Google Play Store

Google has removed seven apps from the Google Play Store after research from antivirus maker Avast found them to be stalkerware. The apps allow snoopers to secretly track and spy on phones they were installed on.

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We’ve reported recently on a few issues with malware and shady apps from Chinese developers. The latest report comes in the form of a Google Play Store ban for CooTek after many of its apps were rendered nearly unusable due to invasive ads.

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The Google Play Store on mobile is facing a limited bug this morning that’s stopping some users from checking for updates. Other capabilities like searching for Android apps and downloading are still operational at this time.

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Change logs on the Play Store have been a mess since forever. As long as I’ve been covering Google and Android (which is admittedly not as long as many in this niche), they’ve done absolutely nothing to help me as a user. Nor have they helped me help people understand the changes that are happening to the apps they depend on daily.

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One of the best semi-safety features with the Google Play Store has been the refund decision system. If you made an errant purchase or bought something in an app by mistake, being able to get your money back almost instantly was an incredibly excellent inclusion.
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Back in April, we enabled a massive redesign of the Play Store that introduced the Google Material Theme. With the latest version of Google Play, this revamp is beginning to officially roll out on Android.

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The past couple of years have seen Google under scrutiny for being anti-competitive. Now, a third-party app store by the name of Aptoide is asking Google to “Play Fair” with third-party app stores on Android and open up user choice.

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Following the US blacklist of Huawei, the biggest issue facing the company is software. To offer its users a place to download Android apps following the loss of the Google Play Store, Huawei may bolster up its in-house “AppGallery” market, and it’s also apparently in talks with Aptoide as a replacement.

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One major sore point for developers on the Google Play Store is the way in which the current ‘star rating’ system works. This year at I/O 2019, Google confirmed that there was a serious overhaul to the rating system heading to the Play Store.

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While the Google Play Store might be the biggest in terms of downloads, it suffers due to the lack of monetization when compared to Apple’s App Store. Google has announced at I/O 2019 that users will soon be able to make Google Play Store purchases with cash — yes, the physical stuff.

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Just this month an interview revealed some big new stats for Android TV, and also teased a revamp for the Play Store. Today at Google I/O, the company officially showed off the new interface and it’s a huge improvement.

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Google on the eve of I/O 2019 announced the Play Award winners to celebrate the top Android apps and games. The nominees in nine categories were unveiled late last month, with the ceremony this evening in Mountain View, California.

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For the past several years, the Google Play Awards have recognized the top apps and games for Android. The nominees for 2019’s nine categories were announced today, with winners set to be revealed just before I/O 2019.

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Back in March, Google introduced a new rounded square icon requirement for the Google Play Store on Android and Chrome OS. App developers can choose to enable the new icon specification immediately, with the Google Contacts listing already featuring the updated style.

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In March, Google announced that Android would prompt new and existing users in Europe to select a default web browser and search app. Earlier this month, we saw signs that this “choice” would be handled by Google Play. Google today officially detailed the Play Store interface and it’s availability over the coming weeks.

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The Google Play Store has very quietly rolled out a great new budgeting feature that allows users to set a budget for expenditure and better track your spending (via VentureBeat).

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