LG have been through a rough patch recently, with their G4 having boot loop problems and the G3 being vulnerable to a security risk, but there is still some good in this because our LG G4 just got an update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
Just two weeks before the launch of the upcoming G5, the South Korean electronics giant decided to give their aging G4 a new lease on life. With Marshmallow, the G4 will get to reap all the benefits of the new version of Android including stuff like Doze and Now on Tap.
Doze is definitely a much-needed addition to the G4’s repertoire of features because this device has, at best, had a very mediocre battery life from its 3,000 mAh unit. It is a replaceable battery though so things aren’t too bad if you’ve got one on hand.
If you don’t know what Doze does, it basically puts the device into a low power state when it is not being used. Think iPad, and you will sort of get the general idea. In our experience, when we unplugged our Nexus 6P at 100% before heading to bed, once the next morning comes around, the device still has about 98-99% of its battery life left, even with WiFi on.
Now on Tap is another great feature which lets you hold down the home key to let the OS scan what’s on your screen and pick out important highlights such as names, dates, and locations among other things.
You also get access to App Permissions, which lets you individually change each app’s permission settings in the Settings menu. We got our update with a simple notification from our device, but if you haven’t gotten the notification, you can manually check if it has rolled out to your device yet.
Simply head to Settings>General>About phone>Update Center>Software Update. If there is a pending update there will usually be a “1” in a red circle next to the Software Update button. Otherwise, just hit Software Update and hit the “Check now for update” button. If it isn’t there yet, simply wait a few days for it to roll out to you. For reference, the file size for the update is about 880MB.
If you’d like to find out more about this update, head on over here. Or simply pull down your notifications after your G4 has been updated and hit the learn more about Marshmallow notification.