Google releases update to Android Play Store

Google is pushing out a new update for the Google Play app on Android devices. According to Android Police, the update brings many new features to Google Play.

The biggest change in the update is that a screen pops up after you install new apps. The screen is a transition between the last step in the installation of the app, and jumping back to the screen that shows the progress of the download and installation. The new screen helps showcase some of the lesser known apps on Google Play through the ‘Users Also Installed’ segment.

Another addition to Google Play is a Remove icon in the ‘My Wishlist’ section, which is similar to the one that was added to the ‘All’ tab of ‘My Apps’.

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There is now also a translate button in app descriptions that are in another language.

Play Store for Android devices has been updated

There have been some other changes under the hood of Google Play. The Play Store now requests two new permissions: ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION and ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION. Google has also bundled in a new library in the app called keyczar. The Google Wallet app also bundles this library.

There is also a new ‘Improve these recommendations’ button at the top of the ‘Recommended for You’ section that allows you to add people to your Google Plus friends circle, which probably helps Google’s algorithm in deciding new apps to recommend.

Back in October, Google had declared that Google Play now houses more than 700,000 apps. Google Play and App Store are now miles ahead of the Windows Store. Microsoft recently announced that the Windows Store has around 120,000 apps in its arsenal.

Google earlier rolled out an update (version number is 3.9.16) for its official marketplace for Android apps, Google Play. The latest update to the store allows you to remove apps from the All Apps list, which records all your app downloads to date, in addition to remembering your location in lists, and new icons for notifications and installed apps.

In addition, the updated Play Store remembers where you are when looking at a list, including the All Apps list as well as the My Apps list. This feature will remember your location in a list, so that whenever you click on an option in a list and go back, you’re returned right to the place where you were earlier.

What’s more, you can now multi-select apps in the All Apps list. Selecting multiple apps is done by long-pressing an app, and tapping the More apps option. You can delete apps from the lists in one go.

Google has also chosen to change the notification icon for new app updates. Notifications by Play Store are now expandable, and show more information about app updates. The icon for individual apps after they are installed no longer shows a generic icon; you now get the icon for the app in the notification after you install it.