Android Marshmallow is now facing tight competition from Android Nougat.
The latter OS is already running on a number of devices, mainly Google Nexus devices as well as the just-launched LG V20.
As at the time of this writing, Android Marshmallow is running on a little over 15% of all Android devices in the market. However, this number is growing day by day, with the ASUS ZenFone 2 and ZenFone 2 Deluxe among the latest high profile names to make the Marshmallow cut. But what’s so sweet about this 2015 OS that’s making everyone want a share of it?
Here’s a look at the best 5 hidden features of Android Marshmallow that will make your life even more interesting with the phone.
Google Now on Tap
One of the most interesting additions to Android Marshmallow is the Google Now on Tap feature. Of course, many are familiar with Google Now virtual assistant, but Marshmallow takes this feature to the next level. Now on Tap lets you access the assistant with no need of leaving the app or page in use at the moment. All you need is to long-press the Home button to activate the assistant.
With Now on Tap, you will be able to see ready-made information or links that are based on the open screen. In this way, you won’t have to leave the current page in order to search for more information about what you are currently viewing on the screen. For instance, if you are reading about a movie, Now on Tap could come up with links to other sources of information regarding the movie times, director and so on.
Enhanced cut & paste
For those already familiar with Apple’s iOS, the new cut & paste feature on Android Marshmallow should not be something strange. Once a piece of information is highlighted, you will see the cut & paste and search options floating over the text as opposed to appearing at the top of the screen as with the case of older versions. This makes life a lot easier than before.
App permissions
The debate of Android copying things from Apple goes on with the app permissions feature in Android Marshmallow. With this OS, users can toggle on and off access of each app to specific functions of the phone. Given the state of Android OS when it comes to malicious malware and such stuff, this move is a huge welcome for many.
You can choose the permissions you give an app and when you do it, which makes the device more secure than before. To get to this stage, head to your Apps Settings, tap on an app and in the list of permissions, you can toggle each on and off as you wish.
Direct search from lock screen using voice commands
In past versions of Android OS, users were only able to initiate voice searches from the lock screen when looking for a camera or making an emergency call without using a password. With Android Marshmallow, there’s a shift in how things are done, placing the voice search feature a swipe away and there’s no login needed like before.
Smart Lock for Passwords
As much as passwords are supposed to be hard in order to prevent easy guessing by intruders, this, at times, makes it chaotic for the owners of the devices too when trying to log in to an app. But Android Marshmallow has a Smart Lock for Passwords feature that makes things a lot easier and seamless.
By turning on Smart Lock via Settings>Google>Smart Lock for Passwords, you can save all of your passwords in your Google account. In this way, your passwords will be stored in a secure cloud account where they can be accessed anytime, even when you switch devices.
Furthermore, you can also toggle the auto sign-in feature on and off, allowing your apps to automatically sign in as long as they are connected to the same Google account. If you don’t want this, there is room to “Never save” passwords for certain apps or websites, a feature that can be applied to areas with sensitive information, for instance, banking apps.