The first ever update for the Android M Developer Preview is now out. It is described to be "incremental" and it contains fixes and updates necessitated by the feedback of users who got to try out the build. Google says it has an "up to date M release platform code, and near-final APIs."
On the visual side, users will notice that the odd-looking app drawer is no more, with the update wiping out the convoluted look provided by the dominant capital letters acting as progress makers and the solid app-search bar. Thankfully, the new one's looking nice and well-ordered with icons neatly arranged.
Furthermore, the homescreen can now slip into landscape mode, which was a function only possible in Android tablets. Moreover, the Android M Preview 2 has brought new System UI Tuner options, which now lets users to rearrange the status bar options in addition to the power control pulldown.
Thanks to the update, the battery status bar icon can now be displayed in the form of a percentage readout. Also, users can now hide signal bars or the alarm clock icon with a simple toggle. Memory usage is now contained in one single bar instead of having an individual gauge for each app.
There's also a new demo mode, which caters to better-looking screenshots by hiding the notifications, setting the battery to 100 percent, the signal gauge full and the clock set at 5: 20. Also, deleting screenshots is now literally one swipe-down away.
The Android M Preview 2 can be installed on the Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and the Asus Nexus Player. For the first time, Google is rolling it out over the air (OTA), with the company estimating that most users should have been notified with a pop-up by now.
The next update is said to come late July and the final Android M build is slated to roll out by fall.
