Coolest Android Mashmallow Features That Google Haven’t Announced
Android Marshmallow has finally arrived. First announced at Google I / O , the company has already introduced a bunch of cool features . Here are some of the nice features that Google hasn’t announced.
Android Marshmallow is currently only available on select Nexus devices. If you haven’t received the update yet, here’s how to skip the line and update manually . For everyone else, be sure to check out our list of devices expected to receive Marshmallow at some point in the future.
Google has a powerful new app backup tool if developers use it
Google has always relied on the cloud to back up most of your data. However, the only key exception has always been application data. If you uninstall the app or switch to a new device, you will have to change all settings again. Although the company allowed developers to optionally back up data to Google Drive for a while, the company has finally built a powerful new system .
For you, that means you don’t need apps like Titanium Backup just to get your home screen back to normal. Of course, it has some limitations. To begin with, only 25 MB of data will be backed up. This should cover things like your settings, but may not include the 5GB of music you’ve downloaded. Developers can also opt out of including certain files, or disable backups entirely. That’s good, because there are certain types of applications and data, for which the default backup is not required. However, this means that you still have to transfer a few things manually.
The problem is that developers can still opt out, and so far most of them have done so. To use the new system, developers must specifically target API level 23 (read: Android 6.0, layman). This way, any developer who hasn’t updated their apps won’t use the backup. Moreover, developers can opt out of a backup system if it doesn’t work for them. While the backup system is great, don’t expect it to work in the short term. Again, it will take most people a while to get Marshmallow, so you might see it the next time your phone gets an update.
You can manually add or reorder quick setting tiles
In Android Lollipop, Google redesigned the Quick Settings shade so that instead of including a bunch of options you don’t need, the shade intelligently reflected the settings you use the most. It’s a nice feature, but it also makes you look for something from time to time. In Android Marshmallow, you can finally customize the display of tiles in quick settings .
This is one of the handy features of the new hidden System UI Tuner. To access it, you need to pull down the settings panel and then press and hold the little gear icon next to your profile picture. You will then see a toast notification that System UI Tuner has been added to your Settings app. Open it and you will see an option called “Quick Settings”. Use this to reorganize the shadows in quick settings.
Show battery percentage and hide status bar icons
Another cool feature of System UI Tuner, you can now add a numerical battery percentage to your status bar indicator. Open the tuner in the Settings app and turn on the “Show built-in battery percentage” switch.
You can also use the System UI Tuner to hide the icons on the system bar. You can hide several icons, including cellular data, Wi-Fi, airplane mode, alarm, Bluetooth, do not disturb, and hotspot. Some may be more useful than others, but if you’re running out of space, you can clean up some of the trash.
Swipe left on the lock screen to open voice search instead of the dialer.
In Android Lollipop, Google added the ability to swipe left on the home screen to access the dialer, reminding everyone that phones exist. However, no one seemed to care about phones as Google changed this behavior. Now, by swiping to the left, you can perform voice search . This is probably much more convenient than opening the phone app and will result in fewer touches. However, the number of requests being executed by a bum will increase markedly.
Your SD card (finally!) Will be treated as internal storage
Google has been trying to ignore the existence of SD cards for years , with no Nexus device even including the option since the Nexus S. The company claims part of the reason for this is because it makes it harder to manage files when you have multiple repositories. volumes . In Android Marshmallow, Google fixes this by allowing users to treat SD cards as internal storage .
This is especially important as Google has been making it a bit more difficult for developers to use SD card storage lately. Now you can let Android “accept” your SD card, and it will be processed according to the same rules that apply to your internal storage, which should give your applications a lot more flexibility in how they use your extra space. In other words, having an SD card should no longer result in any strange fines.