Search engine giant Google has released a preview update for the Android M mobile operating system. The Android M Developer Preview 2 is reportedly an incremental update that hosts several enhancements and bug fixes for the issues raised by developers via an external issue tracker, CNET reported this week.
According to CNET, the recent update has improved the OS' Wi-Fi and Bluetooth location performance. The Preview 2 update was designed for developers who wanted to use and test the applications including mobile games. It added that the update will be available for Nexus 5, Nexus 6 and Nexus Player.
Arstechnica said that the software developer kit was also included in the update and mobile users of the old versions of Android M can access it over-the-air. Google claims that there will be two more updates that will be released for Android M. The same report noted that a "Preview 3" will be released in the latter part of July and the final SDK will be available in the third quarter of the year.
Android Developers Blog enumerated the major platform changes included in the update, which are the following:
"Android Platform Changes
- Modifications to platform permissions including external storage, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth location, and changes to contacts/identity permissions. Device connections through the USB port are now set to charge-only mode by default. To access the device, users must explicitly grant permission.
API Changes
- Updated Bluetooth Stylus APIs with updated callback events. View.onContextClickListener and GestureDetector.OnContextClickListener to listen for stylus button presses and to perform secondary actions.
- Updated Media API with new callback InputDevice.hasMicrophone() method for determining if a device microphone exists.
Fixes for developer-reported issues
- TextInputLayout doesn't set hint for embedded EditText. (fixed issue)
- Camera Permission issue with Legacy Apps (fixed issue)"
It can be recalled that Android M has been announced during the Googl I/O 2015 event. The platform reportedly features user control over application permissions, a "Doze" mode, which is a power-saving feature, a USB Type-C support, a fingerprint API, and its predictive assistant, the "Google Now on Tap" feature.
