Google on Thursday rolled out the first update to the developer preview of Android M in the form of Android M Developer Preview 2. The latest Developer Preview 2 comes with build number MPZ79M for Nexus 5, Nexus 6, and Nexus 9 devices and with build number MPZ79N for the Nexus Player.
“Android M Developer Preview 2 is an incremental update to the Android M preview platform that was originally released in May 2015. The update includes a variety of enhancements and bug fixes made across the system, including those related to issues reported by developers through the external issue tracker,” Google noted in a blog post.
The second Android M Developer Preview adds a couple of updates over the original version, which includes some new API’s, fixes for reported issues and much more.
Many of the changes are related to platform permissions, including external storage, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth location, as well as changes to contacts/identity permissions. Device connections through the USB port have now been set to charge-only mode by default. Users will now need to explicitly grant permission to access the device.
Some API changes have been included in this build as well. The Bluetooth Stylus APIs have been updated, and new callbacks have been added to the Media API. Android M Developer Preview 2 also comes with Google Play Services 7.6 included.
Google has fixed a couple of developer-reported issues as well such as a TextInputLayout hint issue for embedded EditText, and a camera permission issue with Legacy Apps.
Google notes that devices currently running the Google I/O M Developer Preview on their Nexus 5, 6, 9, or Nexus Player should receive the update OTA style over the next few days. Users can update to Preview 2 by going to Settings > About phone > System updates. Click on “Check For Update.”
For developers using the emulator, they can update their M preview system images via the SDK Manager in Android Studio.
The final release of Android M is expected to become available sometime this autumn.
