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Your old Android phone is getting better about keeping you safe from barely-used apps
'Those permissions granted to you? Yeah, we're gonna need them back...'
Google is alerting app developers to some big coding changes ahead of the planned expansion of Android's permission auto-reset policy. This means more users will have permissions they've granted to apps automatically revoked starting in December. Here's what you need to know as a consumer.
CyanogenMod 13, based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, first arrived in November 2015. It was soon switched to Android 6.0.1, and continued to be the main branch of CyanogenMod until version 14.1 was released one year later. After the CyanogenMod community re-organized into LineageOS, the distribution was renamed to LineageOS 13.
Instant Apps were first announced over a year ago at Google I/O 2016. Put simply, when tapping on search results from a supported site, a minimal version of the site's app would quickly install and immediately display the content. For example, tapping on a Vimeo link would open the Vimeo app and the video would start playing.
The first DROID Turbo is over two years old at this point, and since it's a Motorola phone on Verizon, you might think that its software update days are numbered. Perhaps they are, but nevertheless users are starting to see an over-the-air update to Android 6.0.1 for the former flagship phone. Reports started popping up on the dedicated XDA-Developers forum this weekend following a soak test from last month, and it seems the update is going out en masse now.
The Lenovo Yoga Book is... odd. When it was announced in September, it was very different from any laptop or convertible I had seen before. Instead of the standard keyboard and touchpad combination, the bottom panel is a giant Wacom digitizer for sketching and taking notes. When you need to be productive, the bottom panel can switch to the 'Holo keyboard,' a touch keyboard and trackpad in the typical laptop layout.
Sony isn't known for getting Android updates out especially quickly, and the fact that Android 6.0 Marshmallow is only arriving now (a month after Nougat's official release) for the Xperia C4 and Xperia C4 Dual is proof of that. Then again, this is a last-generation, mid-range phone with an unconventional MediaTek chipset, so we'll cut Sony some slack for this one.
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One week after Google officially released Android 7.0 Nougat, ASUS has finally upgraded the ZE551ML model of the ZenFone 2 to 6.0 Marshmallow. ASUS had originally promised that the ZenFone 2 would receive Marshmallow before the end of Q2 2016, but that deadline was clearly ignored.
Actively watching Nougat roll out to Nexus owners this week? Most Android devices don't have a shot at getting an update to the latest and greatest. Some, like the Galaxy S5 Active, are only just now getting an update to last year's version.
Google has started rolling out the latest round of monthly patches for Nexus devices (and the Pixel C). Maybe you've got that nagging OTA notification on your phone, or maybe you only wish you were so lucky. If you need to update and the factory images are no good, we've got all the OTAs right here. If you want to know what's in this update, check out our full rundown.
The Xperia Z series has marked the high-end of Sony's smartphone line for years. The M5 sits somewhere lower on the food chain, but not much lower. You're looking at a 5-inch 1080p display, 3GB of RAM, a 21.5MP camera, plus both water and dust resistance.
Folks who chose to get an LTE-enabled tablet from T-Mobile and went with the Galaxy Tab S2 are starting to receive an over-the-air update bringing Marshmallow to their device. For a few months at least, users will get to have the latest and greatest on their Android tablet.
Wileyfox and Cyanogen formed a partnership last summer to deliver smartphones running Cyanogen OS to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. The Wileyfox Swift was the second phone to get version 13 of the operating system. Now the Wileyfox Storm is getting that same update.
See that green bugdroid above? It's carrying a heavy(ly customized) version of Marshmallow specially to your Huawei Honor 5X. Wrapped tightly with it is a new version of EMUI for the device: 4.0.
ASUS is working hard to meet its self-imposed deadline of upgrading several ZenFone devices to Marshmallow before the end of Q2 2016. We're technically in July and Q3 already, but we'll give the company a little leeway for almost-making it on time with these two new OTAs.
Marshmallow is making its way to Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge owners in the US. If you're on T-Mobile, you're next on the list. The Un-carrier is now sending out OTA updates to people on its network.
June's Android security updates started rolling out earlier this week, but you could still be waiting for them if they're going out in batches. Those of you who are too impatient can get the full factory image and flash it or download the smaller OTA files linked here and sideload them. Cody already posted the detailed changelog if you want to read about all the changes, but if you're just interested in the links, here they are.
It's been a while since we've heard anything from the Paranoid Android ROM team. Perhaps that's because ROM flashing has fallen by the wayside a bit as stock and skinned Android has made serious improvements, perhaps it's because a lot of the original team was hired by OnePlus to work on its Oxygen OS builds. Whatever the reason, they're back now. While PA is definitely late to the Marshmallow party (the last time they issued a major release was almost a year ago), the team has been revitalized with new developers and support for new devices.
The Idol 3 was a solid phone when it came out last year, but Alcatel quickly fell behind on Android updates. As of now, this phone is still running 5.0.2, but that's about to change. The Marshmallow update is going to start hitting devices today. Like they say, better late than never.