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Android 6.0 Marshmallow Reviewed

141 points by yurisagalov 11y ago

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
ambirex 11y ago
"There is still no solution for getting Marshmallow out to the billion+ devices out there." I can't wait for this one to be solved
- devit 11y ago
  Install CyanogenMod 12.2/13.0 when it comes out (probably in 1-3 months according to past performance)
  - jasode 11y ago
    I think you've lost sight of the context of the comment you're responding to. A billion non-geek, non-HN, non-ArsTechnica device owners are not going to re-flash their phones with a custom ROM. Those consumers will have to get Android updates as a seamless upgrade from their phone carrier, or not at all. In other words, the "I can't wait for this one to be solved" was not a personal plea for help but instead, a commentary on the old software the 1 billion consumers are stuck with.
    - bagels 11y ago
      Google should really just take over the software side of the Android phones. The current model is a failure. This could provide us with: No more (at least non-google) bloatware No more needless recreated basic features (AT&T messaging, navigation, Samsung Messaging, etc.) Can actually update the OS for security problems
      - wyldfire 11y ago
        Too late. This would fracture Android's identity. As the networks currently pay a subsidy they're effectively Android's customers, at least in part. They like the bloatware. The device manufacturers are able to embed their brand's identity into the device. They're members of OHA and they like "needless recreated basic features."
        josteink 11y ago
        > As the networks currently pay a subsidy they're effectively Android's customers, at least in part The networks have nothing to say in this in 90% of the world. They're not phone-vendor's customers. They merely want the latest data-gulping phones on their network so they can charge their real customers (people like you and me, which are also the phone-vendor's customers) money for consuming bandwidth. I get that things are messed up in the US, but don't generalize this to the rest of the world. Most networks and cellphone operators around the world sell generic phones, with unmodified software, unlockable bootloaders and carrier-provided SIM cards. And for those phones, which you will find in big parts of the world, having Google responsible for software-updates would work just fine.
    - devit 11y ago
      Well, the solution to that would be for Google to require device manufacturers to make it possible for Google itself or other parties to release software for devices. That means forcing the manufacturers to release the source of any component not behind a stable ABI, and release at least the binaries of any component behind them such as apps (with a suitable license). They have two ways of doing this: 1. Make it a condition for bundling Google Apps 2. Relicense Android with GPLv3 The phone manufacturers aren't really in a position to negotiate (can't lose apps), so they should go along. Once this is done, they can just have the Play Store offer or even require updates to the OS. Not sure what Google gains from not doing this, it seems they are just gifting users to Apple.
      - pjmlp 11y ago
        Because thw majority of the world uses Android. In many countries the choice is between Android and Windows Phone, not iOS. Specially in countries where people go with pre-paid and the average salary cannot afford the usual iOS contracts.
    - prodmerc 11y ago
      I really don't think most of those billion people care. If it works, it works. I still have a backup Droid with 2.3.4 that just keeps working. It doesn't need Marshmallow, nor JB, nor even ICS...
    - jsight 11y ago
      In my experience, many of those don't care if they get the absolute latest version. And I can't blame them as many of the "improved" versions tend to come with battery and performance impacts for older devices. I do wish the vendors would keep up with security fixes, though. That's the real problem with Android updating, IMO.
  - th0ma5 11y ago
    Interesting tidbit, you'll probably lose the ability to use Android Pay. A lot of people are having problems due to the enhanced security model. On XDA, in the Nexus 5 General section, a thread was deleted that even had an Android engineer posting unofficially that the enhanced checks are at the behest of the card companies. The new system actually stores an encrypted version of all of your card details, and among other things they check are for root, custom builds, etc.
    - sigmar 11y ago
      http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/android-pay-custom-rom-t3199843 http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/android-... ^ That is the thread and it was closed, not deleted (a subtle but important distinction)
  - AdmiralAsshat 11y ago
    I would love to install CM12/13 on my Verizon HTC One M7. But guess who decided to lock the bootloader?
    - edwhitesell 11y ago
      http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader It's been a while since I've unlocked an HTC for someone else, but I've never had issues with mine.
      - AdmiralAsshat 11y ago
        http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-htc-one/help/frequently-questions-t2875695 http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-htc-one/help/frequen... Even though Verizon has blocked HTCdev access to unlock our bootloaders... The only option to unlock on these carrier-locked devices is a software exploit that a group of hackers charge $25 to run on your phone.
- wstrange 11y ago
  Nexus 5,6,7 and 9 will get Marshmallow. This meets my expectations for what is reasonable, but I understand others will have a different opinion.
  - r00fus 11y ago
    What about security updates for recent vulnerabilities like Stagefright? - are Google and the manufacturers going to resolve those? I sure hope you don't mind bringing what is essentially a vulnerability vector into whatever wifi networks you connect to... Not changing my policy to deny wifi access to Android (or Win10) devices visiting my house.
    - mappu 11y ago
      I assume your rationale in blocking Android / Windows 10 devices is to only allow secure devices on your network. But if all the other devices are secure, then what is the harm in allowing an insecure device onto the network? I suppose they could become host an exit node or seed an illegal torrent or something, but you (personally) have indemnity as an impartial carrier in that case, right? I'd also suggest looking into a segregated guest network.
- IshKebab 11y ago
  It really seems like they don't care and aren't working on it.
- Raphmedia 11y ago
  My android device cost me $100 three years ago and it's on a relatively recent version of Android. I'm not expecting Marshmallow to roll out to my device at all, and nobody that I know who use cheap android device does. Honestly, the features of the OS are not worth upgrading. The only thing that suffer is my gaming abilities. I can't play the most recent games on it... I guess. I don't game on my device. Average Android user don't care if they are not cutting edge. They would be using Apple product if they cared about that at all. The only exception are those users that purchase the high-end products. Those will gladly trade their phones to stay up to date, they are the ones in the statistics that keep up with the latest versions. The average user are using Android because it's "the cheap smartphone". I will move up the chain if main features start to break. So far, browsers, social media networks and all those things have been backward compatible. When they won't, I'll trade in my phone, pay $50 and get another low budget Android phone.
  - bjg 11y ago
    I interpreted the statement as being more about the ability to get bug fixes and security patches on these devices than it is about getting access to new features. Right?
bsimpson 11y ago
I just flashed Marshmallow on my Nexus 5, and the setup process was embarrassingly buggy: On each text input screen, the text field was offscreen, covered by the keyboard. Meanwhile, there was a big blue box taking up all the visible screen that served no purpose aside from providing some negative space for the title when the keyboard was closed. There was also a grey margin on the left and right of the whole layout that looked like another display bug. I would have taken a screenshot, but since the phone wasn't setup yet, I didn't think it would work. I thought I should try landscape orientation to make it recalculate the layout, but I couldn't scroll at all in landscape. The screen reflowed correctly, but the page was unusable in that orientation. I know that setting up a new device is not a common experience, but I'd hope Google would have better QA in place for a major release like this. Then again, having spent over a decade using Google products, I should know better than to presume anything about their QA process.
- tacomonstrous 11y ago
  Was it a dirty flash? I didn't have any issues on my N5 with a clean flash.
  - bsimpson 11y ago
    Nope. Clean as can be.
- bsimpson 11y ago
  I just unlocked the screen after leaving it on my desk for a while, and it unlocked to the setup screen (even though that's been finished for hours). I hit Back (hoping to snag a screenshot of the broken page) and the setup app closed, dropping me into the Google Now Launcher. /facepalm
ZenoArrow 11y ago
Any news on whether Marshmallow offers audio latency improvements over Lollipop?
- lnanek2 11y ago
  Anecdotal, but at least M preview 3 on my Nexus 6 is much worse. Hangs for a second some places, etc.. I'm a developer so I had to install it to test the new permission system in my apps, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. They also broke most of the mock location provider apps out there by changing that developer setting for no reason. The number of settings in general seems much less (I'd kill for a setting to disable that immersion mode that hides my back/home button, personally, but no luck) so I think they are going full steam toward Apple style, they know what is best for you.
  - MAGZine 11y ago
    GP is talking about Android's well-known problem of having horrendous audio latency, with no workable solution for app devs. http://superpowered.com/androidaudiopathlatency/#axzz3nj4FLEj1 http://superpowered.com/androidaudiopathlatency/#axzz3nj4FLE...
- shams93 11y ago
  The new midi support is a pretty big deal I would think that given that midi has lower audio latency than screen input having system level support for midi most likely means pretty low latency for midi synths.
nkozyra 11y ago
All of those Google Now changes are in 5.1.1, not new to Marshmallow.
- tssva 11y ago
  Google Now On Tap was not available on 5.1.1.
  - nkozyra 11y ago
    Right, I'm referring to the first page/section.
- foldor 11y ago
  They specifically address this in the text of the review several times. It's more like a snapshot of the current state of Android for people who haven't been using it.
y0ghur7_xxx 11y ago
"Another change to the Android permission system is that every app automatically gets access to the Internet now, and users have no way of turning this off." google still does not get the fact that some apps do not need, and should not be able to transmit or receive data from the network. We still need root and install AFWall+ to secure our phones.
- click170 11y ago
  Yet another case where gateway firewalls can give you back some of the privacy that these companies attempt to wrench away from you. PfSense is a free gateway firewall but the UI left much to be desired last I checked. Another option is the Sophos UTM, which has a firewall, web filter, and VPN server built into one. Gateway protections are your last resort when it comes to protecting yourself from shady behavior like this.
  - dijit 11y ago
    gateways don't help when you're a mobile user. which is why I have little snitch on my mac... I'm not _always_ going to be using my laptop at home- and that's increasingly true for my mobile phone which is almost never left home.
    - ac29 11y ago
      They do if you connect to them via VPN.
    - click170 11y ago
      Always-On VPN. I won't buy a phone that doesn't have that feature.
      - storrgie 11y ago
        You've missed the entire original point. It doesn't matter that you're tunneling traffic through some non-local endpoint, the point is that the traffic shouldn't leave your device by default.
mtgx 11y ago
Can you even disable Now on Tap while having Google Now enabled? (as a user) The who should not be enabled together. One is about giving your Google services' data to Google and the other is about giving all of your other data to Google as well. I can't wait until real privacy laws arrive in the EU.
- kllrnohj 11y ago
  Try reading the article next time: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/android-6-0-marshmallow-thoroughly-reviewed/3/#h1 http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/android-6-0-marshmall... " The assistant app only gets data about the current view if the user long-presses on the home button—it's not a passive scanner. If all of this sounds like a privacy nightmare, the assistant feature can be turned off in the settings. Head to Settings -> Apps -> Configure Apps (the gear button) -> Default Apps -> Assist and Voice Input and turn off everything. Here, users can also set which app has access to the Assist API (there can only be one) and pick between sending the app text-only or text and a screenshot."
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
mixmastamyk 11y ago
With both iOS and Android both going to white backgrounds I've got (seemingly) no where else to turn. These devices are really hard to use at night, and I despise them every time I use them after 7pm or so and have to squint. Who decided that the world shall enforce white backgrounds for everything, while eliminating user control? Even Windows 3.1 had themes.
- iamstephenliu 11y ago
  Join the Windows side. We have Dark mode.
  - pavlov 11y ago
    Yeah, and actually Windows 10 Mobile feels even blacker than before. I think that's because the fonts have become smaller and all the vector graphics now use a very thin stroke style, so there's less lighted pixels against the black background.
  - happyscrappy 11y ago
    Join the Dark side. We have Windows mode.
  - mixmastamyk 11y ago
    I would consider it if MS cared more about privacy.
- makecheck 11y ago
  There are tools that can adjust screen colors and brightness automatically on rooted devices (e.g. I believe Twilight is one for Android; F.lux is available for most other platforms).
  - veeti 11y ago
    You don't need even root for these.
- ashearer 11y ago
kleiba 11y ago
Now on Tap performs a Google Search or brings up a Google Now card by using the context of the current screen. Just hold down on the home button and a card will pop up related to the current screen. If the main screen displays a YouTube video of a famous actor, you'll get more information about that person. To make this work, holding down the home button allows Google to "read" the screen by combing through the Android text fields and view hierarchy, sending Google that text plus a screenshot. This will work not only in Google apps and in the browser but in third-party apps too, as long as they use the standard Android framework bits. Apps can be data providers for the feature, too; for instance, in the famous actor example above, the IMDB app could provide a link into the app to display the actor's filmography. I know, I'm old, but every time some "feature" like this pops up somewhere, I still can't believe that people don't mind using it.
irl_zebra 11y ago
Does anyone know how to make all pages appear on a single list? It kind of hurts to have to click through 12 separate pages to get through the whole review.
- Analemma_ 11y ago
  That's one of the features Ars offers to premium subscribers: http://arstechnica.com/subscriptions/ http://arstechnica.com/subscriptions/ , so I don't think there is a supported way. There are Chrome/Safari extensions out there for "single-pagifying" articles though.
- knight17 11y ago
  I added it to Pocket and now I can read it on the website or android application in a single page.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
andrewstuart2 11y ago
> Android is far, far behind the competition when it comes to device security. No, it's not. Carriers and OEMs that have picked up AOSP and bloated it needlessly are the ones who are behind. You wouldn't blame Linus Torvalds for all the computers out there running outdated kernels, or for anybody still using git 1.x. The difference is that downstream companies have decided that since the have the source, they might as well add a year of dev work on top of Android to "improve" it. If they had these options for Windows or iOS, I'm pretty sure they would do so (ever bought a new windows laptop with no crapware?) and bring security updates for those devices to a grinding halt.
- madeofpalk 11y ago
  These phones boot up with 'Android by Google' and come with the Google Play Store. Google blesses these phones and is aware of them. Ultimately, they're the ones allowing manufacturers and carriers to add on and slow down/stop the update release cycle. I know it's not a straight comparison, but Apple managed to wrangle the carriers into not making this a problem. Why can't Google?
  - andrewstuart2 11y ago
    Here, I think it's the multiple layers of people with their hands in the source code. Just because Google and OEM X have some agreement doesn't mean that Carrier Y trusts OEM X not to muck up their network (or their bloatware). So carriers end up adding their own drawn-out testing process for their own reasons, probably including time to update their carrier bloatware. I should point out as evidence that I use a major carrier and run a Nexus phone, and I have no issues whatsoever getting Google updates, security or otherwise. I expect to have Android Marshmallow on my handset by the end of the week.
    - madeofpalk 11y ago
      But why can't Google enforce trust between AT&T and Samsung to ensure updates are received in minimal time? As a platform vendor, IMO that's their job. At a bare minimum , to ensure their users get the security updates they need.
mrbill 11y ago
FYI, to get to the System UI Tuner section mentioned: - if you have animations disabled in Developer Settings, re-enable them - Reboot - Pull down the quick settings toggles, long-press the gear/settings icon at top right. It should spin and then tell you UI Tuner is enabled - You can then find it in Settings, and can re-disable animations I had animations disabled and it took me forever to figure out why I couldn't get it to work.
allencoin 11y ago
>PAGE: 1 2 3 4 5 ... 11 12 NEXT → Gotta increase those ad impressions.
cpncrunch 11y ago
I'm a little concerned by "app standby". What is it going to do to apps like wheresmydroid, which the user wants to always be running in the background, but only interacts with them very occasionally?
- guelo 11y ago
  Seems like a high priority gcm message would work fine for them.
acabal 11y ago
Interesting how deeply integrated Google services are becoming in Android. With Android at something like an 80% marketshare, I wonder if and when they'll get hit with an anti trust action a la Microsoft in the early aughts. MS got in hot water for bundling IE with Windows, but here we have Google basically making the entire OS default to Google services for device-wide basics: voice recognition goes through Google by default, Google-branded search is the default on your home screen, etc. etc. (At least on Nexus devices and in OS images; I haven't used anything else.) Curious as to how they're getting away with it. Maybe because it's open-source, so someone could replace the default if they worked hard enough? On the other hand, in the MS anti trust days it wasn't hard to choose a different default browser--and it was certainly easier than changing source code.
- smt88 11y ago
  There was an article recently suggesting that they're being investigated for exactly what you describe (by EU officials, I believe). I don't mind Google's bundling as much because you can still use Android without it. Old versions of Windows and current versions of iOS are irritating because can't remove those default apps. They're just always there, and sometimes you can't even replace them with alternatives.
  - acabal 11y ago
    Maybe; but on a Nexus at least, you can't delete a lot of the basic Google services. For example you can "disable" Google Wallet (or whatever it's called now), but you can't "delete it permanently". It'll always be in your settings page, waiting to be reactivated. It's the same deal with things like Google Music. In the MS anti trust days, you couldn't delete IE either. But you could use Firefox instead, and just pretend like IE wasn't there. Android seems like that kind of situation to me--you can't delete the Google defaults, but in a deep, dark advanced menu you can disable them at best, after a scary warning. In other words, you can use alternatives to Google apps, but you have to pretend like the defaults aren't there--but they always are.
    - mcintyre1994 11y ago
throwawaygeu 11y ago
Only thing I care - can apps now write to my microsd card?
- IanCal 11y ago
  Apps have been able to selectively write to external storage for some time, have they not? http://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission.html#WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE http://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.perm... If you were asking something else about SD cards, then you probably want to check this part of the review: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/android-6-0-marshmallow-thoroughly-reviewed/7/#h2 http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/android-6-0-marshmall... (which would have been found if you'd searched for "sd card", it's in the table of contents)
  - throwawaygeu 11y ago
    Since 4.4 apps could only write to "their own folder" on sd card. A "SECURITY" measure (only android and some retailer like samsung file manager had full access). Making sd card close to useless without root for some people (want to change tags on your mp3? Move to tag changing app folder, change tags, move back). And no, I have not read article yet, will do later. Was expecting tl;dr ansver to my question.
    - IanCal 11y ago
      I'm pretty sure I've had file managers for a long time, but I certainly have one installed now that can move files around on the SD card on android 5.1 > Was expecting tl;dr ansver to my question. Seemed rather odd to spend the time writing out the question and reply compared to just doing a quick search.
      - throwawaygeu 11y ago
        Could you be kind enough to give me name of rhat file manager? Pm it or something if there are rules against advertisement. (Also I do hope you are not rooted...) So far these that moves files on sd card since 4.4 used their own folder as "sd card".
ck2 11y ago
I really want kitkat 4.4 back Lean mean, fast and stable. Just fix stagefright and stagefright 2.0 and it's a wrap.
- tdkl 11y ago
  Let's go even more leaner - 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, smoother then ICS and without cloud collection services like Now and Google Play Services. That was the last pure AOSP Android as we grew to like it.
  - ck2 11y ago
    but kitkat has ART which fixed a great many things and power efficiency you can rip out the "cloud services" if you have root
    - tdkl 11y ago
      ART wasn't even default in Kitkat being not stable enough.
josteink 11y ago
> As a side note, it's important to know the difference in Android between "targeting" an SDK and what that has to do with the minimum supported Android version an app will run on. The short answer is nothing. If an app targets the Marshmallow SDK, it doesn't mean it will only run on Marshmallow, it means that the app is aware of the new features and can use them. Apps have a "target SDK version" and a "min SDK version"—basically the newest and oldest Android versions that an app supports. Any competent app will gracefully degrade on older Android versions. The amount of technical insight and accuracy in a this review does actually impress me. I believe stuff like this not to be common knowledge even among a more technical crowd like HN, yet there it is in a geek/consumer-oriented OS review.

141 points by yurisagalov 11y ago

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

"There is still no solution for getting Marshmallow out to the billion+ devices out there." I can't wait for this one to be solved

devit 11y ago
Install CyanogenMod 12.2/13.0 when it comes out (probably in 1-3 months according to past performance)
- jasode 11y ago
  I think you've lost sight of the context of the comment you're responding to. A billion non-geek, non-HN, non-ArsTechnica device owners are not going to re-flash their phones with a custom ROM. Those consumers will have to get Android updates as a seamless upgrade from their phone carrier, or not at all. In other words, the "I can't wait for this one to be solved" was not a personal plea for help but instead, a commentary on the old software the 1 billion consumers are stuck with.
  - bagels 11y ago
    Google should really just take over the software side of the Android phones. The current model is a failure. This could provide us with: No more (at least non-google) bloatware No more needless recreated basic features (AT&T messaging, navigation, Samsung Messaging, etc.) Can actually update the OS for security problems
    - wyldfire 11y ago
      Too late. This would fracture Android's identity. As the networks currently pay a subsidy they're effectively Android's customers, at least in part. They like the bloatware. The device manufacturers are able to embed their brand's identity into the device. They're members of OHA and they like "needless recreated basic features."
      - josteink 11y ago
        > As the networks currently pay a subsidy they're effectively Android's customers, at least in part The networks have nothing to say in this in 90% of the world. They're not phone-vendor's customers. They merely want the latest data-gulping phones on their network so they can charge their real customers (people like you and me, which are also the phone-vendor's customers) money for consuming bandwidth. I get that things are messed up in the US, but don't generalize this to the rest of the world. Most networks and cellphone operators around the world sell generic phones, with unmodified software, unlockable bootloaders and carrier-provided SIM cards. And for those phones, which you will find in big parts of the world, having Google responsible for software-updates would work just fine.
  - devit 11y ago
    Well, the solution to that would be for Google to require device manufacturers to make it possible for Google itself or other parties to release software for devices. That means forcing the manufacturers to release the source of any component not behind a stable ABI, and release at least the binaries of any component behind them such as apps (with a suitable license). They have two ways of doing this: 1. Make it a condition for bundling Google Apps 2. Relicense Android with GPLv3 The phone manufacturers aren't really in a position to negotiate (can't lose apps), so they should go along. Once this is done, they can just have the Play Store offer or even require updates to the OS. Not sure what Google gains from not doing this, it seems they are just gifting users to Apple.
    - pjmlp 11y ago
      Because thw majority of the world uses Android. In many countries the choice is between Android and Windows Phone, not iOS. Specially in countries where people go with pre-paid and the average salary cannot afford the usual iOS contracts.
  - prodmerc 11y ago
    I really don't think most of those billion people care. If it works, it works. I still have a backup Droid with 2.3.4 that just keeps working. It doesn't need Marshmallow, nor JB, nor even ICS...
  - jsight 11y ago
    In my experience, many of those don't care if they get the absolute latest version. And I can't blame them as many of the "improved" versions tend to come with battery and performance impacts for older devices. I do wish the vendors would keep up with security fixes, though. That's the real problem with Android updating, IMO.
- th0ma5 11y ago
  Interesting tidbit, you'll probably lose the ability to use Android Pay. A lot of people are having problems due to the enhanced security model. On XDA, in the Nexus 5 General section, a thread was deleted that even had an Android engineer posting unofficially that the enhanced checks are at the behest of the card companies. The new system actually stores an encrypted version of all of your card details, and among other things they check are for root, custom builds, etc.
  - sigmar 11y ago
    http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/android-pay-custom-rom-t3199843 http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/android-... ^ That is the thread and it was closed, not deleted (a subtle but important distinction)
- AdmiralAsshat 11y ago
  I would love to install CM12/13 on my Verizon HTC One M7. But guess who decided to lock the bootloader?
  - edwhitesell 11y ago
    http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader It's been a while since I've unlocked an HTC for someone else, but I've never had issues with mine.
    - AdmiralAsshat 11y ago
      http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-htc-one/help/frequently-questions-t2875695 http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-htc-one/help/frequen... Even though Verizon has blocked HTCdev access to unlock our bootloaders... The only option to unlock on these carrier-locked devices is a software exploit that a group of hackers charge $25 to run on your phone.
wstrange 11y ago
Nexus 5,6,7 and 9 will get Marshmallow. This meets my expectations for what is reasonable, but I understand others will have a different opinion.
- r00fus 11y ago
  What about security updates for recent vulnerabilities like Stagefright? - are Google and the manufacturers going to resolve those? I sure hope you don't mind bringing what is essentially a vulnerability vector into whatever wifi networks you connect to... Not changing my policy to deny wifi access to Android (or Win10) devices visiting my house.
  - mappu 11y ago
    I assume your rationale in blocking Android / Windows 10 devices is to only allow secure devices on your network. But if all the other devices are secure, then what is the harm in allowing an insecure device onto the network? I suppose they could become host an exit node or seed an illegal torrent or something, but you (personally) have indemnity as an impartial carrier in that case, right? I'd also suggest looking into a segregated guest network.
IshKebab 11y ago
It really seems like they don't care and aren't working on it.
Raphmedia 11y ago
My android device cost me $100 three years ago and it's on a relatively recent version of Android. I'm not expecting Marshmallow to roll out to my device at all, and nobody that I know who use cheap android device does. Honestly, the features of the OS are not worth upgrading. The only thing that suffer is my gaming abilities. I can't play the most recent games on it... I guess. I don't game on my device. Average Android user don't care if they are not cutting edge. They would be using Apple product if they cared about that at all. The only exception are those users that purchase the high-end products. Those will gladly trade their phones to stay up to date, they are the ones in the statistics that keep up with the latest versions. The average user are using Android because it's "the cheap smartphone". I will move up the chain if main features start to break. So far, browsers, social media networks and all those things have been backward compatible. When they won't, I'll trade in my phone, pay $50 and get another low budget Android phone.
- bjg 11y ago
  I interpreted the statement as being more about the ability to get bug fixes and security patches on these devices than it is about getting access to new features. Right?

bsimpson 11y ago

I just flashed Marshmallow on my Nexus 5, and the setup process was embarrassingly buggy: On each text input screen, the text field was offscreen, covered by the keyboard. Meanwhile, there was a big blue box taking up all the visible screen that served no purpose aside from providing some negative space for the title when the keyboard was closed. There was also a grey margin on the left and right of the whole layout that looked like another display bug. I would have taken a screenshot, but since the phone wasn't setup yet, I didn't think it would work. I thought I should try landscape orientation to make it recalculate the layout, but I couldn't scroll at all in landscape. The screen reflowed correctly, but the page was unusable in that orientation. I know that setting up a new device is not a common experience, but I'd hope Google would have better QA in place for a major release like this. Then again, having spent over a decade using Google products, I should know better than to presume anything about their QA process.

tacomonstrous 11y ago
Was it a dirty flash? I didn't have any issues on my N5 with a clean flash.
- bsimpson 11y ago
  Nope. Clean as can be.
bsimpson 11y ago
I just unlocked the screen after leaving it on my desk for a while, and it unlocked to the setup screen (even though that's been finished for hours). I hit Back (hoping to snag a screenshot of the broken page) and the setup app closed, dropping me into the Google Now Launcher. /facepalm

ZenoArrow 11y ago

Any news on whether Marshmallow offers audio latency improvements over Lollipop?

lnanek2 11y ago
Anecdotal, but at least M preview 3 on my Nexus 6 is much worse. Hangs for a second some places, etc.. I'm a developer so I had to install it to test the new permission system in my apps, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. They also broke most of the mock location provider apps out there by changing that developer setting for no reason. The number of settings in general seems much less (I'd kill for a setting to disable that immersion mode that hides my back/home button, personally, but no luck) so I think they are going full steam toward Apple style, they know what is best for you.
- MAGZine 11y ago
  GP is talking about Android's well-known problem of having horrendous audio latency, with no workable solution for app devs. http://superpowered.com/androidaudiopathlatency/#axzz3nj4FLEj1 http://superpowered.com/androidaudiopathlatency/#axzz3nj4FLE...
shams93 11y ago
The new midi support is a pretty big deal I would think that given that midi has lower audio latency than screen input having system level support for midi most likely means pretty low latency for midi synths.

nkozyra 11y ago

All of those Google Now changes are in 5.1.1, not new to Marshmallow.

tssva 11y ago
Google Now On Tap was not available on 5.1.1.
- nkozyra 11y ago
  Right, I'm referring to the first page/section.
foldor 11y ago
They specifically address this in the text of the review several times. It's more like a snapshot of the current state of Android for people who haven't been using it.

y0ghur7_xxx 11y ago

"Another change to the Android permission system is that every app automatically gets access to the Internet now, and users have no way of turning this off." google still does not get the fact that some apps do not need, and should not be able to transmit or receive data from the network. We still need root and install AFWall+ to secure our phones.

click170 11y ago
Yet another case where gateway firewalls can give you back some of the privacy that these companies attempt to wrench away from you. PfSense is a free gateway firewall but the UI left much to be desired last I checked. Another option is the Sophos UTM, which has a firewall, web filter, and VPN server built into one. Gateway protections are your last resort when it comes to protecting yourself from shady behavior like this.
- dijit 11y ago
  gateways don't help when you're a mobile user. which is why I have little snitch on my mac... I'm not _always_ going to be using my laptop at home- and that's increasingly true for my mobile phone which is almost never left home.
  - ac29 11y ago
    They do if you connect to them via VPN.
  - click170 11y ago
    Always-On VPN. I won't buy a phone that doesn't have that feature.
    - storrgie 11y ago
      You've missed the entire original point. It doesn't matter that you're tunneling traffic through some non-local endpoint, the point is that the traffic shouldn't leave your device by default.

mtgx 11y ago

Can you even disable Now on Tap while having Google Now enabled? (as a user) The who should not be enabled together. One is about giving your Google services' data to Google and the other is about giving all of your other data to Google as well. I can't wait until real privacy laws arrive in the EU.

kllrnohj 11y ago
Try reading the article next time: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/android-6-0-marshmallow-thoroughly-reviewed/3/#h1 http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/android-6-0-marshmall... " The assistant app only gets data about the current view if the user long-presses on the home button—it's not a passive scanner. If all of this sounds like a privacy nightmare, the assistant feature can be turned off in the settings. Head to Settings -> Apps -> Configure Apps (the gear button) -> Default Apps -> Assist and Voice Input and turn off everything. Here, users can also set which app has access to the Assist API (there can only be one) and pick between sending the app text-only or text and a screenshot."
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

mixmastamyk 11y ago

With both iOS and Android both going to white backgrounds I've got (seemingly) no where else to turn. These devices are really hard to use at night, and I despise them every time I use them after 7pm or so and have to squint. Who decided that the world shall enforce white backgrounds for everything, while eliminating user control? Even Windows 3.1 had themes.

iamstephenliu 11y ago
Join the Windows side. We have Dark mode.
- pavlov 11y ago
  Yeah, and actually Windows 10 Mobile feels even blacker than before. I think that's because the fonts have become smaller and all the vector graphics now use a very thin stroke style, so there's less lighted pixels against the black background.
- happyscrappy 11y ago
  Join the Dark side. We have Windows mode.
- mixmastamyk 11y ago
  I would consider it if MS cared more about privacy.
makecheck 11y ago
There are tools that can adjust screen colors and brightness automatically on rooted devices (e.g. I believe Twilight is one for Android; F.lux is available for most other platforms).
- veeti 11y ago
  You don't need even root for these.
ashearer 11y ago

kleiba 11y ago

Now on Tap performs a Google Search or brings up a Google Now card by using the context of the current screen. Just hold down on the home button and a card will pop up related to the current screen. If the main screen displays a YouTube video of a famous actor, you'll get more information about that person. To make this work, holding down the home button allows Google to "read" the screen by combing through the Android text fields and view hierarchy, sending Google that text plus a screenshot. This will work not only in Google apps and in the browser but in third-party apps too, as long as they use the standard Android framework bits. Apps can be data providers for the feature, too; for instance, in the famous actor example above, the IMDB app could provide a link into the app to display the actor's filmography. I know, I'm old, but every time some "feature" like this pops up somewhere, I still can't believe that people don't mind using it.

irl_zebra 11y ago

Does anyone know how to make all pages appear on a single list? It kind of hurts to have to click through 12 separate pages to get through the whole review.

Analemma_ 11y ago
That's one of the features Ars offers to premium subscribers: http://arstechnica.com/subscriptions/ http://arstechnica.com/subscriptions/ , so I don't think there is a supported way. There are Chrome/Safari extensions out there for "single-pagifying" articles though.
knight17 11y ago
I added it to Pocket and now I can read it on the website or android application in a single page.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

andrewstuart2 11y ago

> Android is far, far behind the competition when it comes to device security. No, it's not. Carriers and OEMs that have picked up AOSP and bloated it needlessly are the ones who are behind. You wouldn't blame Linus Torvalds for all the computers out there running outdated kernels, or for anybody still using git 1.x. The difference is that downstream companies have decided that since the have the source, they might as well add a year of dev work on top of Android to "improve" it. If they had these options for Windows or iOS, I'm pretty sure they would do so (ever bought a new windows laptop with no crapware?) and bring security updates for those devices to a grinding halt.

madeofpalk 11y ago
These phones boot up with 'Android by Google' and come with the Google Play Store. Google blesses these phones and is aware of them. Ultimately, they're the ones allowing manufacturers and carriers to add on and slow down/stop the update release cycle. I know it's not a straight comparison, but Apple managed to wrangle the carriers into not making this a problem. Why can't Google?
- andrewstuart2 11y ago
  Here, I think it's the multiple layers of people with their hands in the source code. Just because Google and OEM X have some agreement doesn't mean that Carrier Y trusts OEM X not to muck up their network (or their bloatware). So carriers end up adding their own drawn-out testing process for their own reasons, probably including time to update their carrier bloatware. I should point out as evidence that I use a major carrier and run a Nexus phone, and I have no issues whatsoever getting Google updates, security or otherwise. I expect to have Android Marshmallow on my handset by the end of the week.
  - madeofpalk 11y ago
    But why can't Google enforce trust between AT&T and Samsung to ensure updates are received in minimal time? As a platform vendor, IMO that's their job. At a bare minimum , to ensure their users get the security updates they need.

mrbill 11y ago

FYI, to get to the System UI Tuner section mentioned: - if you have animations disabled in Developer Settings, re-enable them - Reboot - Pull down the quick settings toggles, long-press the gear/settings icon at top right. It should spin and then tell you UI Tuner is enabled - You can then find it in Settings, and can re-disable animations I had animations disabled and it took me forever to figure out why I couldn't get it to work.

allencoin 11y ago

>PAGE: 1 2 3 4 5 ... 11 12 NEXT → Gotta increase those ad impressions.

cpncrunch 11y ago

I'm a little concerned by "app standby". What is it going to do to apps like wheresmydroid, which the user wants to always be running in the background, but only interacts with them very occasionally?

guelo 11y ago
Seems like a high priority gcm message would work fine for them.

acabal 11y ago

Interesting how deeply integrated Google services are becoming in Android. With Android at something like an 80% marketshare, I wonder if and when they'll get hit with an anti trust action a la Microsoft in the early aughts. MS got in hot water for bundling IE with Windows, but here we have Google basically making the entire OS default to Google services for device-wide basics: voice recognition goes through Google by default, Google-branded search is the default on your home screen, etc. etc. (At least on Nexus devices and in OS images; I haven't used anything else.) Curious as to how they're getting away with it. Maybe because it's open-source, so someone could replace the default if they worked hard enough? On the other hand, in the MS anti trust days it wasn't hard to choose a different default browser--and it was certainly easier than changing source code.

smt88 11y ago
There was an article recently suggesting that they're being investigated for exactly what you describe (by EU officials, I believe). I don't mind Google's bundling as much because you can still use Android without it. Old versions of Windows and current versions of iOS are irritating because can't remove those default apps. They're just always there, and sometimes you can't even replace them with alternatives.
- acabal 11y ago
  Maybe; but on a Nexus at least, you can't delete a lot of the basic Google services. For example you can "disable" Google Wallet (or whatever it's called now), but you can't "delete it permanently". It'll always be in your settings page, waiting to be reactivated. It's the same deal with things like Google Music. In the MS anti trust days, you couldn't delete IE either. But you could use Firefox instead, and just pretend like IE wasn't there. Android seems like that kind of situation to me--you can't delete the Google defaults, but in a deep, dark advanced menu you can disable them at best, after a scary warning. In other words, you can use alternatives to Google apps, but you have to pretend like the defaults aren't there--but they always are.
  - mcintyre1994 11y ago

throwawaygeu 11y ago

Only thing I care - can apps now write to my microsd card?

IanCal 11y ago
Apps have been able to selectively write to external storage for some time, have they not? http://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission.html#WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE http://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.perm... If you were asking something else about SD cards, then you probably want to check this part of the review: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/android-6-0-marshmallow-thoroughly-reviewed/7/#h2 http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/android-6-0-marshmall... (which would have been found if you'd searched for "sd card", it's in the table of contents)
- throwawaygeu 11y ago
  Since 4.4 apps could only write to "their own folder" on sd card. A "SECURITY" measure (only android and some retailer like samsung file manager had full access). Making sd card close to useless without root for some people (want to change tags on your mp3? Move to tag changing app folder, change tags, move back). And no, I have not read article yet, will do later. Was expecting tl;dr ansver to my question.
  - IanCal 11y ago
    I'm pretty sure I've had file managers for a long time, but I certainly have one installed now that can move files around on the SD card on android 5.1 > Was expecting tl;dr ansver to my question. Seemed rather odd to spend the time writing out the question and reply compared to just doing a quick search.
    - throwawaygeu 11y ago
      Could you be kind enough to give me name of rhat file manager? Pm it or something if there are rules against advertisement. (Also I do hope you are not rooted...) So far these that moves files on sd card since 4.4 used their own folder as "sd card".

ck2 11y ago

I really want kitkat 4.4 back Lean mean, fast and stable. Just fix stagefright and stagefright 2.0 and it's a wrap.

tdkl 11y ago
Let's go even more leaner - 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, smoother then ICS and without cloud collection services like Now and Google Play Services. That was the last pure AOSP Android as we grew to like it.
- ck2 11y ago
  but kitkat has ART which fixed a great many things and power efficiency you can rip out the "cloud services" if you have root
  - tdkl 11y ago
    ART wasn't even default in Kitkat being not stable enough.

josteink 11y ago

> As a side note, it's important to know the difference in Android between "targeting" an SDK and what that has to do with the minimum supported Android version an app will run on. The short answer is nothing. If an app targets the Marshmallow SDK, it doesn't mean it will only run on Marshmallow, it means that the app is aware of the new features and can use them. Apps have a "target SDK version" and a "min SDK version"—basically the newest and oldest Android versions that an app supports. Any competent app will gracefully degrade on older Android versions. The amount of technical insight and accuracy in a this review does actually impress me. I believe stuff like this not to be common knowledge even among a more technical crowd like HN, yet there it is in a geek/consumer-oriented OS review.