Android 6.0 Muffin release date: concept video imagines multi-window support and two applications running side by side

Amidst reports of Android 5.1.1 (API 22) being already in the works, a new concept video has surfaced showing a version of Android, dubbed Android 6.0 Muffin, with a multi-window option that allows two applications to be run side by side.

(REUTERS)

The Android operating system was released in 2008 and has received five major updates since then, along with a number of updates in between releases. Android 1.5 Cupcake became the first commercially available release and made its debut on T-Mobile's G1, also known as the HTC Dream. Google and the Open Handset Alliance later purchased and further developed the software. After a period of seven years, Android has now reached version number 5.1 Lollipop.

Android Lollipop brought a complete overhaul of Android's user interface by including more integration between Google Apps, attractive system animations and features, and security upgrades. The new design language was dubbed Material Design and Google finally introduced Android to the public.

Google's next version of Android, which is known only as Android 6.0 or Android M, is likely to be introduced towards the end of the year in its new Nexus devices. Designer Vladislav Vitula believes that Google could name its next Android build Muffin, as Android's next iteration should start with an M, since Android 1.0 was called Alpha and 2.0 named Beta, followed by Android 1.5 Cupcake and so on until Android 4.4 KitKat and Android 5.0 Lollipop were introduced.

Vitula has visualized Android 6.0 Muffin complete with new features such as Multi-Window and Quick Reply. The Multi-Window feature, which is already available on some Samsung and LG devices, allows users to run two apps side-by-side and simultaneously. The feature can help in multitasking, particularly in devices with large displays, such as phablets, so that users can comfortably visualize two apps at once.

The Quick Reply feature will allow users to answer incoming notifications straight from a notification appearing in the status bar. Vitula's concept video showcasing Muffin certainly reveals some pretty useful features that users would surely like to be made standard in Android.

 

Copyright © 2015 Ecumenical News