As the most user-friendly upgrade in Android history, all the new features of Android M are here

When Dave Burke, Google's vice president of Android engineering, stood on the podium at I/O, he defined the direction of the Android M update in one sentence: The core focus of this Android upgrade is to improve the user experience.

Although "user experience" is now an overused term, several changes in Android M can indeed make Android better.

1. App Permissions: More straightforward application permission management

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On iOS, when an app needs to access important permissions such as camera, photo library, camera, and location, the system will pop up a separate dialog box to ask the user whether to allow it to do so. Now, Android M has also introduced a similar feature. Next, when an Android app needs permissions such as location, camera, microphone, contacts, phone, SMS, calendar, and sensors, Android M will also pop up a separate dialog box to ask the user whether to allow it to do so.

2. Chrome Custom Tabs: Improve the Web Experience on Android

Chrome Custom Tabs is an interesting feature. Now, if a user needs to open a web link in an application, the developer has two options: let the user who clicks the link jump to the default browser, or directly build a browser into the application - that is, WebView.

However, the experience of these two solutions is often not good. The first method requires users to jump back and forth between the two applications; the second method may require users to fill in account information multiple times - for example, the account information I filled in when visiting Weibo in the built-in browser of WeChat cannot be used for the built-in browser of mobile QQ. With Chrome Custom Tabs, developers can make the built-in browser of the application and the system-level browser Chrome interoperable. Imagine that if you have saved Weibo account information in Chrome before, then this account information can be automatically filled in when you visit Weibo in WeChat. This experience is really great.

3. App Links: Let the link automatically select the app that best matches it

If I click on a link from Twitter in an email, the system may let me choose whether to open it in the browser or in Twitter. In Android M, apps will be able to "certify" certain links, so that when a user clicks on a Twitter link, the system no longer requires the user to make a choice, but directly opens Twitter.

4. Android Pay: A new open mobile payment platform

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Like Apple Pay, Android Pay also uses NFC technology, which Google defines as: simple, secure, and optional. Users can choose to activate it with Google or other bank apps, and for developers, you can also use it for in-app payments. In addition, Android Pay will also support fingerprint payments. Android Pay can be used on KitKat and later devices.

5.Fingerprint Reader: Fingerprint recognition support

In Android M, Google will also add an official fingerprint recognition API, which means that the current chaotic fingerprint recognition situation on Android devices will hopefully end. Developers will also be able to use standard interfaces to make the same function available on more devices.

6. Doze: Make Android more power-efficient

Insufficient battery life on smartphones is probably a common problem. In Android M, Google introduced a new feature, Doze. When it detects that the device is not moving, the system will automatically close some apps to save power. According to tests, the standby time of Nexus 9 with Doze can be extended to up to twice the previous time.

In addition to the above, Android M also adds support for USB Type-C ports and optimizes other features such as sharing and text selection. The developer preview version is available for Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Player today, while the version for ordinary consumers will have to wait until the third quarter of this year. Compared with the changes from Android KitKat to Android Lollipop, the changes from Android Lollipop to Android M are indeed not as many as the former. But from the user's perspective, isn't it what we want to use Android more conveniently?