Preview 3 came out on 17 August 2015, with the official Android 6.0 SDK. The same post named the release Marshmallow and fixed it at API level 23. Google Play began accepting apps that target API 23 on every channel: Alpha, Beta and Production.
| Release date | 17 August 2015 |
| Build | MPA44I |
| Devices | Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Nexus Player, over the air or by flashing |
| Emulator | x86 and ARM, 32- and 64-bit; Android 6.0 SDK through the SDK Manager |
| Google Play services | 7.8 |
| API status | Final, API level 23; system images near final and not meant for consumer use |
It was late. The plan had been “near final, late July”; on 31 July Android
Police reported that Google would miss that date. The first Preview 3 images
were build MPA44G, and Google replaced them the same day with MPA44I,
which the preview site lists as the Preview 3 build.
What Preview 3 finalised
Google called the API changes since Preview 2 “fairly incremental”:
- Permissions UI. The permission dialogs and settings took their final form, with some behaviour changes.
GET_ACCOUNTS. It joined theCONTACTSgroup as “dangerous”, so apps targeting API 23 must request it at runtime.READ_PROFILEandWRITE_PROFILEleft theCONTACTSgroup.- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE scans. Apps targeting API 23 need a location permission to get scan results. Apps targeting API 22 or lower still get them, but only in the foreground.
- Fingerprint API. Better error reporting, a better enrolment flow and enumeration support.
Support Library 23 shipped the same day, with new customtabs, percent,
recommendation and preference libraries, and backward-compatible helpers for
the permission and fingerprint APIs.
Preview builds could not take consumer updates. To get the public release, which reached Nexus devices on 5 October, testers had to flash a factory image by hand.