ASUS has updated its Padfone S to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The device which was launched in 2014,with Android 4.4 KitKat, was updated to Android 5.0 a year later in July 2015.
While the device itself is quite outdated, the OEM’s commitment to update it 27 months after it was launched, is worth applauding.
Most Android OEMs including Google, abandon OS updates support for their devices post the 18 month deadline, which is really sad to be honest. Apple in comparison offers 5 years of updates, as evidenced by the iPhone 4s, which received updates from iOS 5 (2011) to iOS 9 (2015).
Now coming back to the Padfone S, the official change log says that the device will see a slight decrease in the internal storage after the update to Android M (version 13.6.5.35). ASUS says that app2sd will not be supported in its Marshmallow based firmware. The update debloats the device completely, and the following 22 apps will be removed post the update.
ASUS Backup, Mirror, Remote Link, Party Link, PC Link, Photo Frame, What's Next, ASUS MyFrame, ASUS MyWater, Omlet, Data Transfer, Snap View, Dr. Safety, Google+, Play Games, Play Books, Play Newsstand, EZ 訂 (TW SKU), Dr. Eye (TW SKU), Yahoo 購物中心 (TW SKU), Pubu飽讀電子書, (TW SKU), 城邦隨身e冊 (TW SKU).
In addition to this, Asus Email, Asus Calendar, Asus Messaging, ASUS Browser, Puffin Browser, Yandex search, Yandex Browser and ASUS Music will be removed after Factory Reset (if you choose to do it). ASUS does have some of its apps on the Play Store, and for the rest it is suggestiung users to use Google apps.
The ASUS Padfone S PF500KL, will add two new apps after the update. Google Calendar and Google Messenger. The Android 6.0 update will not support multi-user, but you can continue using the current account with multi-user. The update brings Android 6.0’s features such as App Permissions, Doze Mode, etc to the device.
Note: ASUS has advised users updating to the new firmware, to uninstall the ASUS Launcher to avoid layout issues in the PAD mode (Tablet Dock).
You can manually check for the Marshmallow update by navigating to Settings > About > Software Information > Build number.
via: ASUS Zentalk