Google Play Store

The saga of Fortnite on Android has had a lot of ups and downs as Epic Games tried to avoid paying the Play Store’s cut of in-app purchases, but things could have been very different if Epic Games had accepted a deal offered by Google which would have paid $147 million just to get the game on the Play Store.

As the year winds down, Google Play has opened voting for the 2023 Users’ Choice Awards. You can select the best new Android app and game, as well as book.

Google Camera has been exclusive to Pixel devices for several years now, and it’s now being renamed on the Play Store to better reflect that fact.

As part of the September 2023 Google System Updates, Android is set to gain better support for using a PIN with the FIDO2 security standard, among other improvements.

Update: Ahead of the expected October launch of Android 14, Google is now discussing the addition of stylus and trackpad gestures for Android’s built-in web browser.

Google has quietly made an update to the Play Store on Wear OS, with app listings in search getting much bigger cards that show more information.

In addition to lists and other written recommendations, a YouTube Shorts video series called “The Play Report” is the latest piece of editorial content coming to the Google Play Store. 

The dark theme across Google’s first-party apps is generally more gray than black. Google Play is now testing a much darker dark theme.

In the lead-up to the Pixel Tablet and Fold, the Play Store received a large screen redesign, and Google today detailed the four key changes.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has finally hit the mobile world with a new app on the App Store for iOS. With that, OpenAi promises that a ChatGPT app will be coming to Android “soon.”

One advantage of Google Play Billing is the ability to manage your subscriptions in one place, but that UI and functionality are currently broken on Android.

For most people, a lot of the apps they use on their Android phones are made directly by Google. Here’s an informal look at how Android users rate the top Google apps, with the highest-rated apps being somewhat surprising.

The Google System Updates for June 2023 are set to include Google Wallet improvements for foldables and more.

Update: The Play Store is set to gain a new tab, while Google Password Manager is getting some improvements.