Google Details Everything New Coming To Google Play Starting Today

Google announced this morning that the evolution of Google Play is upon us, with the end goal being to transform it into an end-to-end experience that amounts to way more than just a place you get your apps from.

To accomplish this goal, Google is introducing a suite of new features for Play users, with the highlights being curated spaces, the ability to list specific interests when searching for new apps and games, as well as added privacy and app recommendation controls.

Earlier this year at Google I/O, Google announced that it was bringing AI to Google Play in the form of combing and displaying app reviews, but also getting detailed is the use of AI to help users compare apps in similar categories. AI will also be used to help provide easy to read highlights for apps, as shown below.

For those looking to find apps based on an interest, curated spaces in Google Play will provide a single spot to find apps focused on a single subject. Google notes that it tested this feature for cricket fans in India and yielded positive results. The same has been done for comic fans in Japan. As detailed by Google, “You can access comics-related content all in one place — including free first chapter previews, live events and trailers, editor picks and fan reviews even from apps you haven’t installed.”

Multi-select interest filters are getting added, letting you specify your preferences when searching for a new game. Whether it be a certain genre or interest, these new settings should allow you to quickly identify and download games you’ll enjoy instead of needing to browse app charts.

Google Play Games for PC users will love this next one. Over the next few weeks, Google will be rolling out multi-game capabilities, allowing gamers to have two games going simultaneously. Google explains that players can be, “actively competing in one, while keeping an eye on resources in another.”

For anyone who remembers the Nexus 7 tablet, there was a Google Play widget that showcased content from all the various categories on the platform. With this announcement, that widget is coming back in the form of Collections. Once added to your home screen, you’ll be able to dive directly into your content from apps already downloaded. For example, jump back into a TV show you were watching or book you were reading.

Google is also adding new controls for what app data Google Play uses to cater your store experience. You can head to “Personalization in Play” from the main menu to find the new controls. You’ll see a full list of your apps and you can manually select and deselect app data you want or don’t want used inside of Google Play.

Lots of changes coming to Google Play.

// Google