Android Lollipop is now almost a year old, which means Android 6 –– or "M" –– is next in line. So what's it likely to feature?
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When it comes to tech, you can't keep fans happy for long. The latest software and hardware is great for all of a few weeks from release but then, inevitably, we all start screaming for the next version. Perhaps this is nowhere more true than in the realm of Android, the most popular mobile OS on the planet.
Last November Google hit a home run with the Android Lollipop. It had some huge under the hood improvements like the switch from Dalvik to Android Runtime, which greatly improved app performance. Android L also saw the improvement of notifications, allowing them to be seen as banners even within apps and accessible from the lock screen. But the biggest new feature of Android L was its redesigned user interface.
For this interface Google created an all new design language known as Material Design. Material Design took its cues from the Google Now app, which used a card-based layout and the company seemed to achieve both a flat new look while not sacrificing depth. As a Google designer described at the time: "Material has physical surfaces and edges. Seams and shadows provide meaning about what you can touch."
But as we said, fans are rarely content for long. There's already a huge chorus of people chomping at the bit for the next version of Android. Here's everything we know about it so far.
Android M: Name
Currently Android Lollipop is on version 5.1, which means the next major release of Android will be version 6.0. If Google continues along its alphabetical naming structure, Android 6.0 should be called "Android M". The question is, what will that M stand for?
Google has a penchant for sweets (KitKat, Lollipop), so likely candidates are Milkshake and Muffin (if Google wants to go carb-heavy). However I'm hoping Google takes the bold step and calls it Android Maltesers or Android M&M's.
Android M: Release Date
To date Google has said exactly nothing about Android M or when it will be released. However, last year the company unveiled Android L at Google's I/O conference in June before releasing it to the public in November.
This year's Google I/O comes a month earlier, running May 28-29, 2015. Google hasn't revealed any hints of what it will unveil during I/O, but its as likely a place as any to show off an early beta of Android M. If they do it could mean Android M will see a public release before Christmas.
Android M: Most Wanted Features
Again, no word here yet from Google on what new features Android M might contain. However we can extrapolate some likely candidates from the way the tech landscape is heading in general. For starters it seems like 2015 and beyond will finally see greater adoption of smart home appliances. Apple is betting on this, which is why they created the HomeKit SDK in iOS 8 last year. It's very likely Android M will feature some kind of similar SDK that offers smart home integration. Considering Google owns smart thermostat maker Nest, this seems almost a given.
Another growing tech trend is in the car space. Everyone knows Google is working on self-driving cars, but while those are years away from a public release, the company currently has a strong Android Auto platform. It's likely Google–again, just as Apple has done with CarPlay–will strengthen its Android Auto integration in Android M by baking it into the OS.
Besides those two clear verticals, there are still a number of minor feature improvements Android fans are clamoring for. The first involves notifications. Right now Android devices don't do the best job at syncing notifications. For example, receiving a messaging notification on a smartphone and reading the message there often will not clear that notification on a tablet. This lack of notification awareness between devices is a headache.
Another feature people are requesting is Quick Reply to notifications. Apple introduced a similar feature in iOS 8. It allows a user to click a notification banner and reply instantly to a message or email without leaving the current app they are in.
A final popular feature request is multi-window support, which allows for two apps to be open on the screen at once, making multitasking a lot easier. To see how Quick Reply and multi-window support may work, check out the awesome concept video below.
Android M: Design and Stability
Given that Android L received a significant UI makeover with Material Design, it’s very unlikely that Android M won’t sport major design changes. Sure, there will be refinements, but massive sweeping UI alternations are very unlikely. Instead it’s reasonable to believe that, besides the features listed above, it's likely that Google could use Android M to really iron out the bugs and kinks in the OS and focus on stability over radical new features.
If so, it would be similar to the tactics Apple is rumored to be doing with iOS 9–take a year off of major new features to really concentrate on the user experience and squashing bugs. As both iOS and Android have been rushing at a mad pace year after year to add features, they've both become a little buggier, so a year to take a breather is something most Android users wouldn't complain about if it meant greater stability.
Michael Grothaus
14:07, 23 Apr 2015
Mobile Phones
Android
Android 6
Android M
Android Lollipop