Sony took its sweet time but from next week Android version 6.0 will finally start rolling out to European Sony 2015 and 2016 TVs. The update includes bug fixes and adds some new features, including the option to use UHB storage.

Update 04.03.2017: Sony has halted the roll out due to technical issues reported with the update.

"We’ve decided to temporarily suspend the Android Marshmallow firmware update, both as an automatic and USB download. This is due to some technical issues that have arisen in the market, during our first initial wave of updates.

While we understand this is an eagerly anticipated update, our priority is to provide a consistent and smooth upgrade experience for all of our customers.

Our TV engineers are working tirelessly to resolve the technical challenges that revolve around producing this major update for the European market, and will restore the update as soon as possible. However, this means that we can’t hit our original roll-out schedule to all TVs by the 8th March."

Update 23.02.2017: The update is now available to download, according to Sony

Android TV 6.0 for Sony TVs
Sony released the update in the US in December 2015 but for some reason it took two more months to arrive in Europe. The update will bring Android 6.0 to 2015 and 2016 Sony TVs.

Specifically, the update applies to all 2015 Sony TVs (that came with Android) as well as spring 2016 models. Sony’s autumn 2016 models came with version 6.0 of the operating system pre-installed.

Google says that Android TV 6.0 includes mostly bug, performance, and security fixes to bring the TVs up to speed. However, it also includes new features such as external USB storage, improved search, a new “design concept”, interface tweaks, a “child mode”, a new audio volume bar, and more.

Furthermore, you can control which apps are allowed to push content to the recommendations row. The other rows (apps and games) can be re-organized. We have included a changelog at the bottom.

After the update, some users reported surround issues with Netflix. It is not clear if Sony has spent the extra two months fixing additional issues.


Will roll out from February 22
The update will begin to roll out in Europa starting on February 22. It will be rolled out in phases to ensure that servers can withstand the pressure.

- ”Meaning that the TVs will start updating in phases beginning February 22nd and the update is fully deployed on all TVs March 8th. After this, all our Android TVs will run on Android 6.0,” Sony wrote to FlatpanelsHD.

If you want the update on release day you can go to Sony’s support site and download it onto a USB key.

Sony has promised to also bring Android version 7.0 to all 2015, 2016 and 2017 TV models. The company has not confirmed timings but we suspect that it may take a while.


 
Compatible Sony TVs
  
2015 models:
Sony X94C, X93C, X91C, X90C, S85C, S80C, X85C, X83C, X81C, X80C, W95C, W87C, W85C, W80C, W75C
2016 models:
X94D (XD94), X93D (XD93), X85D (XD85), S85D (SD85), W9xxD, W8xxD
Sony Android TV ver. 6.0.1 changes
 
 
 New Design Concept: 
New design concept is introduced to screen design such as background image.


 
 HOME menu:
The same app icon is not displayed on both Featured apps and Apps at the same time.


 
 
HOME menu:
Location of Inputs is moved to the bottom of the HOME screen.


 
 For changing the HOME screen information, also see the following.

 
Volume adjusting bar: 
We moved the volume adjusting bar to the bottom left of the screen and made the picture easy to see.


Expansion of the built-in memory: 
You can move the downloaded games and apps to a USB memory device or HDD as an extended memory.
Displaying programs in each genre: 
When searching TV programs, programs are displayed by genre, such as drama, sports, or music, etc. This will enable you to search programs you want to see more easily. You can display the programs in each genre with the program check function and Genre program guide in the program guide application.

New design of Help menu: 
The Help menu displayed when the HELP button is pressed on the remote control will become user-friendly. You can get information you want much faster through illustrations and by category.

Fixes an issue with the aspect ratio in the ‘Video’ app
Other changes: 
For security reinforcement, licensing is necessary when using a USB device or microphone. If you try to use a device or microphone, the message for licensing is displayed on the screen. 
 
Performance: 
Lots of unspecified bug, performance and security fixes