TI 20151108

TI③ Boy：top, efficient, convenient and holy Girl: intelligent, novel, flexible and objective Boy: Welcome to the column of Tech Info. I’m your friend Johnny. And this week we have Epp back. Epp say hello to everyone. Girl: Hi, everyone. I’m Epp and I’m back. Glad to be here today. Boy: Me too. Start talk freely Girl：Okay, since time is limited, why not come to our topic today? Boy: All right. Let’s come to today’s topic: Android 6.0 Marshmallow review: All about polish and power When Android 5.0 Lollipop started hitting devices last November, people could tell. Google's new Material Design aesthetic made sure you wouldn't mistake it for any prior version of the OS, which was great... especially when you consider how confusing parts of it could be. Now that Android's look has been more or less firmed up, Google set about making its operating system smoother, smarter and more battery-friendly. The end result:Android 6.0 Marshmallow. So, how'd they do? Boy: SUMMARY While this isn't as a huge cosmetic overhaul as last year's big update, Android 6.0 Marshmallow does a great job addressing Lollipop's shortcomings. More importantly, Google is really flexing its contextual smarts with the addition of features like Now on Tap, and an improved version of permissions gives users a better understanding of what their apps are trying to do. Thanks to a nice dose of visual polish, too, we're left with a must-install update -- here's hoping OEMs deliver it sooner than later. Girl： Look and feel Go ahead: Take a look around. Do it quickly enough and you might not notice anything different from the big Android update we got last year. Material Design was a huge, highly valuable step forward for Android; this year's update polishes down some of the look's rougher edges and makes a few things more prominent. Consider the lock screen's font, for one -- the time is a bit bolder than it was before, better for those discreet time checks. Then there's the launcher, which some people have been getting a taste of without even updating to Marshmallow. The white background will seem awfully familiar, but that's it as far as similarities go. Marshmallow's actually slightly more customizable than previous versions if you know where to look. The System UI tuner we first spotted in the Android M preview is hidden by default; to access, you have to swipe down into your Quick Settings panel and press on the gear icon until it starts spinning. Once all that's squared away, you can use it to rearrange your Quick Settings icons and add a few extra design flourishes, like tacking a battery-percentage readout to the vaguely helpful battery icon. Google warns that you probably shouldn't muck around with this too much, and I'm inclined to agree (although not for system safety purposes) -- it's just that there's only so much to be done here. Boy: A better approach to permissions As damned helpful as Now on Tap can be, chances are you're going to experience Marshmallow's redesigned approach to app permissions far more frequently. Let's flashback to last year: Before even downloading an app, users had to agree to a load of potential actions that software could perform at some point. With Marshmallow, Google very smartly decided not to front-load all that information and instead alerts you whenever an app you've installed tries to do something new for the first time, like when Twitter wants to figure out where you are or when Chrome wants access to your media. If an app mentions wanting to do something that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, feel free to deny it the access it wants -- in most cases, the rest of the program should still work. Oh, and if you're the kind of person who just taps "Accept" all the time anyway? Popping into the Settings reveals which apps have access to which parts of your device, from the camera to contacts to location, storage and even body sensors. Revoking access is just a tap away, so don't be afraid to make some executive decisions. Yes, you'll be dealing with these notifications pretty frequently, and yes, the whole thing feels a little more intrusive than before. Still, it forces users to understand what their apps are doing and when -- making everyone more security-conscious is worth some tiny inconveniences. Girl： Fingerprints for all Speaking of security, Marshmallow is very much into the idea of using your fingerprints as identification. Need proof? Just look at the two new Nexus handsets. Setup is dead-simple and familiar -- you'll be lifting and pressing down onto the sensor multiple times until you're given the OK. Interestingly, Google doesn't assume that you want to use your fingerprints for everything once you've got at least one on file. Buying apps from the Play Store defaults to using your password for identification, for instance -- you have to tick a box before you can sign off on purchases with a finger. Once that's done, though, you're all good, and thankfully both of the devices I've been testing Marshmallow with (the Nexus 6Pand the HTC One A9) have excellent sensors that quickly and accurately pick up finger touches. That's really no surprise, though: Google's very picky about how good these sensors should be. Now we just need more developers to get on the fingerprint bandwagon. Boy: Under the hood Beyond some of those marvelous features, Marshmallow also packs a few tricks to keep your device running for as long as possible. Doze is the more technically impressive of the batch since it determines when your device is just sitting around and shuts down nearly all background services and disables your network connection. If a priority message rolls in via Google Cloud Messaging, Marshmallow dutifully surfaces it, but otherwise you've basically got a device that automatically switches into airplane mode when you don't need it. The results are obvious, and impressive. As I write this, a near-dead Nexus 6P has been clinging to life with 2 percent battery for nearly an hour. Then there's App Standby, which automatically flips programs into an inactive state if they haven't been used in a while to further save your battery. If you've ever had to disable some carrier bloatware apps because they were just never used, well, that's basically the same idea here. The only difference is App Standby works autonomically -- Marshmallow disables apps that haven't been launched lately, aren't running a process or aren't generating notifications. The only potential downside here is that Marshmallow could always deactivate an app you actually wanted to keep, but there are two quick fixes: Open it once in a while, or jump into the Settings to manually restore it (you can even flag it so that it never gets deactivated again). Like it or not, the trusty microSD card slots of yore are disappearing from modern smartphones. If you're lucky enough to have such a slot handy (and haven't completely given yourself over to the cloud), Marshmallow allows you to format the card as internal storage so you can move apps and data that otherwise couldn't have been routed to an external card. Word to the wise: If you do this, don't panic at what you see. Marshmallow combines the storage counts into a single total (a feature called Flex Storage), but still offers a readout of how much room is available on both the internal and external memory. Girl: Wrap-up Marshmallow might not be the sort of dramatic leap forward we'd expect from Android 6.0, but let's not dwell on the number. What we've got here is an update that takes most of what was great about Lollipop, axed what didn't work (here's looking at you, convoluted volume controls) and added features we didn't even know we wanted. Sure, not everything has been executed perfectly, but the net value of features like Now on Tap, improved permissions, Flex Storage and others more than make up for occasional bits of flakiness. Android has never felt more complete -- now (if you'll pardon the pun) it's on manufacturers to make sure everyone gets a taste soon. Boy： Wow, I’ve learned a lot about marshmallow, but what a pity I do not have a device which can runs Android 6.0. How about you? Girl: Yeah it really boarden my horizons and I think Android can become a strong opponent to IOS. Boy: Totally agree with you. Android system is becoming more and more powerful in its flexibility and appearance, but what remains a problem Google have to change is its system’s integration as there are many kinds of Android system like MIUI , Flyme and so on. Girl: And there is only one IOS system. Boy: Absolutely. That’s a key to the development of Android. Okay, since time is limited, it’s time to say goodbye to everyone. Thank you for listening. See you next week. Girl: Goodbye.