Google Play on tablets, foldables will prioritize high-quality apps & warn about unoptimized ones

Abner Li | Mar 16 2022 - 11:32 am PT

Last year, Google announced that app ratings in the Play Store will be specific to each device type. The company is now continuing that work of improving the large screen experience by surfacing high-quality apps and warning about unoptimized ones .

On tablets, foldables, etc., Google Play will prioritize applications that follow its large screen app quality guidelines:

It encompasses a holistic set of features, from basic compatibility requirements such as portrait and landscape support, to more differentiated requirements like keyboard and stylus capabilities.

Charges to Play’s featuring and ranking logic will specifically impact what gets recommended on the homepage and how search results appear. The end goal is to help “users find the apps that are best optimized for their device.”

Google also said it is “deepening [its] investment in editorial content across Play to highlight apps that have been optimized for large screens.”

Meanwhile, the Play Store is updating the alerts that users see when downloading low quality apps that “don’t meet basic compatibility requirements.” This is meant to “help set expectations for how apps will look and function post-install.”

This will help notify users about apps that may not work well on their large screen devices. We are working to provide additional communications on this change, so stay tuned for further updates later this year.

Lastly, Google reiterated that “users will soon be able to see ratings and reviews split by device type (e.g. tablets and foldables, Chrome OS, Wear, or Auto).” Developers can already preview this score in the Play Console.