Google Play Store

We first heard about Google’s “Designed for Families” Play Store program in mid-May, and Google officially announced that it would be adding new family-focused features to the Play Store at Google I/O 2015. Now, a new section labeled as “New Family Fun” is popping up on the Play Store, featuring the friendly star mascot, iconic character categories, and more…
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Sony briefly releases companion Android app for SmartBand 2, confirms heart rate monitor

Chance Miller Jun 4 2015 - 7:18 pm PT

While Sony has yet to officially announce a second generation SmartBand fitness tracker, it briefly released a companion Android app this evening for the device before quickly taking it down. The app, no longer available in the Play Store, was simply titled SmartBand 2 and gave a handful of features we can expect to find in Sony’s upcoming wearable (via Xperia Blog).

Google Opinion Rewards question suggests the future launch of a “Google monthly movie pass”

Chance Miller Jun 3 2015 - 8:01 pm PT

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Google’s Opinion Rewards surveys are home to a variety of different types of questions, but Google+ user Hugo Seijas today received a question that was a bit puzzling. The question reads, “Do you have a Google monthly movie pass?,” even though Google offers no such thing as a monthly movie pass.

Google Keyboard v4.1 syncs your custom dictionary across devices, removes some features

Tom Maxwell Jun 3 2015 - 5:29 pm PT

Google today released a new version of the official Google Keyboard to the Play Store, most notably bringing along with it dictionary syncing to Google accounts (Apps for Business accounts excluded, it seems) and the ability to access emoji from physical Bluetooth keyboards.

Google Play Store now displaying age-based ratings

Tom Maxwell May 29 2015 - 11:00 pm PT

We reported back in May that Google was adding age-based ratings to all apps in the Play Store as determined by the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), and now it seems those ratings are starting to appear like in the example above.

Some apps display “Unrated” where the rating should be, which either means the developer didn’t complete the surveys Google asked them to by the beginning of May, or the IARC hasn’t finished rating all apps in the store yet. Google warned in the announcement of age-based that by not completing these simple surveys about their apps by May, developers would risk having their apps blocked in some territories.

The IARC ratings will vary by region, as different territories like the EU and United States have their own participating bodies in the IARC who set their own standards – the ESRB in the US, for example –but they shouldn’t vary too widely. Below are the ratings for the United States.

E: Suitable for all ages but “May contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.”
E10: Suitable for everyone age 10 and up.
T: Suitable for teens age 13 and up, may include crude humor and minimal blood, simulated gambling and the possibility of strong language.
M: For age 17 and up, may include intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and strong language.
AO: Adults only, ages 18 and up. Intense violence, graphic sex and gambling with real money.

Google says age-based ratings “will give developers an easy way to communicate familiar and locally relevant content ratings to their users and help improve app discovery and engagement by letting people choose content that is right for them.“

Google highlights best-in-class app designs with Material Design Showcase & Awards

Zac Hall May 29 2015 - 9:40 am PT

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtu7ZOQScrI]

As part of Google I/O week, the company is highlighting a number of Play Store apps that use Material Design in different ways. To do this, Google is launching the Material Design Showcase on the Play Store and issuing Material Design Awards to select apps for the first time.
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Google Play Store getting custom landing pages, smarter search, and A/B testing

Tom Maxwell May 28 2015 - 2:49 pm PT

Besides improvements in surfacing family-friendly content, Google’s Play Store is getting a couple updates that developers in particular should be happy about, which we learned about today at the company’s I/O conference.

Google Play Store gaining new features for discovering family-friendly apps, videos, & books

Zac Hall May 28 2015 - 12:29 pm PT

Google gave some stage time today at the I/O conference to a few family-focused changes coming to the Google Play Store. Families can now find age appropriate digital content from apps to game to books to movies and TV shows by tapping a new “Family” button.

This will take you to a section for each media type that allows you to browse for content by age and interest. When you browse the Play Store after tapping the Family button, you’re presented with more than just a curated section of content as other elements of the digital store change as well.
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Google I/O: 4000 Android devices & Wear apps, 17M Chromecasts sold, Android TV/Auto growth, 1B+ users, more

Jordan Kahn May 28 2015 - 10:23 am PT

Google is kicking off its I/O developer conference today with its usual keynote presentation. The focus this year was the future of Android with a lot of stage time dedicated to Android Wear smartwatches, Android M, its new Android Pay service, and much more. Below we’re rounding up some of the stats and numbers shared by Google execs on stage including updates on the user base for its core services and how its new Android platforms have grown over the last year:
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Google Search Console gains new report types for indexed Android apps

Stephen Hall May 22 2015 - 10:47 am PT

Following the recent rebrand of Google’s Webmaster Tools to “Search Console,” the Mountain View company has now announced that it is introducing new reports to help app developers get better insight into how their indexed Android app is performing in search…
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Snake Rewind (from the creator of the original Snake) lands on the Play Store

Stephen Hall May 14 2015 - 7:36 am PT

Snake Rewind has been getting a lot of hype, mostly because it was—at least partially—created by the maker of the original “Snake” mobile game from the 90s. Taneli Armanto in partnership with a game studio by the name of Rumilus Design announced the game earlier this month, but now it has officially landed in the Play Store.

The game is definitely inspired by the ancient dumbphone game, but this version has been updated to meet the tastes of a 2015 mobile gaming crowd. You’ll find a variety of fruit that the Snake can eat, 10 levels all with their own style and music, and the ability to compete against others via leaderboards and Facebook connect.

Here’s the full feature list:

– Rewind the snake to continue the game even after crashing!
– Many different types of special fruit, with unique powers and effects!
– 10 levels with distinct visuals and music, unlocked by completing fun and challenging missions!
– Fruit store where boosters and items can be upgraded and purchased, using fruit that you collect while playing!
– Compete against other players for higher scores and rankings on the leaderboards, connect with friends on Facebook and Game Center!
– Fill the whole screen with the snake and find out what happens then!

You can get Snake Rewind on the Play Store for free (but don’t be surprised if you stumble on a few in-app purchases along the way).

Nova Launcher 4.0 w/ Material Design goes stable, packs a few new features

Stephen Hall May 14 2015 - 7:10 am PT

We told you back in March when the first Material-redesigned beta of Nova Launcher came out, but now Kevin Barry, the app launcher’s creator, has officially released the new Nova Launcher on its stable channel…
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Play Store apps can now be listed as ‘coming soon,’ let you ‘pre-register’

Stephen Hall May 9 2015 - 8:55 am PT

As of sometime yesterday, apps in the Play Store can now be listed in search results as “Coming soon”, and clicking on them takes you to a standard listing page that offers the opportunity to “Pre-register”. The first app to take advantage of this functionality is the upcoming Terminator Genisys: Revolution game from Glu…
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Google reportedly planning to introduce A/B testing for Play Store listings at I/O

Stephen Hall May 5 2015 - 8:05 am PT

According to a report this morning from The Information, Google is planning to introduce an interesting new feature for Play Store listings at this year’s Google I/O developers’ conference. A common practice within apps themselves, new “A/B testing” would allow developers to test multiple versions of their app listings to see which ones bring the most conversions…

Google Play Store updated w/ new animation, popular quotes from reviews section

Chance Miller May 4 2015 - 2:47 pm PT

Google today has started rolling out an update to the Play Store app that bumps it to version 5.5. The update doesn’t add much, but it keeps with Google’s trend of enhancing the design of its in-house apps. With Play Store 5.5, Google has added a new circular animation that appears when you tap on a TV show title.

Two major carriers opt out of Microsoft’s deal w/ Samsung to pre-install apps on the Galaxy S6

Zac Hall Apr 16 2015 - 8:21 am PT

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You may recall last month that Microsoft announced a major partnership with Samsung to include a number of mobile apps on the flagship Galaxy S6 out-of-the-box. While bundled apps may be considered bloatware for many consumers, the deal meant Microsoft’s Android apps would gain a lot of exposure for adopters of arguably the best 2015 Android smartphone. The results of that deal may vary, though, as two major carriers have introduced roadblocks to some of Microsoft’s apps for their versions of the Galaxy S6…
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Google’s new ‘Designed for Families’ program lets developers mark their apps as kid-friendly

Stephen Hall Apr 14 2015 - 10:39 am PT

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Google is inviting developers to opt-in to a new program launching on Google Play, which will distinguish apps that meet certain requirement as being “family-friendly.” The program, called “Designed for Families” is launching “in several weeks,” and will bring a new “family-focused” experience to the Mountain View company’s app store…
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App Roundup: Google updates Maps, YouTube, Inbox, Play Music, more

Stephen Hall Mar 19 2015 - 7:55 am PT

Google tends to push several updates to its apps in the middle of the week, and this week has been a particularly eventful one. Updates have landed over the last 24 hours for several apps in Google’s Android inventory, including Inbox, Google Docs (Sheets and Slides, too), YouTube, Quickoffice, Google Maps, and Google Play Music.

Google enabling new video-trimming feature in YouTube app for Android

Stephen Hall Feb 27 2015 - 10:08 am PT

When uploading a video to YouTube, especially from a mobile device, it’s pretty common not to want to upload a clip in its entirety. Now, Google says that it is updating the YouTube app for Android to fix this problem—you can now use a new video-trimming feature to cut off the beginning or end of your clip prior to upload.

We’re proud to introduce a new video-trimming feature and inline video previews for our app. Now you can select the exact frame where the video starts and ends, giving you precise control of your trims in a simple, intuitive way. Additionally, there is now an inline video preview before the video is uploaded. And with faster upload capability, it’s never been easier to upload your YouTube videos on-the-go!

Simply drag the frame on both ends of the video to trim it where you’d like, as you can see above, and you can touch and hold the frame to get a closer view of where the video is being trimmed. Then you can tap “got it” when you’re done, and then the app will let you preview what your video will look like prior to publish.

The latest version of the app can be downloaded from the Play Store, but it’s not actually an app update that’s bringing this feature. Users who have already downloaded the YouTube app should see the feature turned on server-side. Notably, it doesn’t look like the iOS app has this feature quite yet.

Google has now paid Android developers $7B in past 12 months; testing sponsored app searches

Ben Lovejoy Feb 26 2015 - 6:03 am PT

Google paid developers a total of $7B in the past 12 months from a mix of app sales and in-app purchases, the company says, closing in on the record $10B payout recently announced by Apple.

Re/code also reports that Google is testing sponsored searches in the Play Store, enabling developers to pay to have their apps show up at the top of searches. Sponsored Play Store searches will work in exactly the same way as they do in the company’s main search engine: developers bidding for keywords, with sponsored apps appearing above organic search results, flagged with a small Ad tag …

New search box user interface rolling out to Play Store Android app

Stephen Hall Feb 20 2015 - 1:59 pm PT

A server-side update is rolling out the Play Store Android app that packs a pretty subtle-yet-big update to the way search works. Currently, there’s a large toolbar at the top of the app labeled “Play Store,” and searching for something means tapping the magnifying glass icon in the top-right corner. This update, which was first posted about on the Google+ page of Kirill Grouchnikov, replaces that toolbar with a much more prominent search box.

Additionally, users will notice that tapping the magnifying glass from elsewhere within the app will slide out the search box from the right. This update will bring the Play Store app more in line with the design of some of Google’s other apps, the one you’re most familiar with likely being the Google Now launcher:

According to another post on Grouchnikov’s Google+ page, the update is coming “soon”. And, as mentioned, this is a server-side update that Google will push over-the-air. Don’t bother checking the Play Store because the app is going to be updated behind the scenes. Like magic.

Google launches official AdWords app for Android, but it’s Canada-only for now

Stephen Hall Feb 18 2015 - 1:41 pm PT

Google has today launched an official app for its AdWords platform, but sadly the company is restricting access to Canada for the time being. This news comes after Google launched its AdWords Express app last year, which was made specifically for the company’s automated AdWords service for small businesses.

Google’s ‘Helpouts’ mobile apps are no longer available for download

Stephen Hall Feb 13 2015 - 8:31 am PT

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Google has today pulled the mobile apps for its Helpouts service from the Play Store and the App Store (via TechCrunch), less than a year after they launched. The service, which allows you to offer on-demand real help to others in live time for a price (or for free), is seemingly no longer available on mobile despite the fact that the apps only launched in April of 2014.
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Google testing a new logo for YouTube that matches mobile apps

Stephen Hall Feb 13 2015 - 6:24 am PT