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You may have heard that in Android 14, you can no longer install older apps built for Lollipop. Android 15 is coming soon and similarly he will block apps for Marshmallow. Hold back your tears as you say goodbye to one of the best Android versions of him ever and some of the best apps and games to come in the great robot bakery of the sky.
Android 6.0 Marshmallow was announced nearly 10 years ago on May 28, 2015 at that year’s Google I/O. The beta version was released on the same day, and the stable version was first delivered to Nexus phones and tablets in September. It first appeared on the OS version distribution map in November. Back then, Android 4.4 KitKat was still king and Lollipop had just crossed the 20% share mark.
Version 6.0 introduced features that we now take for granted. For example, native USB-C support has been introduced. This is now (eventually after some resistance) the industry standard.
Another major addition is fingerprint reader support. This replaces the simple pattern lock with a more secure system that not only unlocks your phone, but also allows you to safely store your money within Android Pay (this is Google Pay, then your wallet). became).
The theme of security continues with the new permissions model. Previously, apps needed access to certain features on your phone, and the only real choice you had was whether or not to install the app. In Marshmallow, the first time your app tries to do something, it asks, “Do you want to access your files?” position? microphone? All I had to do was tap “No” and the app would take care of it.
Android 6.0 also introduces new mechanisms to extend battery life. Doze is a new sleep state that changes the amount apps can run depending on whether you’re physically handling your phone or not. When your phone is in your hand, your app needs to be responsive. When your phone sits idle on your nightstand, apps are throttled and only high-priority events are allowed to pass through.
Doze limits an app’s background activity and network access. Things like Messenger will be negatively affected by this, but they may ask for permission to remain active even if the rest of your phone is dozing off.
There was an even deeper sleep state, App Standby. On Android, at least like Windows, Linux, and macOS, you can’t clearly distinguish which apps are running and which aren’t. This means that apps can reduce your battery life even if you’re not actively using them. In version 6.0, rarely used apps could be placed on standby, further limiting their functionality. As you interact with the app, it automatically returns to an active state, so if everything is working as intended, you won’t even notice it’s in standby mode.
Flex Storage was a big change, but we’ve since reverted. You now have the option to format your microSD card as part of your internal storage. This means hot swapping is no longer possible, but it removes some barriers around external storage. You can also move your data to microSD to free up internal storage. Only parts of certain apps were moved, and those were usually the biggest parts. This means your game code will remain in high-speed internal storage, and your game assets (graphics, audio, etc.) may be stored in larger external storage.
More recently, cards have been introduced such as A2 ratings that guarantee minimum transfer and IOPS speeds to allow the card to be used as storage for apps. But how many phones still have microSD slots? And the Android versions that came out after Marshmallow basically did away with Flex Storage.
Next, Android 6.0 introduced the “contextual assistant.” Remember Google Now on Tap? That’s Contextual Assistant (back in 2015, “AI” wasn’t that big of a buzzword). The context can be anything, such as a photo, song, email, etc. Get relevant information and easy access to actions such as search, navigation, sharing, and social media.
Nexus devices were the first to ship with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, but other manufacturers soon started announcing updates for select models in their lineup. Looking back at the distribution of OS versions, Marshmallow crossed his 1% threshold in early 2016 and became the top version in June 2017. As Nougat came along and things started moving into version 7, we never got much above the 30% threshold.
By the way, there is a way to sneak in old apps, but you have to sideload them using ADB. I don’t think many people experience such difficulties. This means that apps that were last updated during the Marshmallow era will essentially no longer be accessible to all Android users.
Are there any old apps you still use? Are there any old games you still love?
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