Google is bringing a handful of new features to its Google Play store on Android today. There are new categorized “collections” that highlight content from apps you’ve already installed. The company’s rewards program is adding more prizes, including Pixel hardware. Google’s Play Pass subscription service is introducing more versatile gaming capabilities. And in Japan, Google is launching a curated space for comics, which will let people dive into previews of early chapters without needing to install third-party apps first.
Together, these changes aim to make Google Play “a comprehensive experience that is more than just a store.”
The company unveiled some of the latest updates at a press conference in New York City on Tuesday. Google Play VP Sam Bright highlighted some improvements announced at I/O, such as ai-generated app reviews. Those ai features are being expanded with a new tool that will make it easier to compare apps in similar categories (such as photo editing software or fitness apps).
Bright then went on to talk about some of the biggest new features. First up is a new section of Google Play called Collections.
Rather than trying to sell you new apps, Collections are designed to show you content from the ones you've already installed and organize everything into categories like buy, watch, and listen. You'll see a row to continue watching various streaming apps, plus the latest deals from select retailers. “With your app content in one place, it's easier to pick up right where you left off,” Google's blog post reads.
Gaming is another big focus of today’s updates. When searching, you can now select from a list of interest filters to refine the types of games Play suggests. And starting today, Play Pass subscribers on PC can play multiple titles at once, so you can get exactly what you’re looking for. Clash of Clans Fix: Fixed issue where a window is playing while playing another game on another part of the screen. Google launched Play Games for PC as a beta in 2022 and has continued to iterate on it with 4K support and now this.
Google is also trying to make its Play Points rewards program more attractive by adding “weekly super prizes.” Available to Gold, Platinum, and Diamond members, these prizes step up the ante from regular rewards by including Pixel devices, Razer gaming products, and other hardware. Weekly super prizes will rotate weekly and can be claimed from the Play Points benefits tab.
Android customers in Japan will have access to a new dedicated space on Google Play dedicated solely to comics. “You can access comics-related content in one place, including free previews of first chapters, live events and trailers, editor’s picks, and fan reviews even from apps you haven’t installed,” reads Google’s blog post. A new “comics” tab will be coming directly to the Google Play home screen. The company is continuing to explore how it can better leverage these exclusive spaces in other regions — the first example was a cricket section in India.
Importantly, Google is also giving everyone more control over exactly what data is used for Play’s personalized recommendations. You can now choose apps that might contain sensitive data that you don’t want published. No You want it to be taken into account in the store’s customization algorithms. You can find this option by navigating to “In-Game Customization” from the main menu.
Will these new features make people spend more time on Google Play? Maybe, but many of them (like Collections) are easy to ignore if you'd rather just keep using it as a destination for apps as always.
