Google are preparing for the official public release of the next major version of their Android operating system – 6.0 Marshmallow – and it looks like they’re getting closer and closer to the finish line. At this point, reports claim that the company is pretty much ready to make the update public, as the closed developer preview has been going relatively smoothly and people have been reporting a positive experience with the system.
Owners of several of Google’s own Nexus-branded devices have already had a chance to play around with the new version of the operating system, and the final release is supposedly coming in a few weeks. Of course, that’s just the release date on Google’s end – it will be up to separate manufacturers to develop their own unique versions of the operating system once it’s out and distribute it to their users accordingly.
This has been a common issue with the development of Android updates and the reason why so many devices are usually behind the main update line. Google have been putting effort into making the situation less stressful for those using devices by companies that are more prone to delaying their updates, but it’s still not perfect. In the end though, that’s the way things are when they’re running an open operating system that can be easily modified by anyone that gets their hands on it.
Most experts predict that the large-scale rollout of the update will happen throughout the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, although no exact timeframe has been specified yet and Google are typically quiet on the issue. Fans have been trying to figure out when they can expect to get the update on their own devices, but until Google speak up and say something about their plans, we can’t know for sure.
It does look like Google are planning to soon speak in more detail about the upcoming changes to the Android operating system though, as they have been planning a major event for September 29, where they’re expected to give a little more information about the release of Android 6.0 and the current roadmap for its deployment.
Those who want to check out the new version of Android can do so if they have a Nexus 5, Nexus 6 or Nexus 9 – those are the devices that support the developer preview of the latest update, and even then there are some limitations on how the OS can be used and what users can do with it.
People who’ve enrolled in the developer preview program are generally quite satisfied with the experience, and most are claiming that the OS is getting pretty close to a completed state, with most of the important things working as intended already and bugs having been cut down to a minimum. Of course, until the official release happens we won’t know for sure how successful Google have been in improving the overall experience and resolving some of the longer-standing issues with Android.
As great as the OS is in general, it does have some quirks which are yet to be ironed out. Its openness predisposes to some security issues, for example, and on the other hand the OS commonly suffers from stability and performance issues after it’s been used for a while. That’s an inherent property of the way it handles its interaction with apps and their permissions, and it’s somewhat to be expected.