Latest Google Play Services and Play Store updates bring several improvements to your Android device

Android Police

By Rajesh Pandey

Published Jan 19, 2022

All without needing to update the OS

Google recently started detailing what's new in its monthly Google Play system updates after years of simply rolling out new builds without mentioning their changes. The support page highlighted the December 2021 and January 2022 changelogs, with the latter improving timezone management and adding support for new daylight savings time transition changes in several countries. The company has again updated the page to reflect the enhancements delivered by the latest Play Services and Play Store updates.

First spotted by Droid Life, the changes include the ability to manually add login credentials for sites and apps to the Google Password Manager, an improved way of logging in to Android TV using Android phones, and a new discovery flow on supported Android devices to highlight the changes in a major OS update. Below are all the changes that are a part of the January 2022 update for the Play Store and Play Services.

Account Management

[Auto, Phone, Tablet, TV, Wear OS] Improve the support experience for the Google Account on Android by serving more relevant content to users based on entry point.

Security & Privacy

[Phone] With password addition, you can manually add credentials for apps and sites to the Google Password Manager.

Support

[Auto, Tablet, TV, Wear OS, Phone] New user discovery flow on supported Android devices to explain what's new in a major operating system update.

Utilities

[Phone] With the update to Android TV, users will have a new way of signing in to their TV using Android Phones.

[Phone] With updates to the new version of Contact UI, users can opt in to consents.

Wallet

[Phone] Users will have the ability to search for the agency they are looking for without manually scrolling.

[Auto, Tablet, TV, Wear OS, Phone] Some eligible cardholder users will default to SMS verification.

Developer Services

New developer features for Google & 3rd party app developers to support ads, analytics & diagnostics, machine learning & AI related developer services in their apps.

Improvements to the Sign in with Google user interface

All of the above changes are a part of Google Play Services v22.02.03 and Play Store v28.8, which first started making their way to Android devices last week.