Google’s latest mobile operating system, the Android 6.0 Marshmallow, started rolling out on October 5 and thus far, it has been generating positive reviews from first-time users.
The new mobile OS is described as a more refined version of the Lollipop, which also indicates that Google has also grown with the times. It is like a bold rebranding similar to a young kid transforming into an adolescent.
It is quite evident with the new and very colorful Google logo. The Marshmallow got rid of the childish lettering in front of a more restrained font while still maintaining the aura of playfulness. Critics call it a sign that Google is indeed growing up as it becomes more refined now, capable of putting on a suit and tie if it need be. Having the Apple iOS 9 for a competition, Google is certainly forced to raise the head-to-head match up a notch higher.
One of the most important and premiere features of the Android 6.0 Marshmallow is the Now on Tap, which is one way of showing that Google is listening to user’s voice and standing ready to turn contents of any app’s screen into a search or an action.
Now on Tap on Android is actually similar to Siri on the iOS but the former is more comprehensive as it gives the user instant access to Google’s vast knowledge of the web. The feature has actually turned Android into very much like Google itself, notes The Verge.
Using ‘Now on Tap’
The Now on Tap feature of the Android 6.0 Marshmallow is so easy to use. The user just needs to hold his finger down on the home key inside any app and Android will read the contents of the screen and send them up to Google’s servers.
Google shall then parse the data and will attempt to give the user useful and contextually relevant information like one is doing a Google search on the internet.
For information on dinner and movie for instance, the Now on Tap feature will give the user plenty of options as far as direct links into apps that can help the user with movie screening times on local theaters as well as recommendations on the finer restaurants in town.
The good news is that if there’s a phone number of the establishment, Now on Tap will give the user a big old phone button to dial it without the usual process of copying and pasting the number using the thumb. It can also recognize calendar events, addresses, music, and even landmarks.
The Now on Tap feature is indeed very helpful to user and quite magical too in a way because it has tremendously improved the Google Now feature of the previous mobile OS.
Now on Tap talks to Google so improvements can happen without waiting for an Android OS update that is not going to reliably show up anyway. While the feature would appear complicated for many first-time users, but once they get the hang of it and realize how useful it can be, they will find Now on Tap a little neat and dependable too.
Roll out dates of the Marshmallow
With the official roll out of the Android 6.0 Marshmallow, smartphone manufacturers are now rushing which among their handset line should get Google’s latest mobile operating system, and which will not be available to get them.
There are bound to be casualties and most of them will be smartphone models that are already two years and older. Smartphones in those categories which shall get the Marshmallow update means that their respective manufacturers did something good in the past to prepare them for a major update down the road.
The first two devices which came out with the Android 6.0 Marshmallow upon launched on October 5 were the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P, cites Digital Trends.
Subsequently, other Nexus devices received the Marshmallow updates including the Nexus 6, the Nexus 9, the Nexus 5, the Nexus 7 (2013), and the Nexus Player. The casualties among Nexus devices which were not qualified to receive the Android 6.0 Marshmallow were the Nexus 4, the original Nexus 7, and the Nexus 10.
Just like in the case of the Android 5.0 Lollipop, Motorola devices will follow suit the Nexus devices in taking on the Marshmallow. So far, Motorola has the most number of smartphones and devices that shall receive the Android 6.0 Marshmallow with a total of 11.