Newsletter
Back in November of last year, ASUS had announced a list of its devices that will receive an update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The ZenFone 2 Laser and the ZenFone Max have already received the update last month. However, the Taiwanese company is starting to roll out the update to two more of their devices at the moment, namely the ZenFone Zoom (ZX551KL) and the ZenFone Selfie (ZD551KL).
Since this isn’t an incremental update, users can expect a host of new features and apps to be pre-loaded in this update. The new features and apps which come with the update are, Google Calendar, Google Messenger, Facebook, Facebook Messenger and Instagram. However these features and apps only apply for the ZenFone Zoom. The ZenFone Selfie on the other hand, will receive Google Calendar, Google Messenger, Motion Gesture and the camera will now support ‘Pano Sphere Mode’. Some apps will also no longer be pre-loaded on these devices, once upgraded to Android Marshmallow. The apps are, ASUS Backup, Google Play Books, Google Play Games, Google Play Newsstand, Google+, ZenFlash,
Mirror, Remote Link, Party Link, PC Link, Photo Frame and What’s Next. Most of these apps can be downloaded from the Google Play Store though, so there’s that.
ASUS has also removed certain apps from the ZenFone Zoom and the ZenFone Selfie. The apps which will be removed are, Asus Email, Asus Calendar, Asus Messaging, Asus Browser and Asus Music. The company had announced this move earlier this year, back in February. These apps will no longer exist on these two devices once an update goes through. The company also suggests using apps such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Messenger, Chrome and Google Play Music for relevant services.
In a post on ASUS’ ZenTalk forum, the company has stated that users of both devices will have to manually download the firmware from their official website in order to update their device to Android Marshmallow, or users can wait for the OTA update to arrive. ASUS also warns all users that transferring apps to microSD card is not supported on Android Marshmallow and users should transfer all apps to internal storage before proceeding with the system update.