Android M 6.0 Marshmallow Update Release Date: U.S. OTA Rollout Happening Now for HTC One M8 GPE, Details on Other HTC One Upgrades
The Android 6.0 Marshmallow update has already rolled out to Nexus devices, but while the Android M update is still pending for many other non-Nexus Android flagship smartphones, the wait is over for HTC One M8 Google Play Edition owners.
Android M update notifications should be arriving across the U.S. on HTC One M8 GPE, as the OTA rollout has officially been announced by HTC's own Mo Versi. The company's U.S. representative tweeted out the auspicious announcement late last week from his Twitter account, @moversi (via GospelHerald):
The update should appear on HTC One M8 GPE handsets by the end of the week, at the latest. As always, make sure your device has more than half battery life, that you will not need to use your smartphone for the next half hour or so, and that your data and apps are backed up, before beginning the download. Being connected to WiFi is a good idea too, if you don't want to burn through about half a gigabyte of cellular data when getting the update.
It's also important to note that this Android M update rollout announcement does not apply to the HTC One M8's non-Google Play Edition variants, which are by far more commonly owned across the U.S. and elsewhere.
The HTC One M8 Google Play Edition was the last HTC One device to be part of the GPE project before Google decided to discontinue it. Google Play Edition handsets run a pure, unaltered version of Android, which lends itself to quick updates, since HTC doesn't need to spend time updating its Sense UI to support the new operating system. If you're not sure if you have a Google Play Edition HTC One M8 or not, if it runs the HTC Sense UI and its accompanying features like BlinkFeed, you unfortunately do not.
Android 6.0 Marshmallow comes with many under-the-hood improvements, including the battery saving idling "Doze" mode, more granular control over individual app permissions, built-in support for fingerprint sensors, and the third-party and Google app contextually aware digital assistant software Google "Now on Tap."
Owners of non-GPE HTC One M8 handsets, do not despair. As Latin Post previously reported, there are a lot of HTC smartphones slated for the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update, including the HTC One M9, HTC One M8, HTC One E8, and Desire 820 -- among half a dozen other HTC handsets. Check out the full list here.