September's package of Google System Updates went public a couple weeks ago, though as a matter of fact, we had reported on a lot of the features within earlier on. It turns out, however, that we have a couple of stragglers that came across the finish line late, so we wanted to make sure you knew what was officially coming with which component update.

Google has been expanding access across several regions to its Play Games for PC beta which lets users load up Android games on their Windows machines. With a late Play Store update to v32.4, the company seems to be catching up to itself as it will now list the specific availability for titles depending on the market the user is in.

Back in July, Google introduced smart audio switching support which let Android determine where to route audio when dealing with multiple multipoint Bluetooth devices. That support was limited to the Pixel Buds Pro at first, but it was supposed to spread to third-party hardware from the likes of JBL and Sony at some point. Consider this point that point — it's with Google Play services version 31.22. No, we don't know why such an old update for a feature that should've been rolling out months ago is getting appended to September's updates now, but at least it has been duly noted.

The full changelog for these updates is available below. You can view all Google System Update changelogs from Google. Keep in mind the footnotes which dictate the features that are associated with a Google Play System Update, Google Play Store app v32.4, or a specific Google Play services version.

September 2022

Account Management

  • [Phone] Allows users to hide recommended apps during the Google Kids Space onboarding flow.[2]
  • [Auto, Phone, TV, Wear] Improvements to account syncing and account recovery.[2]
  • [Phone] Ability to install Google Kids Space on a tablet's secondary user during device setup.[2]
  • [Phone] Bug fixes for system management & diagnostics, and utilities related services.[1]
  • [Phone] With the migration of the parental approval and consent to Google Material 3, users will experience a more consistent UI experience in-line with Google design standards.[4]

Device Connectivity

  • [Phone] Switches Bluetooth audio peripherals between supported phones and watches for calls.[5]

Google Play Store

  • New Features to help you discover the Apps & Games you love.[3]
  • Optimizations allowing faster and more reliable download and installation.[3]
  • Continuous improvements to Play Protect to keep your device safe.[3]
  • Various performance optimizations, bug fixes and improvements to security, stability and accessibility.[3]
  • [Wear OS] With updates to the Play Store on Wear OS home page, users can experience a new content forward display that makes it easier to find recommended apps.[3]
  • [Wear OS] When users install an app on their Wear OS device that requires a companion app, their mobile device will automatically install the companion app.[3]
  • [Wear OS] New secondary menu to allow users to browse recommended apps for their Wear OS, Android TV or Android Auto devices from their Android phones.[3]
  • [Phone] Learn more about Play’s Top Picks by expanding results to see more details about the app or game directly within the Play’s Top Picks module.[3]
  • [Phone] Help users make better install decisions with updates to app details pages.[3]
  • [Phone] Check the status of app installs happening on other devices you own.[3]
  • [Phone] Optimize menu navigation for large screens on landscape mode.[3]
  • [Phone] Provide information about device security from Google Play Protect in the system Security and Privacy settings page on specific Android 13 devices.[3]
  • [Phone] Help users learn about availability of titles for Google Play Games on PC.[3]

Support

  • [Phone] Android 13 consumer education experience.[2]

Utilities

  • [Auto, Phone] Autofill will now notify users if their sign-on credentials have been found in a public data breach.[2]

Wallet

  • [Phone] You can now get visual feedback when you lock, unlock, or start your car with a digital car key.[2]
  • [Wear OS] This feature lets you add new forms of payment to Google Pay in Japan.[2]
  • [Phone] Enable showing open loop transit agencies in list of purchasable transit passes.[2]

Developer Services

  • New developer features for Google and third party app developers to support Account Management, Machine Learning & AI, Security & Privacy related developer services in their apps.[2][4]

System Management

  • Updates to system management services that improve device performance, device connectivity, network usage, security, stability, and updatability.[1][4]

[1] Available through Google Play system update for September

[2] Available through Google Play services v36.22 updated on 09/29/2022

[3] Available through Google Play Store v32.4 updated on 09/30/2022

[4] Available through Google Play services v39.22 updated on 09/29/2022

[5] Available through Google Play services v31.22 updated on 09/29/2022