Today, Google made Android Marshmallow official. With the unveiling of the new statue at building 43 at the Googleplex. Now we’re starting to see some of the changes in Android M or Android Marshmallow, as we now have the final developer preview for this version of Android. Google made a point in their blog post today, to mention that developers can now submit their apps that are using API 23, which is for Android M, into the Play Store. This includes all release channels. That’s Alpha, Beta, and Production. Which Alpha is new in Android M, this time around, as Beta has been around for a bit now.
Google also mentioned in their blog post, that when Marshmallow hits consumer devices “this fall” the Play Store will be updated so that installs and updates use the new permissions that were introduced into Android Marshmallow, or API 23. Basically what this means is that developers can begin to upload their apps to the Play Store that support Marshmallow specific features. Like Auto Backup. So those that have installed the developer preview can beta test for other developers and help each other out. Sounds like a good idea right?
“Google Play is now ready to accept your API 23 apps via the Google Play Developer Console on all release channels (Alpha, Beta & Production). At the consumer launch this fall, the Google Play store will also be updated so that the app install and update process supports the new permissions model for apps using API 23.” Google also stated, “To make sure that your updated app runs well on Android Marshmallow and older versions, we recommend that you use Google Play’s newly improved beta testing feature to get early feedback, then do a staged rollout as you release the new version to all users.”
We’ll be breaking down all of the new stuff in Android Marshmallow’s final developer preview in the next few days. There’s lots of new stuff as well as improved things here in the final Marshmallow developer preview. Definitely has us excited for this fall when the new Nexus hardware comes out and is using Android Marshmallow. For now, it’s time to go snack some marshmallows.