Google is widely rolling out a new “Government” badge in the Play Store to helpful identify official Android apps.
Google Play’s “Government” badge — with an accompanying building icon — will show up in the main Apps feed, search results, and on listings. It prominently appears next to an application’s rating. Tapping provides a brief explanation: “Official government — Play verified this app is affiliated with a government entity.”
At launch, the label will appear on official state and federal government apps in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, United Kingdom, and the United States.
In the US, examples include apps from NASA, FEMA, and IRS2Go. Others include public works, voting, identification, and parking tools.
The Play Store has been testing this feature for a few months with over 3,000 Government applications getting this badge initially. Google has been working with those governments and their developer partners.
Official parties/agencies are encouraged to use government emails when creating developer accounts. More sensitive apps that deal with voting or ID validation require additional verification before approval. Additional guidance is available here.
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