Google Play highlights recent multi-device improvements to the store

Abner Li | Sep 27 2022 - 10:00 am PT

Google Meet app in Play Store on Android

To make the Play Store on phones a better hub for finding apps for Wear OS, televisions, and cars, Google in recent months has rolled out a trio of updates to offer a better multi-device experience.

The most recent enhancement, which rolled out last week, is an “Other devices” top tab in the Games and Apps feeds. This makes app recommendations for Wear OS, Android/Google TV, and Android Automotive easier to access than before.

In addition to curation and editorials, the Play Store in December introduced device filters when searching. This only shows the form factors signed into your account, with Google recently switching to actual device names for the filters instead of more generic categories. That said, Samsung watches are represented by their model number instead of something more discernible, like the product name.

Lastly, when you find an app, the listing page lets you “install it remotely from [your] phone by selecting the target device and clicking the install button.” It’s unfortunate that the default behavior remains installing on all devices, which makes sense for phone and watch but not televisions in my experience. Meanwhile, the last mockup/screenshot shows ratings for the app on each form factor.

Google today also highlighted how the Play Store website is multi-device friendly with prominent form factor chips at the top. (The client would very much benefit from a dark theme.)