Ever since Android M was announced back in May, folks have been wondering which M dessert Google would choose to represent its next major mobile OS update. Now the answer has finally been revealed.
Googler Alex Ruiz has revealed Marshmallow as the name of the next major Android update. The official statue on Google’s campus shows the Android mascot holding a puffy white marshmallow. Google also confirmed the news on its Android Developers blog, identifying Marshmallow as Android 6.0. The company released the final Android M Developer Preview update and the Android 6.0 SDK as well.
If you’re running the Android M Developer Preview, you can update to the final release in a couple of different ways. You can wait for your Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, or Nexus Player to get the update over the air, which Google says will happen over the “next couple days,” or you can manually flash the new system image right now. The final Android M Developer Preview contains a few notable tweaks, like an updated permissions UI and an improved Fingerprint API that offers greater reliability and better error reporting.
While the official dessert of each Android version has little effect on the software itself, it’s always interesting to see which one Google selects. Now we’ve got Marshmallow, which is also going to be Android 6.0, up from Android 5.1 Lollipop. One other notable detail is the final Android 6.0 SDK, which allows developers and OEMs to begin working on software that targets Marshmallow and utilizes its new features.
Android 6.0 Marshmallow is expected to begin rolling out to the public this fall with new features like native support for fingerprint readers, Android Pay mobile payments, Doze battery saving, native support for USB Type-C, and much more. For a preview of some of Marshmallow's new features, check out our hands-on video showing the Developer Preview.
