海角大神

Google announced the next version of its Android mobile operating system, codenamed 鈥淎ndroid M,鈥� on Friday at the Google I/O 2015 developer conference. (In case you鈥檙e wondering, the company did the same thing with Android 5.0 鈥淟ollipop,鈥� referring to it as 鈥淎ndroid L鈥� until just before the software actually launched.) But while Lollipop introduced a ton of new features and a new visual design for the operating system, Android M鈥檚 big changes are under the hood.

The biggest change is the expansion of Google Now, the hub of information, reminders, maps, and more that populates based on how you use your phone. Google Now has always been able to pull data from Google apps to do things such as tell you when to leave for an appointment or when to check in for a flight.

But the service now integrates with third party apps, allowing users to pull up information that鈥檚 relevant to whatever they鈥檙e doing at the moment. Google calls the feature 鈥淣ow on Tap,鈥� and it can do things such as bring up a restaurant鈥檚 location and menu when it鈥檚 mentioned in a text conversation or pull up information about an artist whose song is playing in Spotify.

Android M also allows you to guard your privacy by giving apps permission to access only certain features of your phone. Until now, you had to agree to a list of permissions when installing an app, which usually meant allowing that app to use your phone鈥檚 microphone, location, contact list, and more. Now you can enable those permissions one at a time 鈥� so if you don鈥檛 feel comfortable letting an app listen through your phone鈥檚 microphone, you can restrict that access (assuming you鈥檙e willing to live without whatever app feature requires the microphone). Apple has included this feature in iOS for several years, and it鈥檚 a welcome addition to Android.

Also on the security front, Android M will bring support for fingerprint sensors, such as the one found in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Some Android phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy Note 4, already have fingerprint sensors, but they鈥檙e powered by extra manufacturer software layered over the top of Android. Now that fingerprint support is baked in to Android, merchant and banking apps will be able to use it to provide additional security.

Android M will also include Android Pay, a service that will allow people to pay in stores by tapping their phones against special terminals, which will e-mail them a receipt. Android Pay is the successor to Google Wallet, which was released way back in 2011 but which lags behind Apple Pay in terms of support and ease of use. Google says Android Pay users won鈥檛 need to open a particular app to use the service 鈥� you can just tap your phone at the counter and be on your way.

Finally, Android M includes a slew of power tweaks designed to make phones last longer. A new 鈥淒oze鈥� mode can put a phone into a low-power state when its motion sensors detect that it hasn鈥檛 been used in a while. Android M also supports USB Type C connectors, which will allow phones to charge about three to five times faster than the micro-USB tech found in today鈥檚 Android phones.

The features in Android M will undoubtedly change as Google receives feedback from developers and testers, but the operating system unveiled on Friday offers a good look at a slimmer, smarter, slightly more secure Android.