Android Marshmallow Update Hitting Budget Phones Before Yours

Several Android One devices receive their update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow in India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Nepal. Supposing you have any one of several carrier-infused Android smartphones in your hand right this minute and are waiting for an update to Marshmallow, you may be interested to know that it's not only Nexus devices that'll be getting their software before you. This does not mean Google has betrayed you in any way, shape, or form. It means Google is making good on their promise to bring timely updates to devices – and not just the biggest and the best.

This is not the first time Google has brought an update to Android One devices right after their Nexus lineup. Back in February of this year Android Lollipop hit Android One devices before it hit the far more expensive devices (on carriers) here in the United States. Just as then, here and now the situation is the same: it's not necessarily Google's fault your device doesn't yet have Marshmallow on it.

Android One devices do not have the same modifications done to their software as many devices do here in the United States. If you buy a Samsung smartphone here in the USA, you don't just have Android as Google made it, you have Samsung's own interpretation of the software with their own modifications done to suit their own needs – and yours.

The same is true of HTC, LG, Sony, and more – and it doesn't stop there. That's just one layer of software Google's update to Android has to get through. There's also a number of carrier modifications made when a device is sold through your favorite wireless provider. Apps are added and software is infused.

Google's Android update needs to be fit to the manufacturer's software first, then the carrier's software next, then it can be pushed to you.

That's not true of Android One.

Android One is a low-cost alternative version of Android that's made to work on devices in countries where low-cost (read: budget) smartphones are a must. Google wants to remove all barriers between them and the end customer here, so few to no modifications are done by the manufacturer or the carriers the devices work with.

So Google can push Marshmallow super quick.

That's not going to happen here in the United States. Not unless by some miracle carriers decide they're done with modding phones on their networks and manufacturers stop finding value in creating their own unique software too.

For everyone waiting for their update to Android Marshmallow on pins and needles, we've got a whole collection of official announcements as well as rumors in the timeline below – check and see.