of Android. Android M as I said before, comes with many bug-fixes, core user experience improvements, and many more. Whether it will Muffin or M&M or anything else, no one knows. Android M will be available as a developer preview for Nexus 5, Nexus 6, and Nexus 9. Original firmware update can be expected later this year (Q3). Let's have a sneak peak of the 6 key improvements what the new Android M will offer.

App Permissions

Improved App permission System. The app permissions are now simplified to a set of easily understood things like microphone, location , camera etc. Secondly each app will ask your permission to use these things when you try to use a feature, instead of asking the permissions while app installations. So for example you are installing Whats App on android M, it will not ask you for permissions at the time of installation but, when you try to use features like Voice Messages, the app will ask your permission to access the microphone. You can also change individual app permissions for each app by going to Settings, Permissions and choosing what permissions you want to allow or deny. You can also do this Permission Wise. For example you can choose microphone permission and see which apps have microphone access and which don't.

Web Experience

 So, to improve web browsing experience, Google came up with Google Chrome Custom Tabs. Chrome Custom tabs acts as a link viewer for apps. So for example your are going through your Pinterest Pins on the Pinterest App and you come across an article that has a link to a web page. So when click this link, Chrome Custom Tabs appear via transition animations and show you the link while you are still inside Pinterest App. Chrome Custom Tabs open the links faster because the app already asks Chrome to pre-fetch the web-page. In Chrome Custom Tabs you also get the access to all your Chrome Saved Password, Auto Fill forms etc. Chrome Custom Tab is available on Google Chrome Dev channel.

App Linking

Linking one app to another app is now simplified in Android M. Till now, when you click on a YouTube link from twitter app, a pop up opens and asks you if you want open it with YouTube app or Google chrome. It tends to waste your time. So, In android M Google has enhanced android's intent system. It can now auto verify links and redirect the user directly to the target app without any boring pop ups!

Mobile Payments - Android Pay!

Google introduced a new system for mobile payments, i.e Android Pay. Android pay pretty much works like NFC payments. When you see the NFC Payments logo or the Android pay logo, you can simply tap your phone to make a secure payment. There are three important factors that Google has taken into consideration, i.e Security, Simplicity and Choice. It's secure because when you add a card to your android pay account, it creates a virtual account number, which is then used in these transactions. Your actual card number is not shared with the merchant. Android Pay provides choice to the user to use your phone for payments either by a banking app or the Android Pay app. Moreover Android Pay is supported by around 700,000 stores across US like McDonald's, Subway. It also works with online services like Uber, and online stores to speed up the checkout process.

Standardized Finger Print Support.

Finger print sensors were available in devices like Motorola Atrix and Samsung Galaxy S5 or S6. So a new API will be introduced to help OEMs to make devices with finger print support. Finger Print sensor can be used with Android Pay to make secure payments. This takes secure NFC payments to the next level. You can also use finger print sensor to unlock your device or to make Google Play Purchases. App developers can also add a finger print support to their apps due to these APIs.

Power And Charging.

Last time, Google introduced the Power saver mode in the Android Lollipop release. This time Google has introduced a new feature called as "Doze" in the "M" release. So what does the Doze Mode do?? It detects motion so as to see if the device is left unattended. So when the user leaves the device in a table, this means that there's no motion. So now the device will go into a deep sleep by minimizing the background processes and then turning them on while the user picks up the device again. To test the efficiency of the Doze mode, Google took two Nexus 9s, one with Lollipop and the other with Android M. They had the same no. of apps and the same user account. The result? The Nexus 9 with android M lasted 2 times longer than the one with lollipop! Cool isn't it? 

Now coming to Charging your phone, Google has come up with a new standard USB type C charger. This will provide fast charging speeds for mobile phones, tablets, laptops etc. Type C USB chargers are flippable which means that you can connect the USB from both directions. It's more durable and Hassle free! Type C USB standards are Bi-directional, which means that you can choose whether you want to charge from the source you are connected to or provide charge to the same.

Some Other Cool Stuff...

Google introduced better text selection and text tools in the M release. You can select chunks of text easily and copy, cut, or paste it with the new floating tab feature. 
Another cool feature released in Android M is faster sharing methods. This helps to share stuff faster to people you share things the most. When you select any object to share, android will provide you with the names of the people you share stuff the most. Google calls this Direct Share. 
Simplified Volume Controls were introduced which will replace the Lollipop volume controls.
New Google Now On Tap. The M release will have a new Google Now. The new one tends to focus on three factors. Understanding your Context, bringing you Answers proactively and help you take the right actions. The new google now on tap uses these three factors to provide information from where you are right now and when you need it the most. But how does Now On Tap works? It's simple but very useful. For example you are listening to a song of Skrillex and your wondering what is his original name? So all you need to do is Say "OK Google, What is his original name" Google will now show what Skrillex's original name is. Remember that we didn't search for "what is skrillex's..." but "what is his....". So when you are in a context of stuff like listening to music or browsing your mail, google now on tap collects info about this context and provides you info accordingly. As you can see from the example, Google Now On Tap can understand natural language. Pretty Cool! Let's take up another example. Now you get an email from your friend asking you for a movie say, tomorrow land. Now you don't know pretty much about this movie. So all you have to is to tap and hold the home button and a search bar will appear on top and on the bottom, you'll find Info about Tomorowland(see the picture). Pretty cool! These examples were actually performed live on stage in I/O 2015!
New Google Photos App.
I'm really excited with this because this new Google Photo App is released already. You can go ahead and install it right away from play store!
Cover art
The new photos app provides unlimited storage for your photos and for FREEEEEE!! Yes, you can now upload high quality photos and videos for free. Google has introduced an image search feature for your gallery. For example you have photos of your Dog in your albums but you are unable to find them. So go ahead and press that search button and type in "DOG". You'll find all your dog's pictures instantly. The new photos app also provides gestures like pinch to zoom in your timeline. So with a pinch you can change your Daily view to monthly or Yearly!


CONCLUSION

Google has now promised us for a great user experience from the M release. Let's wait for the update to release. Google has informed developers that in the next few years there will be 1 billion or more smartphone users and 8 of 10 smartphones will be powered by Android. Anyways Let's see what android M will offer......



image sources:Google Developers 
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