April Google System Updates: Play Store gets easier cell data downloads, more [U]

The Google System Updates for April 2023 bring improvements to the Play Store, including making it easier to download apps over cellular data.

There’s so much more to an Android smartphone than just the base operating system, as anyone who’s used a phone without Google apps can tell you. The “smarts” that Google brings to mobile devices primarily come from two crucial apps – Google Play Services and the Play Store – and Android’s monthly “Play system updates.”

Each month, the company rounds up the patch notes for these three components and collectively refers to them as “Google System Updates.” Over the course of the month, as new updates are released, the company will fill in the notes with more details. We do our best to monitor the additions and explain the most important aspects, so be sure to check back 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 month of April being nearly over, Google has only just now shared the first details of this month’s updates. In fact, the company continued to update the March patch notes for weeks after that month had ended.

The first tidbits shared are all focused on the Google Play Store. For starters, if you attempt to install a new app while disconnected from Wi-Fi, depending on your Play Store settings, the download may not begin until you connect to Wi-Fi. In that instance, you can manually choose to begin the download via cellular data, using an option in the app. In the near future (sometime after the Play Store v35.0 update), the option to download over mobile data will also, conveniently, appear in the active download notification.

Meanwhile, another update to the Play Store (version 35.2) should offer “direct access” to Google’s “My Ad Center,” where you’re able to change your advertising privacy settings and/or adjust the kinds of ads that you see. The changelog doesn’t mention where this shortcut will appear, but the Google Account menu (opened by tapping your avatar in the top-right corner) is a likely bet.

Update 5/3: While April may have ended, Google’s patch notes for the month have not. This afternoon, the company shared numerous new features and tidbits.

The biggest highlight is what the notes refer to as “support for Fido2 on the Android Platform.” In practice, this is support for the new “passkey” login for Google Accounts and other supported apps. It seems you’ll need to have Google Play Services version 23.14 to use these.

Nearby Share is getting a small tweak, adding some new instructions to help troubleshoot why your intended recipient may not be appearing.

In the Play Store, the search experience has gotten a revamp. When beginning a new search, your recent search history will also show suggested apps with “limited-time events” as well as “sponsored suggestions.” Meanwhile, the search results page will show useful highlights for some apps/games, including quotes from other people’s reviews.

It’ll also soon be a bit easier to search for apps from the Play Store. An update to Play Services should allow the “All apps” search bar in your app drawer to show results from the Play Store. If done right, this could make it easier to download an app you thought you already had installed.

Lastly, Wear OS watches should see a small boost in battery life after an update to Play Services that tweaks “system management services.”

Google Play System Updates for April 2023

Account Management

• [Auto, Phone, TV, Wear] String improvements to Google sign-in screen shown on enterprise devices.

Device Connectivity

• [Phone] Helpful instructions to discover Nearby receiving device.

Developer Services

• [Phone] New developer features for Google and third party app developers to support Maps & Device Performance related developer services in their apps.

Google Play Store

• New Features to help you discover the Apps & Games you love.
• Optimizations allowing faster and more reliable download and installation.
• Continuous improvements to Play Protect to keep your device safe.
• Various performance optimizations, bug fixes and improvements to security, stability and accessibility.
• [Auto, PC, Phone] Users can allow apps and games to download over cellular data from the download notification while waiting for Wi-Fi.
• [Phone] With this update, you will have direct access to My Ad Center.
• [Phone] When starting a search, you can now see suggestions for apps with limited-time events as well as sponsored suggestions next to your past searches.
• [Phone] On your search results, you can now see key app and game highlights from what others are saying.

Security & Privacy

• [Phone] Adding support for Fido2 on the Android Platform.

Utilities

• [Phone] New developer features for Google and third party app developers to support Utilities related processes in their apps.

System Management

• [Wear] Updates to system management services that improve Battery Life.
• [Phone] New functionality allowing users to search for Play Store apps from the All Apps search box on Android devices.
• [Auto, PC, Phone] Updates to system management services that improve Privacy and Stability.
• [Phone] Bug fixes for System Management & Diagnostics related services.