Google Play Store

Both Google and Apple have come under regulatory scrutiny over the past few years due to practices with their respective mobile app stores and the lack of competition. As it turns out, Microsoft has been quietly working on its own mobile game store that would take on the Play Store and App Store, but it depends on a forthcoming acquisition.

Google previewed a Play Store tablet, foldable, and large screen redesign at I/O in May, and the most important aspect of it is coming in 2023.

As telegraphed by September’s Google Play system update, the Wear OS Play Store is beginning to get its new redesign.

The Play Store is one of the 20 first-party apps getting optimized for tablets and Google is kicking off the redesign with a navigation rail.

To make the Play Store on phones a better hub for finding apps for Wear OS, televisions, and cars, Google in recent months has rolled out a trio of updates to offer a better multi-device experience.

To better highlight that the Play Store is increasingly home to more than just phone apps, Google is adding a prominent “Other devices” section for watch, televisions, and car apps.

Back in March, Google announced that it would allow Android apps to use their own payment system as long as Play Store billing was offered alongside it. Google Play is now letting non-gaming developers around the world sign up for the User Choice Billing pilot, while naming which markets it will be tested in.

With the addition of the developer-generated Data safety section this year, Google Play removed the old list of app permissions. The Play Store is now reversing this decision in response to user feedback and will have both coexist.

Samsung can take credit for helping give Wear OS new life, and it’s an effort that’s paying off for everyone. During Unpacked today, Google revealed a few new features coming to Wear OS later this year, including a revamped Play Store and better Google Maps support.

Google Play makes use of a strike system for apps, with multiple resulting in termination and removal. The company is now piloting a training course (and assessment) that gives Android developers the opportunity to have the “strike count against their account’s standing waived.”

In response to user criticism, Google Play is bringing back the list of app permissions, but another curious Store change sees version numbers removed from the App info section.

Google has just issued new policy updates for Play Store developers, and the new rules take aim directly at misinformation, impersonation, and annoying game ads… among other things.

Google last changed the Play icon in 2016 when Play Movies & TV, Music, and Newsstand were still vibrantly kicking. Over six years later, the Google Play Store is getting a new logo.

In March of 2012, the “Android Market” was rebranded into “Google Play.” To mark 10 years, Google is introducing a new logo for the Play Store, and there’s also a 10x Play Points booster to celebrate the decade. 

Following regulation in South Korea last year and a somewhat more voluntary “User Choice Billing” in March, Google announced today that it would soon allow nongaming Android apps to offer users in Europe (European Economic Area) an alternative to Google Play’s billing system.

Just in time for Pixel 6a and Pixel Buds Pro pre-orders to open, the Play Store now allows you to redeem Play Points toward as much as $200 off Google Store purchases.

Since permissions were added to Android as a platform, the Google Play Store has shown a list of all potential permissions that an app could use before installing that app. Now, the Play Store has removed that list.