Google Play Edition devices were seen as the newest thing when they were initially announced for the first time. Many tech enthusiasts believed that Google was promoting “GPE” devices, as they were called, to give users access to the hardware they wanted and fast, quick software updates such as that of Android Marshmallow. In other words, someone who wanted an HTC One M8, for example, need not wait until carriers update their device in order to get the latest from Google; they need only buy a device from the Google Play Store (then, now the Google Store) and wait for the update — which would likely arrive a few days after Google updated its Nexus devices. Eventually, the Google Play Edition series was squashed by Google, and rumors of an Android Silver program emerged. Some time after that, Elder Murtazin said that Google would kill off the Nexus program, and Google’s own Dave Burke took to the public media to announce that Google wasn’t looking to eliminate the Nexus program. Some time later, here we are with Google’s Nexus 6P that was a collaboration with Android OEM Huawei.
The HTC One M8 Google Play Edition was given Bluetooth certification some days ago, but HTC has now started rolling out Android Marshmallow to the device. HTC also intends to roll out the update to its other smartphones such as the One M8 (non-Google Play Edition), One M9, One M9+, One E8, Desire 826, Desire 816, One M8 EYE, One ME, and the Butterfly 3.
For those who want to know, the HTC One M8 Google Play Edition Android Marshmallow update weighs about 450.4MB in size, meaning that it’s quite a significant update. Of course, Marshmallow brings some new and exciting changes to Android as a whole, and HTC One M8 GPE users will most certainly enjoy the update before the rest of HTC’s customer base. Keep in mind though, that HTC will not provide security updates on a monthly basis like Google, however, because to do so is “unrealistic.” Most consumers look forward to major updates because of the security patches and bug fixes, but HTC is trying to remain realistic and not overpromise as it has done in the past. The other One M8 models and the One M9 will both get Android Marshmallow, according to HTC, by the end of 2015 — so it’s only a matter of days before these models receive Google’s latest sweet treat.
In any case, go ahead and hit that software update button to get Android Marshmallow for your HTC One M8 GPE device. When you’re done, come back and let us know what new changes you see that you like about Marshmallow — and what you’d like to see in future Android updates.
