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Android Marshmallow
Android Marshmallow (codenamed Android M during development) is the sixth major version of the Android operating system developed by Google, being the successor to Android Lollipop. It was announced at Google I/O on May 28, 2015, and released the same day as a beta, before being officially released on September 29, 2015. It was succeeded by Android Nougat on August 22, 2016.
Android Marshmallow primarily focuses on improving the overall user experience of its predecessor. It introduced a new opt-in permissions architecture, new APIs for contextual assistants (first used by a new feature "Now on Tap" to provide context-sensitive search results), a new power management system that reduces background activity when a device is not being physically handled, native support for fingerprint recognition and USB-C connectors, the ability to migrate data and applications to a microSD card, and other internal changes.
Android Marshmallow was met by low adoption numbers, with 13.3% of Android devices running Marshmallow by July 2016. Usage of Android Marshmallow steadily increased since then, and by August 2017, 35.21% of Android devices ran Marshmallow, before receding. As of August 2025[update], 1.99% of Android devices ran Marshmallow. Security updates for Android Marshmallow ended in August 2018. As of July 11, 2024, Marshmallow is the oldest version of Android still supported by Google Play Services.
Android Marshmallow internally codenamed "Macadamia Nut Cookie". The first developer preview build for Android Marshmallow, codenamed Android "M", was unveiled and released at Google I/O on May 28, 2015, for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 smartphones, the Nexus 9 tablet, and the Nexus Player set-top box. The second developer preview was released on July 9, 2015, and the third and final preview was released on August 17, 2015, along with announcing that Android M would be titled Android "Marshmallow".
On September 29, 2015, Google unveiled launch devices for Marshmallow: the LG-produced Nexus 5X, the Huawei-produced Nexus 6P, alongside Google's own Pixel C tablet.
Android 6.0 updates and factory images for Nexus 5, 6, 7 (2013), 9, and Player were released on October 5, 2015. Older Nexus devices, including the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 (2012) and Nexus 10, did not receive an official update. On October 14, 2015, LG announced that it planned to release Marshmallow for its flagship LG G4 smartphone in Poland the following week, marking the first third-party device to receive an update to Android Marshmallow.
Android 6.0.1, a software patch featuring security fixes, support for Unicode 8.0 emoji (although without supporting skin tone extensions for human emoji), and the return of the "until next alarm" feature in Do Not Disturb mode, was released on December 7, 2015.
A new "Assist" API allows information from a currently opened app, including text and a screenshot of the current screen, to be sent to a designated "assistant" application for analysis and processing. This system is used by the Google Search app feature "Google Now on Tap", which allows users to perform searches within the context of information currently being displayed on-screen. While the "Home" button was used in Android 5 to show available apps, the "Home" button is used now (together with a voice command) to generate on-screen cards which display information, suggestions, and actions related to the content. "Direct Share" allows Share menus to display recently used combinations of contacts and an associated app as direct targets.
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Android Marshmallow AI simulator
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Android Marshmallow
Android Marshmallow (codenamed Android M during development) is the sixth major version of the Android operating system developed by Google, being the successor to Android Lollipop. It was announced at Google I/O on May 28, 2015, and released the same day as a beta, before being officially released on September 29, 2015. It was succeeded by Android Nougat on August 22, 2016.
Android Marshmallow primarily focuses on improving the overall user experience of its predecessor. It introduced a new opt-in permissions architecture, new APIs for contextual assistants (first used by a new feature "Now on Tap" to provide context-sensitive search results), a new power management system that reduces background activity when a device is not being physically handled, native support for fingerprint recognition and USB-C connectors, the ability to migrate data and applications to a microSD card, and other internal changes.
Android Marshmallow was met by low adoption numbers, with 13.3% of Android devices running Marshmallow by July 2016. Usage of Android Marshmallow steadily increased since then, and by August 2017, 35.21% of Android devices ran Marshmallow, before receding. As of August 2025[update], 1.99% of Android devices ran Marshmallow. Security updates for Android Marshmallow ended in August 2018. As of July 11, 2024, Marshmallow is the oldest version of Android still supported by Google Play Services.
Android Marshmallow internally codenamed "Macadamia Nut Cookie". The first developer preview build for Android Marshmallow, codenamed Android "M", was unveiled and released at Google I/O on May 28, 2015, for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 smartphones, the Nexus 9 tablet, and the Nexus Player set-top box. The second developer preview was released on July 9, 2015, and the third and final preview was released on August 17, 2015, along with announcing that Android M would be titled Android "Marshmallow".
On September 29, 2015, Google unveiled launch devices for Marshmallow: the LG-produced Nexus 5X, the Huawei-produced Nexus 6P, alongside Google's own Pixel C tablet.
Android 6.0 updates and factory images for Nexus 5, 6, 7 (2013), 9, and Player were released on October 5, 2015. Older Nexus devices, including the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 (2012) and Nexus 10, did not receive an official update. On October 14, 2015, LG announced that it planned to release Marshmallow for its flagship LG G4 smartphone in Poland the following week, marking the first third-party device to receive an update to Android Marshmallow.
Android 6.0.1, a software patch featuring security fixes, support for Unicode 8.0 emoji (although without supporting skin tone extensions for human emoji), and the return of the "until next alarm" feature in Do Not Disturb mode, was released on December 7, 2015.
A new "Assist" API allows information from a currently opened app, including text and a screenshot of the current screen, to be sent to a designated "assistant" application for analysis and processing. This system is used by the Google Search app feature "Google Now on Tap", which allows users to perform searches within the context of information currently being displayed on-screen. While the "Home" button was used in Android 5 to show available apps, the "Home" button is used now (together with a voice command) to generate on-screen cards which display information, suggestions, and actions related to the content. "Direct Share" allows Share menus to display recently used combinations of contacts and an associated app as direct targets.