Google is revamping its Play Store in an effort to help users better discover and install apps to other devices via their phone. The company announced a series of changes to the Google Play Store that will enable cross-device discovery and new tools to help developers better showcase their non-phone apps, it says.
Among the new features now coming to the Google Play Store phone app is the addition of homepages dedicated to non-phone devices. Google notes that Android users today are in search of apps that can run on their watches, tablets, TVs and even in their cars, which is why it wanted to make those different types of apps more easily found.
Another feature allows users to access a new device search filter that helps them find apps and games for other devices besides their phones. The search results that appear when using this filter will only include those apps and games that are compatible with the selected device. That way, you don’t have to waste time trying to figure out if the Android app you liked had a watch counterpart, for example.
And, when users find an app or game they want to install, they’ll be able to now click a button to remotely download that app to their non-phone device through the Play Store phone app. This works similarly to the functionality available today which allows users to remotely install to other phones under their same Google account.
The changes follow the recent launch of a major Google Play Store redesign on the web which now allows users to access the website on their PC or non-Android phone to remotely install apps to their various Android devices, as well. This update also included simplified navigation, improved accessibility and other changes to the way information is presented to end users with the goal of making it simpler to find non-phone apps.
For developers, the combination of updates should allow the ability to help them better market their non-phone apps to consumers as they’ll no longer be crowded out in search by those that are phone-only or that don’t support the given device. And if their app is exclusive to one platform, they may even now have a better chance at being discovered, for this same reason.
Google officially announced the updates on Tuesday, but the features had already begun rolling out to global users in the weeks prior.
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