Google updates Android M Developer Preview

It's not long since we first learned about Android M at Google I/O and today Google launches Android M Developer Preview 2. As the name would suggest, this is a build aimed primarily at developers, giving them an opportunity to ensure their apps are ready to take full advantage of everything the latest version of the operating system has to offer.

Two key changes between Lollipop and Android M are improvements to security and battery life. The second developer preview includes more improvements to permission settings such as how fingerprint authentication works and changes to the way permissions are handled for external storage.

Google is keen for developers to update to the latest preview as soon as possible -- "This ensures that you are building with the latest platform APIs and testing against the latest behaviors". The Bluetooth Stylus APIs have been updated, and new callbacks have been added to the Media API. Some restructuring has been done so some classes have been moved into new packages.

Of course, there are a number of bug fixes, but the build is not without problems. Google warns that the Messenger app does not play happily with the 64-bit emulator, and there are issues sharing YouTube videos. Contact synchronization can be problematic, and there are a number of issues with Android M on Nexus Player.

A full list of changes is available in the changelog.

If you like the idea of trying out the next version of Android before its official release, take a look at our guide to getting it installed on your Nexus device. Grab yourself a copy from the Android M Developer Preview page.