The summer is always a swell time for software development news. Today on
#TechTuesdays we’re taking a look at the recently completed Google I/O 2015 conference and what some of the major announcements mean for small business owners and for the future of mobile devices running Android M.
The new Android operating system, currently called Android M, is a
refinement-focused release, meaning that the developers have mostly focused on cleaning up the operating system to make sure everything is running as efficiently as possible. However, there are some new features that specifically caught our eye. Here’s the rundown:
Android Pay
You may recall our
coverage of the initial Android Pay announcement previously. As a refresher, NFC (Near Field Communication) allows you to swiftly complete (and accept) payments in stores and with online retailers using credit, debit, and loyalty cards that are already stored all in one place: your phone. Now, we have some new details as to how the recently-announced Android Pay service will operate and how it will empower businesses and consumers alike.
Android Pay will initially be compatible with 700,000 existing retailers and their payment terminals in the United States. The big deal with Android Pay is tied into Android M’s native support for fingerprint reading. Android Pay takes advantage of this native support and, like Apple Pay, allows for secure transactions from your Android phone using its build-in fingerprint sensor. This means you and your customers won’t have to open up an app to authorize a payment. You just tap your finger on the fingerprint sensor to pay, and go along your merry way.
Fingerprint support admittedly was already in custom versions of Android provided by certain phone manufacturers, but Android Pay via Android M ensures there will be much wider availability of this implementation. As such, it stands as a more complete mobile payments solution a la Apple Pay, and should help to push along mobile payment adoption further.
Granular App Permissions
It may be a little hard to guess what this means just based on its title alone, but we promise it’s pretty straightforward. In the past, when installing a new app on an Android device you had to decide to grant all permissions immediately upon installing the app. This all-or-nothing approach essentially forced you to make a snap decision regarding your privacy. However, with Android M, the addition of granular app permissions means you don’t have to approve all access immediately. Instead, you grant permissions on a case-by-case basis as you encounter them during normal usage. Additionally, you’ll be able to jump into your device’s settings at any time and add or revoke permissions as you deem necessary.
While this will seem to be a very small feature to the average consumer, it’s one of the most-requested Android features of the last couple years and one that should provide business owners with additional peace of mind. What business owner doesn’t want more control over what aspects of their devices a third-party app can access, right?
App State Backup
Moving your small business to a set of new devices can be a pain sometimes. Fortunately, Android’s M’s new app state backup feature looks to greatly mitigate that headache.
App state backup will be enabled in Android M by default. What does that mean? Simply that every time you add a new app to your phone, delete an old app, tweak an individual app’s settings, etc., those changes will automatically be saved to Google’s cloud. Thus, when you make the jump to a new device, all your apps and all your desired settings will be automatically restored on your new phone or tablet. This will certainly save business owners time. And hey, time’s money, right?
Offline Maps
Google Maps will now be capable of handling a number of features without an active online connection. Among these is the ability to autocomplete searches and receive turn-by-turn directions offline. While others have accurately noted this is huge in developing countries with poor connectivity, over in this part of the world we aren’t strangers to random service outages or having to occasionally drive through a patch of area with a poor signal. The inclusion of offline maps with turn-by-turn directions in Android M should prove to provide a little insurance against such potential snafus, and aid in the prevention of late arrivals to any business meetings you may have that involve traveling through areas that are off-the-beaten path.
Looking Ahead
As we said, the summer months are an exciting time for technology announcements, and this upcoming Monday kicks off Apple’s WWDC 2015 event. We’ll have the big announcements that’ll resonate with you from that event next week on #TechTuesdays.
