Google Play Store

It’s no secret that smartphone games with in-app purchases (IAPs) are a revenue generator for both the developer and app stores. A Google Play Points promotion today highlights mobile gaming whales just a bit too much.

Google this evening said it reached a proposed Play Store settlement with a group of US developers that would primarily establish a $90 million fund.

As announced in March, Google Play users on Android are starting to see the Movies & TV store disappear from the app.

In addition to the web redesign becoming more widely available, Google Play is rolling out a rather granular “Compatibility for your active devices” section for app listings on Android.

As first tested in November, Google is rolling out a big redesign of the web Play Store that brings it inline with other services after many years of the same user interface. 

Google and Match Group have signed a temporary agreement so that any in-app payments made in Tinder and Hinge will be made using a third-party system.

In addition to other Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) announcements today, Google is making it easier to find accessible Android apps in the Play Store.

Last week, a handful of Google apps opened preview programs, but new versions have yet to emerge. The Play Store now says that the Wear OS companion app is getting a beta.

After a long wait and a number of limited region-locked beta previews, Apex Legends Mobile is now available for all Android users on the Google Play Store.

Google announced recently that it would purge the Play Store of outdated Android apps that didn’t support the platform’s latest features or had been neglected. According to a new report, Google’s crackdown will remove nearly 900,000 outdated Android apps from the Play Store.

In addition to a slew of new developer features at I/O 2022, Google is testing a Play Store tweak on Android that lets users see more information about apps without having to open the full listing.

At its core, Google I/O has always been a developer-focused event. Here are the biggest announcements that Google made during the I/O developer keynote and beyond.

Back in March, Google halted Android app and subscription purchases in Russia due to sanctions. Google Play is now “blocking the downloading of paid apps and updates to paid apps in Russia starting May 5, 2022.”

Google announced that the Play Store was getting a “Data safety” section last May, and it’s now beginning to roll out after a brief delay. The new section will be fully available over the coming weeks, and full developer adoption is set for July.

In addition to offering user-facing apps, Google Workspace gives companies the ability to manage their employees’ devices. Google Workspace admins now have more control over Android app updates on work devices that use managed Google Play.