Android M, Marshmallow Update Release Date: 6.0.1 OTA Rollout Begins for Nexus, Available for Download on AOSP
While the rest of Android land is waiting to find out when their devices' Android 6.0 Marshmallow update release date will come, the Google Nexus family of smartphones and tablets are already getting an OTA rollout to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow.
Google announced the rollout of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow on its Nexus Google+ page on Monday, writing, "We're celebrating new emojis on #Nexus which start rolling out today!
Whether or not you're incredibly interested in the new set of emojis, the announcement signaled that Android users with devices like the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus Player, and earlier Nexus tablets and smartphones will soon get an OTA update notification for the latest version of Android M. Google also released the Android 6.0.1 factory images for download from its Android Open Source Project page.
The specific timing of when certain Nexus devices will begin getting the Android 6.0.1 update is still unknown, but the following Google Nexus models are included in Google's the OTA rollout, according to Android Police:
Nexus 6P "angler"
Nexus 5X "bullhead"
Nexus Player "fugu"
Nexus 6 "shamu"
Nexus 9 (WiFi-only) "volantis"
Nexus 9 LTE "volantisg"
Nexus 5 "hammerhead"
Nexus 7 2013 (WiFi-only) "razor"
Nexus 7 2013 (cellular) "razorg"
For a full rundown on the new Unicode 8 emoji coming in the latest Android update, check out Ars Technica. The long and short of it is that you'll now have 10 tabs of emoji in the Google Keyboard emoji section instead of seven.
The Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update also brings security changes and patches for Android M bugs, detailed here on Google's December Nexus Security Bulletin.
Finally, Android 6.0.1 resurrects the "until next alarm" option for "Do not disturb" mode, which existed in Android 5.1 Lollipop, but was taken out of Android 6.0 Marshmallow by Google for some unknown reason.
The tweak allows you to quickly set your Android device not to alert you for any notifications except for alarms -- which is a faster way to put your Nexus down for the night than having to set "do not disturb" to expire after a certain number of hours.