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Google Play system updates for August bring Material You to Android Help, AutoFill redesign, and more

Google has laid out the changes coming in August 2022’s Google Play System updates, including Material You for Android’s Help app and a redesign of AutoFill.

While many new Android features arrive with the annual releases like Android 13, our phones also get quite a few updates throughout the year through Google Play Services. That app, combined with the Play Store and the “Google Play system updates” introduced with Android 10, forms the basis for much of what makes our phones smart. Every month, Google shares what’s new across these three pillars, with new patch notes arriving throughout the month.

The easiest way to check whether you need to update Google Play Services on your phone is to follow a direct link to the app’s Play Store listing and update from there, if available. To update the Play Store, tap your avatar in the corner, then “Settings.” Under the “About” section, you’ll see an option to “Update Play Store.” Meanwhile, Google Play system updates can be found through the Settings app, under About phone > Android version > Google Play system update.

Despite the first patch notes arriving nearly halfway through the month, there’s not too terribly much to talk about in August’s Google Play System updates. The one change that will likely be noticed by the most people is a redesign of Android’s AutoFill system. We’ll be keeping an eye out for this redesign over the coming weeks.

Elsewhere, we also see that Google is planning to bring a Material You redesign, complete with dynamic colors, to Android’s built-in help system. So far, this does not appear to be live, even on devices running Android 13.


Google Play System updates for August 2022

Google Play Store

  • Improvements to Play-as-you-download feature to let gamers start playing mobile games while the app download continues to reduce waiting times
  • New features to help you discover the apps and games you love
  • Optimizations allowing faster and more reliable download and installation
  • New features to the Play Pass and Play Points programs
  • Enhancements to Google Play Billing
  • Continuous improvements to Play Protect to keep your device safe
  • Various performance optimizations, bug fixes, and improvements to security, stability, and accessibility

Support

  • [Phone] This release adds link groups to GoogleHelp to give users detailed help instructions from apps.
  • [Phone] Adds support for Material 3 dynamic color in Android Help

System management and diagnostics

  • [Phone] New settings screens provide better visibility into and control over the functionality in Google Play services on your device.

Utilities

  • [Phone] New UI for AutoFill

Wallet

  • [Phone] Allows users to add new eMoney cards to Google Pay to pay on transit and in stores in Japan

Developer services

  • New developer features for Google and third-party app developers to support Location & Context-related developer services in their apps

System Management

  • Updates to system management services that improve security and stability.

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Avatar for Kyle Bradshaw Kyle Bradshaw

Kyle is an author and researcher for 9to5Google, with special interests in Made by Google products, Fuchsia, and uncovering new features.

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