Google Play

Apple and Google avoid naming ChatGPT as their ‘app of the year,’ picking AllTrails and Imprint instead

Both Apple and Google today announced their best apps and games of the year, with the hiking and biking companion AllTrails winning as Apple’s iPhone App of the Year in 2023, while the education

Google Play tightens up rules for Android app developers to require testing, increased app review

Google today is announcing strengthened protections for Android developers publishing apps to its Google Play store. The changes are a part of Google’s broader efforts at keeping low-quality and

Android’s new real-time app scanning aims to combat malicious sideloaded apps

Android’s in-built security engine Google Play Protect has a new feature that conducts a real-time analysis of an Android app’s code and blocks it from installing the app if it’s con

Google Play’s policy update cracks down on ‘offensive’ AI apps, disruptive notifications

Google is taking aim at potentially problematic generative AI apps with a new policy, to be enforced starting early next year, that will require developers of Android applications published on its Pla

Google pulls popular but controversial live video chat app Chamet from the Play Store

Google has removed popular but controversial live video chat app Chamet from the Play Store. The company confirmed the move to TechCrunch, saying that the app violated its user-generated content (UGC)

Google Play Points to gain rewards for Walmart+ and Discord

Google Play Points, the marketplace’s rewards program first introduced in 2019, is announcing its latest line-up of perks and deals at its second annual Google Play Live event this afternoon. Of

Google boosts tablet apps’ visibility on Play Store following Pixel Tablet launch

Following this summer’s launch of the Google Pixel Tablet, the company says it’s updating its Google Play Store to better showcase apps designed for large-screen devices. The changes will

Google Play changes policy toward blockchain-based apps, opening door to tokenized digital assets, NFTs

Google has updated its mobile software marketplace policy to allow application developers to integrate digital assets like NFTs into their games through its Play app store, the company’s group produ

Google Play Games for PC is now rolling out to Europe and New Zealand

Google is now rolling out Google Play Games for PC Beta — a service that lets you play Android games on Windows — to users in Europe and New Zealand. The company officially announced the annual Go

Google Play developers will be able to push you to update your apps

In addition to its AI-powered Play Store updates, Google also introduced today several new security and privacy features for both app developers and Play Store users at its I/O developer conference. T

Google tests a new ad slot on the Play Store ahead of its I/O developer conference

Google has been spotted testing a new Play Store ad slot ahead of its I/O developer conference in May. If rolled out publicly, the change could significantly expand the company’s Play Store sear

Google launches an auto-archiving feature for Android apps to save space

On Monday, Google launched a new auto-archiving feature, which removes more than 60% of an unused app’s data from an Android phone to save storage space on the device. This will expectedly reduc

Google follows Apple by introducing account deletion policy for Android apps

Google announced a new account deletion policy for Android apps today, which means that apps that offer account creation must have an easy way to delete the account as well. The company said that it w

Google flags apps made by popular Chinese e-commerce giant as malware

Several apps made by Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo were flagged as malicious and dangerous by Google.

Google Play Games for PC to roll out to Europe and Japan, add new titles including Garena Free Fire

In a keynote address at the annual Google for Game Developers Summit, Google said its Google Play Games for PC service, which brings Android games to Windows users, will roll out to Japan and other Eu

This Week in Apps: ChatGPT app scammers, Instagram revamp and a consumer spending slowdown

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app economy in 2023 hit a few snags, as c

Google Play now lets children send purchase requests to guardians

Google already offers parents and guardians tools to restrict purchases their children make on Play Store using the family payment method. The company is now introducing an additional feature that wil

BeReal and AI art tool Dream by WOMBO top Google Play’s list of best apps in 2022

Just a couple of days after Apple announced the best apps of 2022 in its annual App Store Awards, Google Play has now shared its own “best of” list. The company published a list of winners

Google Play finally adds UPI subscriptions in India

Unified Payments Interface — commonly known as UPI — has become the most popular mobile payment route for P2P and merchant payments in India, and now Google’s stepping up with updated UPI functi

Google Play to pilot third-party billing in new markets, including US; Bumble joins Spotify as early tester

Google today announced it’s expanding its user choice billing pilot, which allows Android app developers to use other payment systems besides Google’s own. The program will now become avai
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