14 DAY TRIAL // Google announced the advent of Android M at its Google I/O 2015 conference in late May, and soon afterwards, the search giant released the Developer Preview for the Nexus 5, 6, 9 and Nexus Player.
But perspectives that older devices such as the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 (2012) or Nexus 10 would also get a taste of Android M were gloomy. Even so, a few days ago, we told you that things were not that grim and there was still hope that Google would update these aging models.
Anyway, while we wait to see if this is the case or not, a member of the xda-developers forum has managed to make a port from the Android M SDK images and source code that has been released so far for the Nexus 7 (2012), so owners of the device are invited to test out the Android M preview.
However, we must draw your attention to the fact that this isn’t an official port. What’s more, the work on the port is not finished, so you should expect to see quite a lot of bugs and problems plaguing it.
Notice: the port is riddled with issues
The developer has provided a list of currently known issues, including no Wi-Fi connection, no Bluetooth, no NFC, no GPS, screenshots over ADB don’t work, SELinux is set to permissive and very weak security. Other issues will probably soon be discovered, as users go ahead and test out the device.
Luckily, the ROM was designed to allow multi-ROM support. This means that, while you are testing Android M on the Nexus 7 (2012), you’ll also be allowed to have an additional fully working ROM installed on the device.
What’s more, the multi-window option has been enabled in this build, even if it’s not on by default in the standard preview. Those who have tested this feature claim that it is working smoothly so far.
However, expect that not all apps will work and you’ll be greeted with numerous forced shutdowns and glitches. Hopefully, the developer will be able to fix the most major problems soon and the testing will continue.
Would you try Android M on your Nexus 7 (2012)?
