Google Play Store

As the year comes to a close, it’s time for recaps and Google Play is ready with the best Android apps and games of 2020. Given the scale of the Play Store, all lists — especially Users’ Choice — are localized. You can browse your region by tapping the “Best of 2020” banner at the top of the Play app.

As 2020 comes to a close, Google has now confirmed the shortlist for the Users’ Choice Awards for movies, books, games, and apps.

While it’s relatively rare for Google services to go offline, the phenomenon does occasionally occur. YouTube and YouTube TV (in the US) are currently down, with videos not playing.

Earlier this year, Google quietly published a “Device Lock Controller” app to the Play Store. It’s a way for credit providers to curtail the functionality of a phone that’s being financed if payments are missed.

Long settings pages — no matter how necessary each option is — can be intimidating to users. The Google Play Store is now readying a new settings page that offers an alternate design on Android.

The Google Play Store continues to test new features on an almost weekly basis, the latest of which is a direct app-to-app comparison called “Compare apps” option appearing for some, allowing direct feature checking between various similar applications.

Google is no stranger to making tweaks and changes to even its most popular applications and services, especially in the form of A/B tests. The latest looks to be a UI test on the Google Play Store that essentially removes the tried-and-tested side hamburger menu navigation method.

At the start of August, Google provided an official deprecation timeline for Play Music. The incremental shutdown continues today with Google getting rid of the ability to buy music from the Play Store worldwide.

Unlike other popular mobile operating systems, Android has always allowed the installation of third-party app stores. In fact, many Android phones ship with multiple app stores out of the box. After hearing feedback from some third-party developers, Google now says it plans to make installing and using third-party app stores easier with the next major release of Android…

As rumored last week, Google today announced that it will require all Android apps downloaded from the Play Store to use its billing system for in-app purchases (IAPs). The company also noted how its own first-party apps will adapt to this.

According to a report this morning from Bloomberg, Google plans to crack down on apps that have long circumvented existing Play Store rules related to in-app purchase billing. The crackdown will come in the form of “updated guidelines” as early as next week, the report says, and developers will be given time to comply.

Somewhat overshadowed by the launch of Android 11, Google at the start of this month brought its Phone app to non-Pixel devices and added a new “Verified Calls” capability. To coincide with this launch, the app is now called “Phone by Google” on the Play Store.

Since last year’s Material Theme revamp and dark theme, the Play Store for Android has remained relatively unchanged. Google Play is now working to redesign the “My apps” list, which will soon be called “Manage apps & device,” while we also activated a more integrated P2P sharing experience today.

Following Android Automotive’s launch with the Polestar 2, Google released a support page for car owners. It specifically focuses on how to use Google Assistant, Maps, and the Play Store, starting with the set-up process.