One thing that truly hounded Android devices for years now has always been its battery life. There was a time during the Gingerbread era when Android had acceptable battery life, but it was all downhill since then. Proof of this are dozens of "battery saver" applications that can be found in the Google Play Store.
The Android 6.0 Marshmallow is a version which is not much of a leap compared to Lollipop, but it is rather a seriously polished version. In addition, Google made sure that Marshmallow is power efficient.
According to The Guardian, "Marshmallow also includes a new automatic app control system called Doze, which is intended to extend battery life when your smartphone or tablet isn’t being used."
Aside from this, the Marshmallow can also detect movement and will go to hibernation depending on the situation. In addition, the new mobile OS is also equipped with app standby where it controls the least used apps.
All this improved the Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 battery life by 20%, according to The Gurdian's tech writer Samuel Gibbs. He also tested Marshmallow on a Nexus 7 tablet and found that the device lasted four days longer when left alone.
However, Google is not done when it comes to Marshmallow power efficiency. Android Police dug up this publicly available Marshmallow Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) which can be seen here. This document is essentially a strict guide for Android app developers. It simply states that applications should be programmed in such a way that it will not hide anything from the Android battery stats application that can be found in the settings.
This is a breath of fresh air for Android as noted by the Times of India, "Combine that with the mandatory Doze mode, and it's clear that Google is taking battery life seriously with Android 6.0. Previously, it's been fairly happy to let manufacturers have free reign over software mods, provided a few basic conditions (mostly around including Google's own services) are met."
This will certainly be a boon for Android fans and Google in general. All applications going forward will be power efficient. If not, then that application will not receive Google Certification.
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