Google Play Store

Despite the fact that Google Photos is the “premiere” photo-focused product from Google, Gallery Go is the lightweight, offline alternative for those with modest Android hardware on offer. Having only been released around 18 months ago, Gallery Go has now amassed 50 million downloads on the Google Play Store.

One thing Google and Android does well is easter eggs, whether it’s the Android logo mini-games or even the in-built Dino game you’ll find in all versions of Google Chrome. Thanks to some intrepid code diggers, it looks like we might see a Google Play Store easter egg being incubated before a future “hatching.”

Over a year ago Google rolled out a completely redesigned Play Store for Android TV, and now the company is giving it a couple of tweaks. Rolling out now, the Play Store for Android TV and, by extension, Google TV, is getting a slight redesign. Here’s what’s new.

There are a number of background services needed to make Android devices run that present themselves as apps that update via the Play Store. Google’s Pixel phones have more than a few, with a small change made recently renaming “Connectivity Health Services” to “Adaptive Connectivity Services.”

Today, only the top books get audio versions narrated by professionals given that recording is a time-consuming process that doesn’t necessarily scale to every published work. Google is now working on auto-generated narrators that can turn more books into audiobooks. 

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.