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Android M Developer Preview updated for Nexus devices

Google has released the Android M Developer Preview 2 which brings enhancements and bug fixes to Developer Preview 1 based on user feedback. Nexus devices running Android M Developer Preview 1 are expected to receive notifications about the OTA update over the next few days.


This update brings up to date M release platform code, near-final APIs to validate apps and to provide more testing support, Nexus system images and emulator system images with the Android platform updates have been refined. Apart from the platform update, the system images also include Google Play services 7.6.

Other changes include modifications to platform permissions including external storage, WiFi and Bluetooth location and changes to contacts/identity permissions. Here is a list of the key changes in Android M Developer Preview 2.

Permissions changes

  • The android.permission.USE_FINGERPRINT permission now has "normal" protection level, so it is no longer necessary to request this permission directly from the user. The USE_FINGERPRINT permission enables fingerprints to be enabled for authentication, but does not give the requesting app access to the enrollment/fingerprint administration flow.
  • The android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission has protection level "dangerous", meaning that apps wanting to write to external storage will need to request permission from the user at runtime. Both READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE and WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE are members of the STORAGE permission group.
  • Remote Bluetooth/Wi-Fi MAC's now require either the android.permission.LOCATION_FINE orandroid.permission.LOCATION_COARSE permission.
  • Some accounts and identity permissions are moved to CONTACTS permissions group and others are removed or granted based on account type. In particular, android.permission.USE_CREDENTIALS,android.permission.MANAGE_ACCOUNTS, and android.permission.AUTHENTICATE_ACCOUNTS are ungrouped pending further changes in a later release.
  • The Wi-Fi permissions android.permission.CHANGE_WIFI_STATE, android.permission. CHANGE_WIMAX_STATE, and android.permission. CHANGE_WIFI_MULTICAST_STATE now have protection level "normal".
  • The Bluetooth permissions android.permission.BLUETOOTH and android.permission.BLUETOOTH_ADMIN now have protection level "normal".
  • Bookmarks and subscribed feeds permissions are removed.
  • Apps included in the system image are no longer granted dangerous permissions automatically. All apps should check for and request permissions at runtime.
  • Introduces the utility method Activity.shouldShowRequestPermissionRationale(String), which lets your app see whether users have previously rejected a permission request. This lets you know that your app should explain the the user why it needs that permission. For more information see the Permissions developer guide.
Other changes
  • The android.app.AssistContent and android.app.AssistStructure classes are moved into a new package, android.app.assist.
  • Bluetooth Stylus APIs are updated and include new callback events. TheView.OnStylusButtonPressListener class is renamed to View.OnContextClickListener andGestureDetector.OnStylusButtonPressListener class to GestureDetector.OnContextClickListener.

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