3aIT Blog

Google have announced that the next version of their Android mobile operating system will be released shortly. It's likely it will be made available in or around September. Google haven't assigned it the traditional "sweet" codename yet (a la Lollipop, KitKat, Ice Cream Sandwich etc). As far as numbered versioning is concerned, it's not currently clear if this will be version 5.2 or version 6.

Features in the forthcoming version include fingerprint scanning, big improvements in battery life, faster charging (using a new connector), and more intuitive app permissions.

Of course, with this new version of Android comes the perennial problem with these ongoing updates. While Google continue to push ahead with frequent free updates, these do not necessarily make their way to user's handsets. Google is at the mercy of the various mobile providers to keep devices up-to-date, and they are often less than keen to spend time and resources keeping old phones up-to-date when they'd much rather you bought a new one.

At the time of writing, only 0.7% of Android devices are running the most recent version (5.1). Currently "KitKat" is the most used version (about 40% share) This version is about a year old. Fortunately, Google has recently been working to separate some of the critical elements out of the operating system updates and into the app updates to try and mitigate against this issue and ensure that critical problems can still be patched.