Google officially unveiled the name of the next version of Android earlier this morning, previously referred to as Android M, and it will now officially be called Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Along with this announcement about the next tasty treat which is to represent the upcoming version of Android, Google has also made available the download links for users to get their hands on the third and final build of the developer preview. This is already available to download and flash for those who have any of the supported devices which are the Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and the Nexus Player. While the latest developer preview won’t have a ton of new changes there will still be a decent amount of differences from the last version as this is the closest to a final build we’ve been and will be before Google pushes out the consumer-ready software to users.
Already we’ve seen slight tweaks like the new way to activate the system UI tuner, which you can do by tapping and holding on the little gear icon which sits in the system tray when you drag down the notification shade. Another new change revolves around Google’s highly anticipated Now On Tap which they showcased back at Google IO 2015 at the end of May. Now On Tap is basically a pumped up version of Google Now with more functionality that allows you to access help from Google Now cards from any screen without leaving the app you’re already in, and now the third dev preview has altered it just a little bit.
If you’re already on the Android 6.0 Marshmallow Developer Preview, you might have already noticed these changes. If you enable Now On Tap, tapping and dragging up from the home button whether in an app or on the homescreen no longer goes to Google Now like it did before. Instead, it brings up a couple of cards at the bottom of the screen. One which allows you to access and enter Google Now, the other which states a simple message that cards about the screen you were just in aren’t available yet. Presumably this is because the feature is not quite ready to go live, and it’s entirely possible we won’t be seeing it until the official Marshmallow software goes out.