Google Play as an app faces the difficult task of having to adapt to many different smartphone brands and hardware, which can lead to glitches and bugs popping up out of nowhere,even on Google Pixel phones. This extends to struggles to accurately show what its apps look like on different form factors, such as smartwatches and tablets, rather than just smartphones. When app developers upload screenshots of their software running on non-phone form factors, Google Play forces the user to scroll to the end of a long line of photos to see what it looks like on their device. That will no longer be the case with the addition of device filters on app pages.
Now, when you go to an app page on the Play Store, instead of swiping through the large carousel of screenshots, you can now filter through specific device types (via9to5Google). Not only have we seen filters for displaying what apps will look like on a phone, watch, or tablet, but we’ve also seen Chromebook and car tabs. We originally wrote aboutform factor filtering chips being worked on for Google Playback in July, so this news is not terribly unexpected.
Source:9to5Google
As with most software updates, this has not yet widely rolled out to the masses. When it does, it’ll become a lot easier to see if apps are worth downloading depending on what they look like on your devices. This also forces apps that may lack functionality (or are an eyesore) on devices such as smartwatches to up their design game.
Additionally, Google Play added a new menu category on tablets. Titled “New,” this seems to work the exact same way that the “Offers” category works on smartphones. It’s a collection of the newest apps, offers, and lists that make it a good starting spot for engrossing yourself into the latest of what the Play Store has to offer.
Earlier this week,Google made it easier to identify secure apps in the Play Store. Additionally,Google may be making it easier to remotely remove apps from specific devices connected to your account. The world of tech journalism does a lot of criticizing and complaining when talking about industry-wide news (we’re susceptible to this too), but sometimes we’ve got to give credit where credit is due. These relatively small changes by Google certainly enhance its overall product, and they make the user experience better.
