Guide in detail. Android update: how to upgrade to a new version, rollback? Guide in detail Android 6.0 system update 1

Nexus family products will be updated first. Google tablets and smartphones, including those developed by LG and manufactured by Huawei, have access to the latest version of Android 6.0.1. The release of firmware on gadgets of other brands will depend only on them. The adapted software will traditionally be released by LG and Samsung. Then lesser-known vendors will catch up.

The key change in Android 6.0.1 will be improved security. The creators have eliminated many of the gaps through which hackers could hack the OS. Overall system performance has been improved and energy consumption reduced.

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Android 6.0.1 also added emoji and emoticons, which allow you to better convey the emotional state in the process of communication. Also, the old Do Not Disturb mode was integrated into the firmware, which was not originally included in it. He was in the composition, but then the regime was removed for unknown reasons. After a wave of indignation of users, it was returned.

It seems that Google decided to change the Android numbering principle and now the first digit will change once a year, Android 6 Marshmallow was presented at the Google I / O conference on May 28, 2015. The first devices with a release version of the OS on board were two representatives of the Nexus line: Huawei Nexus 6P and LG Nexus 5X. Android 6 feels like a slightly tweaked version of Android 5.x Lollipop, but digging deeper reveals a few major changes.

Attention: the review mainly deals with the features of the user interface of the OS version for a smartphone. The review is based on firmware with Android 6.0.1 installed on . This review is also the basic material for our site, in future reviews of branded shells for Android from third-party manufacturers, references to this article will be made.

Lock screen

The device can be woken up by pressing the Power button, double tapping on the screen or simply picking it up, the last two methods require hardware support. Unlocking the smartphone is done by swiping from bottom to top in any part of the screen, which is easy to do on the go and without looking. You can protect yourself from unauthorized access to the device in several ways: set unlocking by pattern; set a password or PIN; or through the Smart Lock function, which allows you to unlock the device when connected to a watch, Bluetooth headset in the car, by an NFC tag, or by recognizing the owner's face or voice. Native support for a fingerprint scanner has been added to the current version of the OS. If fingerprint unlocking is enabled, then the device does not even need to be woken up first, it is enough to bring the registered finger to the scanner and the system will bypass the lock screen and show the desktop. There is one more nuance, you can unlock the device by changing your account to a guest account, if one is set up in the system (set by default).

The lock screen displays: status line - it contains the name of the operator, indicators of the cellular network signal, Wi-Fi and battery level (without the ability to display the charge as a percentage); User information; hours, day of the week and date. In the center of the screen, under the clock, a list of missed events is displayed, ranked by importance based on who they came from and from which application, before all missed events fell into the notification shade. If the smartphone is password-protected, then you will need to choose one of three options for displaying information on the lock screen: Show notifications in full, Hide personal information or Do not show notifications.

From the lock screen, you can launch the Camera or Voice Search by swiping from the corresponding icons to the side, or lower the notification curtain by swiping from the top of the screen. Interaction with the list of notifications is as follows: double tap on any notification will send the user to the corresponding application; “swipe” left or right removes the notification; swiping down from a notification reveals an event preview window, which can contain buttons for quick interaction with that event, such as "Reply" and "Delete" for an email. In the preview window, below the list, there is a button for deleting all notifications.

Desktop, multitasking and notifications

The main workspace was and remains the desktop, which scrolls horizontally. The system retained a separate application menu, which can be accessed from any desktop by clicking on the non-retractable shortcut in the lower dock. The bottom dock, in addition to this shortcut, can contain up to 4 arbitrary application shortcuts or folders with shortcuts. The application menu contains a search bar, a favorites bar, and icons for all pre-installed and third-party applications, while the desktop contains only those shortcuts that the user has added.

One desktop can contain up to 25 application shortcuts on a 5 * 5 grid, in addition to shortcuts, widgets and folders with shortcuts can be located on the desktop. A folder can contain an unlimited number of shortcuts, but only 16 are displayed at a time, other folders or widgets cannot be placed in the folder. Having hooked a shortcut, folder or widget with a long tap, you can move it around the desktops or delete it by dragging it to the “Delete” button. To add a shortcut to the desktop, you need to go to the application menu and, having hooked the application with the same long tap, move it to the desktop. If you move the application to the “Delete” icon that appears on top, the system will prompt the user to delete this application; if you move it to the “About application” icon, the system will send the user to the corresponding menu. In this menu, you can stop the application, delete or reset its data, including system associations, you can also delete the cache of this application from here.

The desktop settings menu is called by a long tap on any free area of the screen. The menu contains three items: WALLPAPER - allows you to change the desktop picture; WIDGETS - needed to add widgets to the desktop; and SETTINGS - a shortcut leading to Google Now settings.

The multitasking menu is called up by pressing the corresponding button. The list of running applications is displayed as cards arranged one after another and scrolls vertically. Some applications can be represented by several cards, for example, in the case of Google Chrome, a separate card is assigned to each browser tab. Closing the application is done by pressing the corresponding button or swiping to the sides, there is no dedicated memory clearing button, but, based on the principles of multitasking in Android, there is no need. To date, the mechanics of multitasking in Android looks nice: firstly, returning to the previous application, for example, when the user left the Vkontakte application by clicking on the link, is performed by the back button on the screen, while the multitasking menu does not need to be called; Secondly, the call to the multitasking menu itself is made in one tap.

The principles of working with notifications have been seriously redesigned in Android 5.0. First, a list of interactive notifications appeared on the lock screen. Secondly, the classic incoming call interface appears in full screen only if the device is locked, in all other cases, with an incoming call, a small card appears on top with information about who is calling and two buttons: “Close” and “Answer”. But the notification mode selection interface that appeared in the fifth version of Android was greatly simplified, if after the notification volume is turned down to the minimum, press the button again, the Do Not Disturb mode is activated. You can change how your smartphone behaves in Do Not Disturb mode in the corresponding section in the Settings application. The ability to change the volume separately for the alarm clock and multimedia has been added to the interface.

Controls, keyboard

Managing a smartphone in Google Android 6.0 Marshmallow implies the presence of a power button, volume buttons and three on-screen buttons: Back, Home and Multitasking Menu - it is acceptable that the on-screen buttons be placed on the case in the form of touch or mechanical buttons; in addition, swipes and a long tap are actively used. Voice control is widely used, the user has the ability to use the phrase “Ok Google” from any screen, including a locked one (requires hardware support), initiate voice control and then dictate a command or search query.

An important role in interaction with the device is played by the notification curtain combined with the switch panel. It is called by a swipe from the top edge of the screen or a double tap on the status bar, if you make another swipe from top to bottom, but already in any part of the screen, the switch panel will open; to immediately open the switch panel, you need to do the same swipe, but with two fingers. The switch panel is not configurable, it contains 9 switches and a screen brightness slider.

By default, the system keyboard looks flat: the keys are not visually separated in any way, and the main gamut has changed from dark to light, but the principle of its operation has remained the same. In the keyboard settings, you can change the gamma to dark or choose the keyboard view from Android 4.x. The ability to install keyboards from third-party developers has not gone away. The dialer remained the same.

Search and Google Now

Traditionally, the system has deep integration with Google search, and to be precise with the personalized Google Now search service, which provides information in the form of cards based on context: current location, calendar information, search history, movement history, history of visited pages, etc. The assistant is launched by scrolling to the left of the main desktop, and at the top of all desktops there is a non-removable search bar. In addition, the search can be initiated from any screen by dictating a request after the phrase “Ok Google”.

In the sixth version of Android, the service acquired the “Now on Tap” function: with a long press on the Home button, the system scans the contents of the current screen and, based on its contents, issues interactive tips (starting with Android 6.0.1, it also works in the Russian localization of the system). The hints are presented in the form of cards, one for each keyword, the cards contain buttons or links to websites, social network profiles, etc. At the time of writing, the feature still looks raw, Now on Tap often doesn't see obvious context or doesn't fire at all, but it has serious potential for development.

Settings

To the application Settings can be accessed: by clicking on the icon in the application menu (or on the desktop) or through the icon in the switch bar. All smartphone settings are collected in 4 groups: Wireless networks, Device, Personal data and System; and divided into 22 sections:

WI-FI - the main screen of the section contains a W-Fi switch, a list of available networks and a button that calls additional functions:
Bluetooth - the main screen of the section contains a Bluetooth switch, a list of available devices with the ability to search by name, and a button that calls additional functions:
Data transfer - the main screen of the section contains: Mobile data switch; mobile traffic limit switch with the ability to set a limit and a warning; detailed statistics on the use of traffic by applications with the ability to select a period; and a button that calls additional functions:
Still - additional settings for wireless networks.
Screen
Sounds and notifications
Applications - on the main screen of the section there is a list of all applications installed on the smartphone.
Storage and USB drives - the main screen of the section contains statistics for permanent memory and the Open button, which sends to the simplest file manager.
Battery - the main screen of the section contains: current charge level in percent; estimated remaining battery life; basic statistics on the use of battery power by various applications and devices; and a button that calls additional functions:
Memory - the main screen of the section displays brief information about the use of RAM. The additional screen displays more detailed statistics for different periods of time for applications and services.
Users - the main screen of the section contains a list of users with the ability to add new ones and a button that calls additional functions:
Contactless payment - in this section, you can set up payment via NFC. Android Pay is preinstalled in the system, it is also installed as a payment service by default.
Location
Security
Accounts - contains a list of accounts entered into the device with the ability to delete and add new ones
Google settings - a section that contains all the settings of a user Google account
Language and Input
Recovery and reset - this section exists to reset the device to factory settings with the ability to backup all data
date and time
Specialist. features - here are collected functions to facilitate interaction with the device for people with disabilities
Print - Displays a list of print services and allows you to add new ones.
About phone

Basic Applications

Phone- on the main screen of the application are displayed: a search bar with buttons for voice search and calling the application settings, from below, a dialer call button. The Speed Dial tab contains cards of frequently dialed contacts, the Recent tab contains a list of recent calls, the Contacts tab contains all contacts, respectively. In the application settings, you can manage templates for quick responses and the list of blocked subscribers.

Contacts is an application for working with user contacts. In terms of functionality, it is no different from the Contacts tab in the Phone app.

Messenger (Messages)– the main screen of the application contains a list of dialogs, buttons for searching, settings and creating a new message. The application looks as simple as possible and has primitive functionality. From the unusual, I note how the application assigns its own unique primary color to each dialog.

gmail– starting with the 5th version of Android, the main application for working with e-mail becomes gmail. Now you can add mailboxes not only from Google, but also from other mail services. The main screen displays a list of letters, buttons for searching, settings and creating a new message. A swipe from the left edge of the screen calls up the sidebar, which contains a list of folders and a settings shortcut. The settings are as simple as possible.

Google Chrome is the default system browser. A feature of its work is the ability to set the display of tabs in the multitasking menu as separate cards. The rest is the usual Chrome. The advantages of this browser include integration with Google services and the wide possibilities of synchronizing tabs, forms, passwords, etc., the disadvantages are an imperfect user interface and gluttony to system resources.

Clock– includes: alarm clock, world clock, stopwatch and timer; added Night mode.

Camera- The application interface has been seriously redesigned. The main screen contains the viewfinder and buttons for shutter release, switching to the front camera, gallery, turning on the timer, activating the flash, switching the HDR + mode and Advanced. Switching between photo and video shooting modes is done by swiping to the side. In addition to the main shooting mode, there are three more: Panorama - allows you to create photos with a 180 ° view in all axes, Panorama - allows you to create panoramic photos with a viewing angle of up to 360 ° in the horizontal or vertical plane, Blur - allows you to create photos with an artificial bokeh effect .

Google Photos is a client application of the service of the same name from Google, at the same time it acts as a system gallery.

Calendar– the main view of the application is the Schedule, where all events are in one list, which is interesting: the beginning of each month in this list is titled with a nice picture reflecting the main essence of this month. To look at the month, you need to tap on the name of the current month in the header. The view can be changed to Day, 3 days, Week and Month. The button for adding an event is displayed in the lower right corner.

Calculator- has standard functionality. In portrait orientation, the panel with additional functions (sin, cos, tan, ln, etc.) is called up by swiping from the right edge of the screen, while in landscape orientation this panel is always visible.

Cards is a client application for Google Maps. The main screen contains a search bar and buttons: a side menu button, a voice search button, a north orientation button, a current location button, and a route creation button. There are buttons in the side menu: button for displaying traffic jams, public transport routes, bike paths, satellite view, terrain; and a link to the Planet Earth app page in the Play Store. The Your Places section displays your home and work addresses and favorite addresses. From here, you can save the selected area of the map to the phone's memory for further use of the application offline. The "Chronology" section keeps a log of the user's movements. The “Your impressions” section contains reviews about public places: restaurants, shopping centers, beauty salons, etc.

Downloads- the simplest download manager.

Branded Applications

Play Store is an app store client and the main branded application from Google. Through it, the purchase, installation and updating of third-party applications is carried out. The "Games and Apps" section is a virtual showcase that displays different collections of products, such as New or Most Played Games, in the form of application thumbnails leading the corresponding collection and links to the entire list. The "Entertainment" section is also a virtual showcase, but it presents films, music, books and the press also in the form of selections and banners. The “My Applications” section for the convenience of the user consists of two lists: Installed and All. The Wishlist section shows all the products that the user has ever marked as Wishlist.

Play Games is a client application of the service of the same name. The “Main” section displays the basic data about the user: name, level, how many experience points you need to score to move to the next level. Lists of games are displayed below: recommended games, games played by the user and what friends are playing. The "My games" section contains three tabs: recent, all and installed. The "Inbox" section in three tabs displays a list of invitations, a list of gifts and requests, and a list of quests. The "Players" section in two tabs displays the list of Added players and the list of Acquaintances - friends of friends. The "Find games" section also contains three tabs: Recommended, Popular and Online games.

Play Music is a music player and, at the same time, a client of the cloud music service of the same name. The “Home” section displays a list of recent user actions: listened to or purchased tracks. The “My Music Library” section displays all the user's tracks, purchased or downloaded by him from the computer, sorted in tabs by playlist, artist, album or genre. There is an interesting “Automix” function, it greatly simplifies the creation of playlists from a large number of tracks, to create an automix, you just need to specify the name of the artist, album or genre, and the application will create a new playlist itself. In the side menu there is also a link to the Play Store, because. the purchase of tracks is made only from it.

Almost after announcing the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for Xperia devices, Sony has finally released the long-awaited update.

In Russia and the CIS countries, the Android 6.0 update for the Xperia Z5, Xperia Z5 Premium and Xperia Z3+ was released yet, while the owners of other devices, including the Xperia Z5 Compact and Xperia C5 Ultra, had to wait for an indefinite period.

I admit, waiting so long for the Russian firmware for the Xperia Z5 Compact turned out to be too tiring for me, so I decided to download the assembly for the Baltic countries and Northern Europe and install (reflash) it myself. I note right away that the firmware of this region is practically no different from the PCT, the Russian language, of course, is present. So there is no point in waiting.

UPDATE: there is fresh information about the Android 7.0 Nougat update for Sony Xperia devices (you can find out which smartphones will receive the update).

There's also information about a Marshmallow update for , and . Click on the link for the models.

For those who are not in the know, it is very easy to do this using the Flashtool utilities. Instructions for flashing Xperia, see here:

Flash tool instruction

External skin changes based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow

External changes are always more noticeable than software ones, so let's start with them. Moreover, a lot has been changed on the little things

New status bar is the first thing you notice. System icon icons have changed, more similar to the standard ones from Android Marshmallow. Looking ahead, I must say that there will be many similar changes towards the stock android.

Shutter and quick settings menu received new animations, and the animations themselves have become larger and now they are smoother and longer.

Menu of open applications. Noticeably smoother scrolling.

Volume change. Minimalistic menu for working with the volume of the device, the design is almost like in stock Android 6.0. Changing the volume has become more convenient and faster.

Numerous small changes. New system icons in the desktop editing menu, new animations, etc.

New Settings / Standard Applications

Although after a first glance at the Settings and default apps of the new Android 6.0 Marshmallow it may seem that there are not many changes, but this is not the case. They exist and are worth paying attention to.

energy saving. Everything related to Stamina and Ultra Stamina disappeared in the first update based on Android 6.0. Instead, there is a standard power saving mode. After Sony's Stamina, Google's solution looks too simple, it's good that Stamina will appear again in the next updates.

data usage. Redesigned this built-in application, I must say, for the better. The design has become more understandable and logical.

Themes. This app has been completely redesigned. Now there we are waiting for a pleasantly animated slumbering cat with a smeared tail. The developers never tire of reminding that many themes are available for Xperia devices.

Settings - Memory. There is also a new, laconic design. Simplified, but done smartly.

First inclusion. Completely new greeting and initial settings.

Phone. A whole bunch of small but noticeable changes in the design of the dialer application.

Messages. Similar to the dialer, many changes were made to the design of Messages. The most significant are stickers for MMS and a convenient file sharing panel.

Calendar. New branded Xperia calendar. Neatly designed, nothing to complain about.

Camera. The branded camera application has not undergone any special changes in terms of design, but has received new functionality in the form of a swipe to switch camera modes (Super Auto, Manual, Video, etc.). By the way, the build number has changed from version 2.0.0 to 1.0.C.1.2. While it is difficult to say whether there are any changes in the speed of the camera and its quality of shooting. Later I will make a separate material about the camera.

Allow application. A new Android Marshmallow feature that allows you to more clearly control the actions of any applications installed on your phone.

Operating speed / Operating time

To be honest, I didn’t really believe that after updating to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, something would noticeably change in terms of performance. But fortunately I was wrong. 🙂

I don't know about the Xperia Z5 or the Xperia Z5 Premium, but the Xperia Z5 Compact is noticeably more responsive than it was previously with Android 5.1 Lollipop. This also applies to various animations on the desktop, curtain, in system applications.

All built-in applications began to open more rapidly. The difference is not too significant, but it is felt after the transition from the latest firmware to Android 5.1, this cannot be denied.

We increased the speed of the fingerprint sensor, and most importantly, we did not forget about its accuracy. According to my observations, there were about two times less false clicks.

Whether the operating time of the Xperia Z5 Compact has changed on Android 6.0 Marshmallow is hard to say. It seems that the smartphone works the same time as on Android 5.1, but there was Stamina (I had it turned on at 50% charge), but here it is not.

Perhaps with the advent of Stamina in the next update, the situation will become clearer. Now it’s definitely worth noting that on Android 6.0, the operating time, if it has increased, is insignificant. However, battery consumption when working with applications has become smoother, so to speak.

In the remainder / Summing up

Without a doubt, the transition to Android 6.0 Marshmallow is a very important event. The update brought not only new user features, but also a great change in what is "under the hood".

After all, it was in Marshmallow that Google completely abandoned Java in favor of the new Android Runtime (ART) application execution environment. Do not forget about the careful work on increasing the operating time (Doze is just the tip of the iceberg), as well as total work on system security. Over the increase in the level of security in Google seriously confused.

It's not for nothing that Sony Mobile developers were so late with the release of Android Marshmallow for the Xperia Z5 series, failing to introduce a system update in January 2016.

Samsung also stumbled on this major update, which has just started sending the Marshmallow update to their last year's flagships.

The first update based on Android Marshmallow for Sony Xperia devices clearly shows how huge the front of work turned out to be for the company's engineers, even if Stamina could not be optimized for the new Android 6.0 algorithms.

Well, we should congratulate Sony on the successful start of updating their current Xperia devices to Android 6.0 Marshmallow and wish that the rest of the devices receive it as soon as possible.

What do you think about this update? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

I would appreciate a repost!

The main changes in this version of the Android OS are in the keyboard. The design of emoticons has been redesigned and new ones have been added, in the amount of 200 pieces. Symbols appeared, denoting not only actions or objects, but also ideas. These ideographs have been included by Google in Unicode-8. The device management system has been improved: setting the availability mode (the new version has resumed the “do not disturb” mode, the process of exiting this state has been simplified), sound adjustment, time adjustment.

Usability has resulted in easy navigation on tablets. The control buttons in the bottom bar have been redesigned. Against the backdrop of economical battery consumption, productivity has been increased. Android 6.0.1 version received security and hack protection updates. CACHE storage - on a memory card. The disadvantage is the instability of work on outdated devices.

Main changes: