Motorola Moto G (2nd Gen) Jumps to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Skips Android 5.1 Lollipop

By Staff Writer | Jan 22, 2016 03:07 AM EST

Motorola just posted release notes regarding Moto G (2nd Gen) receiving the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update very soon. The device was also confirmed skipping the Android 5.1 Lollipop for Marshmallow.

Moto G (2nd Gen) phones will start receiving in the coming days the official Android 6.0 Marshmallow via over-the-air (OTA) update in the United States, as units in India were already confirmed. It was reported before that the Marshmallow build could hit the second generation Moto G here before January comes to an end.

In the release notes for Indian versions, Motorola stated that update should begin rolling out the soonest when tests will wrap up, which is believed to be just right around the corner. As normally it gets with major phone updates, unlocked and retails versions will get them first before mobile carriers can take hold of it. Although, it should certainly be happening to them not sooner than later.

Lenovo, the mother company of Motorola, had just revealed this month of its plans to rebrand the famed batwing company. It furthered that it would not however impede ongoing operations as far as software updates are concerned.

Android 6.0 Marshmallow comes with the following features and improvements for Motorola devices:

  • New memory manager to check memory usage of all installed apps;
  • Great improvements for volume controls;
  • Do Not Disturb button now on the quick settings panel for easy access;
  • System UI Tuner can be seen in the settings menu;
  • Google Now on Tap allows smarter contextual information;
  • Doze, a battery management feature that detects device when not in use and it will automatically go into a deep sleep state;
  • App Standby reduces battery drain by putting seldom-used apps into a reduced activity state;
  • Expandable Storage support allows for microSD cards to be used either in a portable storage or an internal storage mode;
  • RAM manager in settings to view memory used by the system or an individual app over different time frames;
  • Automatic App backup not only backs up apps but their associated data so when restored they will be the same as they were before; and
  • Improved text selection.
  • Google will also bring additional features along with the update.

Users must not start mashing the check for updates button to get ahead of the pack. To do this, go to Settings > About device > Software updates > Check for updates.

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