play store - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

[I/O 2013] Google Gives Developers A 'Better Distribution Experience' In Revised Play Store Console Coming 'This Summer'

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Development, News

Between Hangouts, the gorgeous new Maps, Play Music All Access, and everything else discussed in I/O's opening keynote this morning, several revisions to the Play Store developer's console were announced.

Perhaps the most interesting addition to the console will be an organized method for alpha and beta testing, and staged rollouts. Basically, developers can select alpha and beta testers, receiving all feedback directly (instead of through reviews) and, when the time comes, roll out the app to certain percentages of the user base.

The changes also include a major help in ensuring your apps make sense to international users – a full translation service by which developers can order specific translations, come back a week or so later, and download the translations directly from the console.

May

Download: Latest Google Play Store 4.1.6 - Sweet New Designs And OCD Fixes

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Apps/Games, News

A hot new Play Store update just hit the internet. We're now up to version 4.1.6. So far we've spotted a much nicer looking button and wishlist designs, more consistent menu text, and a few minor visual tweaks, like new open/uninstall buttons.

Here's the new content section buttons, which are a lot more inviting than the old designs. The open and uninstall buttons got a slight tweak, too.

I really like the new button designs, but my favorite thing is that they changed "My Wishlist" to "My wishlist" after we all complained about it on Google+. The wishlist UI has switched from a list view to a card style.

May

All Developers Can Now Reply Directly To App Reviews In The Google Play Store

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Google, News

If you've spent as much time on the Google Play Store as I have, you begin to recognize a pattern: developers asking (and sometimes begging) users to email them directly with complaints or bugs, because they can't reply to that snarky review left in lieu of a bug report. After years and years of frustration for devs who just want to make their apps better, Google has finally rolled out a direct reply feature. Developers, you can now reply to user reviews using your developer console.

This has been a long time coming. A number of developers had been included in the testing program for the better part of a year, and rumors of a wide rollout have been circulating for a while.

May

Want Advanced Play Store Filtering (Such As Seeing Just Paid Apps) And Ability To Add Your Own eBooks Into Play Books? Do This Now

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Google, News

I know many of you have been longing for a way to filter the apps you've paid for into one convenient list. Neither the web nor the app Play Store currently allow this, despite years of outcry. Things are looking up, however, as I believe Google is finally paying attention.

You see, there is a little-known official channel with current top suggestions for Play Store-related features called Suggest a feature for Google Play. You can suggest your own ideas at the bottom, but it also contains a curated list of current top suggestions you can vote for by clicking Suggest it (I think it's a little ambiguous to have a Suggest it button in a list of existing suggestions - it should probably be called Vote for it).

May

PYKL3 Radar, One Of The Most Advanced Radar Apps On Android, On Sale For 50% Off ($4.99)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Deals, News

There are people who don't care about weather forecasts (like me), people who do care (probably the majority of you), and then there are people who want to know everything about the weather to the point that these images a) make sense and b) replace porn for them. If you belong to the latter category and haven't bought the pricey $9.99 PYKL3 Radar yet, I have some good news that may just help pull the trigger.

The app is on sale for 50% off, making it $4.99. That's half of RadarScope's price too, which I would say is its primary competitor.

May

[Deal Alert] 16GB Nexus 4 For $375 - Ships Internationally And Could Be Cheaper Than The Play Store

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Deals, LG, News, Nexus 4

The latest and greatest Nexus phone - the 16GB Nexus 4 - is available in limited quantities for $375 from eBay Daily Deals today. "But it's selling for $349.99 from the Play Store!" you might exclaim. "How is this a deal?" Let me break it down a bit.

U.S.

You will find that Google may charge tax in your state. For example, in California, the Play Store adds on $30.54 of tax for me. The charge may be less in your state, or you may not get charged for tax at all, in which case the deal isn't as much of a deal anymore.

May

Barnes & Nobile Announces Google Play For The Nook HD And HD+, Inches Them Closer To 'Real Tablet' Status

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, NOOK HD, NOOK HD+

It's no secret that I've long been against calling the Nook and Kindle Fire series "Android tablets," as neither is more than a glorified e-reader to me. Today, Barnes & Noble dropped a bomb on that way of thinking, as it announced that the full array of Google Play services will now be available on the Nook HD and Nook HD+, essentially turning them into full-fledged tablets.

Moving forward, all Nook HD and HD+ tablets will ship with Google services – including the Play Store, YouTube, Gmail, Chrome, and the like – but for those who already own HD/HD+ units, the new features will be showing up via an OTA update to v2.1.0, which should begin rolling out today.

Apr

Google Drops The Hammer, Bans Facebook (And All Others) From Performing Non-Play Store App Updates

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Shortly before the Facebook Home launch, some users noticed a new version of Facebook was available on their device, but it wasn't through the Play Store. Instead, the update came directly through the app, bypassing the Store altogether. Naturally, there was outrage, people were angry, felt violated, and whatnot. For Facebook, however, this was a way of getting a beta version of its app out to some users without having to give it to all users. It did a similar sort of update just last night, proving that this wasn't just a one-time thing.

Regardless of why Facebook has chosen to circumvent the Play Store for its own update mechanism, though, that didn't sit too well with Google.

Apr

Download: Latest Google Play Store 4.0.27

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Apps/Games, News

A minor update to the new, cleaner Google Play Store v4.0 started rolling out earlier today. The new version is 4.0.27 which follows closely the previous version from April 19th - 4.0.26.

There is a more recent version of the Play Store available for download here: Download: Latest Google Play Store 4.1.6 - Sweet New Designs And OCD Fixes

And a few earlier ones:

Ron and I tore down the apk but found only minor changes to translations and a small change to the manifest that removed android:excludeFromRecents="true" from one of the billing activities.

Apr

Wednesday App Sales: Strategy & Tactics: WW II, Alien Breed, Swype, And More

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Apps/Games, Deals, News

Over the past few weeks we've highlighted several Play Store sales that hit at the end of each week. Today, however, looks like a few devs decided to try middle-of-the-week sales, and we figured some of those may not make it to the week's end. So here it is – a short list of sales that are happening right now.