Android 6.0 Marshmallow tips and tricks

Get answers fast with Now on Tap

It's now easier than ever to find exactly what you need with Android 6.0 Marshmallow's new Now on Tap feature.

All you need to do is just touch and hold the home button of your device and information – as well as apps – will appear depending on what you're reading, watching or listening to.

Boost your battery life

Android 6.0 Marshmallow can give your battery a new lease of life thanks to a range of new battery saving features that makes the software use your battery in smarter ways, making it last longer between charges.

Apps that you hardly ever use will go into App Standby mode, which means they won't guzzle your battery in the background – leaving you more time to use your favourite apps.

Meanwhile the new Doze feature automatically puts your device into a sleep state when it detects that you haven't picked it up in a while, saving the battery without you even having to think about it.

Unlock with just a touch

Fingerprint scanning has been built in to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, making it even more convenient – and secure – to use your fingerprint to unlock your Android device.

The technology, known as Nexus Imprint, makes the new Nexus devices better than ever at registering your fingerprints – but older devices will also benefit. Not only can you now use your fingerprints to unlock your device, but you can also use it with Android Pay and on the Play Store and other apps, to pay for goods and services.

Better App permissions

Making sure that apps only have access to the data you want them to is now even easier, with Android 6.0 Marshmallow's revamped permissions that allows you to have complete control over your apps, allowing you to state what you want to share and when.

Use voice commands from the lock screen

Android 5.0 Lollipop allowed you to quickly access the phone and camera apps from the lock screen, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow goes even further by allowing you to access voice commands without having to unlock you device - all you need to do is swipe.

Do even more with your voice

Not only can you use voice commands from the lock screen, but now voice commands are even more useful and powerful in Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

You can now have a conversation with apps, making controlling your device with your voice feel more natural. For example you could say "listen to NPR" and Android 6.0 Marshmallow will open up your radio playing app and tune in to the NPR station.

A smarter way to launch apps

Android 6.0 Marshmallow has a new launcher for finding and loading up your favourite apps. It lists the apps installed on your device alphabetically and you can vertically scroll through the list to find what you're looking for.

You can also type in the name of the app your searching for, but the new launcher has an even smarter trick up its sleeve: it learns what apps you launch at certain times of the day and in certain places, so it can predict what apps you're looking for. These predicted apps are displayed at the top of the launcher and it could make loading up apps easier than ever.

Seamlessly switch between devices

Android 6.0 Marshmallow makes it easier than ever to switch devices with Auto Backup for Apps. This means when you get a new Android device all of your apps will automatically install on your new device.

Even better, if you launch an app on your new device you'll be able to pick up from exactly where you were on your old device.

Call Log, sync settings, Do Not Disturb settings, Accessibility settings and much more are also backed up and restored.

Free your storage space with Flex Storage

While you can expand storage space in many Android devices with microSD cards (something we'd love Apple to consider), there was still a gap between what you could do with internal and external storage.

With Flex Storage you can insert an SD card and Flex Storage will allow the memory card to act like internal memory, letting you install apps, games and more on the SD card without any extra fiddly settings. It will also encrypt your data so it can only be opened on your device.

Easy peasy sharing

If you love sharing photos, videos and more with other people – or even devices around your home, then the new Direct Share option will be perfect for you.

All of the people, apps and services that you share with the most often are presented to you, letting you share with just a single tap.