On September 29, Google announced their latest Android operating system, Android Marshmallow (Android M), and it brings a lot of new features that tries to make interactions with cellphones easier. Android M, technically Android 6.0, has a lot of improvements to offer under the hood, but overall, the entire user interface of the mobile operating system looks like their previous version, Lollipop. This just emphasises how serious Google is about the design aesthetic they introduced on Lollipop, Material Design. As of this moment, Android M is difficult to come by and is offered for select phones and Google’s Nexus line of phones.

In terms of overall visual performance, users will not notice anything different from what Lollipop is already offering, and much of the updates on Android M come in the form of performance and battery life. Android M will most definitely provide better battery life because of a feature Google calls Doze. Doze, an automated app control system, turns off all background apps and network connections when your device is not being used. The device enters a mode, similar to hibernation mode on computers, while your device rests idle and starts up everything once you pick up your device. Doze comes as an important feature for smartphone users who have little to no control over their battery life and also for people installing quite a few apps on their phone. Battery life has been a constant problem for smartphone users and Doze is thus a welcome feature.

One of the most prominent features on Android M comes in the form of Now on Tap. Now on Tap is basically Google Now that has been on Lollipop and Google Now launchers for quite some time now, but with content identification. On Android M, holding down the home button will scan whatever screen you’re on and give you internet-based suggestions on a pop-up Google Now interface. This is impressive because Android will intelligently identify what’s on the screen and give you information relating to what you’re viewing on your screen. So if you’re on a chat screen and you’re planning on going to the movies with your friend, hold down the home button, and Now on Tap will read through what you’re talking about and will tell you about the movies currently playing in theatres around you. If you want to go for dinner with your family, Now on Tap will offer you a list of good restaurants open around you. Now on Tap is not only limited to text and works with other forms of content as well.

Since Android is an open-source application, many parties on the internet have tinkered around with its code and compiled their own version of Android operating systems. There have been third-party Android ROMs for a long time and these ROMs are well known for their customisability. Look at the customisability that CyanogenMod offers, and you’ll see that Google seems to want to appeal to power users as well but does a really bad job at it. Android M comes with advanced UI options that, although hidden, comes with very basic and limited customisability options. Holding down the gear icon on the Quick Access Panel enables the System UI tuner, which provides you with an option to customise what icons appear on your Quick Access Panel as well as relatively rudimentary customisability options that have been on ROMs like CyanogenMod for ages, like battery percentage above your battery icon on your notifications bar. The advanced customisability that Google has tried so hard to hide so that only advanced users can access them is unimpressive at best and will not impress users who have seen the customisability of third-party ROMs.

But the App Permissions have improved with Android M. Instead of providing you with a list of permissions during app installation, Android M will now ask for permission when an app specifically needs access to perform an action. This has a good and bad aspect to it, the good being that with the new style of App Permissions, you specifically know why you’re providing your apps with access to certain features on your phone. If you’re sending a voice recording, it’ll ask you to provide the app with access to the microphone or if you want to send a video message, the prompt asks you again. So you basically know why you’re giving access but the bad side of this feature has to do with how annoying it would be to give permissions to apps every time you need an app to perform a specific task. Cellphones need to be quick because they’re devices that are in constant use throughout the day and often during situations when you don’t really have the time to navigate through an additional dialogue box to get an option working. Android M also comes with a feature to use your fingerprint as an identification while making financial transactions on your phone.

Although Android M adds some good features, it is not good enough for a separate numerical system altogether. Android M does not deserve to be called Android 6.0, mainly because it brings so little to the table. Many of its features are also in their infancy, like Now on Tap, which does work, but more often fails to properly understand your screen. App Permissions also doesn’t seem like a well thought-out idea and Google also seems like it’s taking baby steps when it comes to customisability. Android has always leaped in terms of features and usability when it gets a higher numerical system, but Android 6.0 is definitely not a leap.