New Year's Message: The Opportunity To Build A Better Internet Is ...

google play store app :: Article Creator

Google Says It Will Start Downranking Non-tablet Apps In The Play Store

Enlarge / The Play Store on tablets is mostly just two big thumbnails. Google reader comments 69 with

Following the release of the Pixel Tablet and Pixel Fold, Google wants developers to take big-screen apps more seriously. Asking nicely rarely works, so Google is changing the Play Store ranking algorithms to increase the visibility of apps that better support large screens.

Google's blog post says:

Apps and games that adhere to our large screen app quality guidelines will now be ranked higher in search and Apps and Games Home. This helps users find apps that resize well, aren't letterboxed, and support both portrait and landscape orientations. Editors' Choice and other curated collections and articles will also consider these criteria going forward, creating new featuring opportunities for optimized apps.

The large-screen app guidelines have various tiers, but they recommend keyboard, mouse, and stylus support, a two-pane tablet layout, drag-and-drop support, and foldable display awareness. The post also reiterates some improvements that Google has already rolled out, like showing tablet screenshots to tablet users and downranking apps that crash a lot.

The Play Store demanding developers make tablet apps is kind of ironic because the Play Store itself isn't all that great on big-screen devices. We complained about this app a lot in the Pixel Fold review, noting that it wasn't much more than a phone app with a navigation rail bolted to the side of it. For something that is the flagship Android app—everyone has to use the app store, after all—we felt the Play Store should have been leading the big-screen charge rather than lagging behind. Thankfully, Google says it's working on improving the Play Store and showed off some progress on big-screen UI improvements.

Enlarge / The new search interface. Google

The big news is that the search results will switch to a two-pane layout on big screens. The search result list will live on the left-hand side, and tapping on each result will load a details page on the right. Previously, the results page was a stretched-out phone interface, with results on the left and nothing on the right. It would be nice if the top charts got this two-pane design, too, but that hasn't changed yet.

Sadly, the Play Store home screen is still just the phone app and side navigation. The phone origins of the app means the featured app thumbnails scale up to a giant size, especially on the Pixel Tablet. Because of the scaling issues, tablets and phones show about the same amount of data on the home screen.

Google says these changes are "just the beginning of our journey in creating a tailored Play Store experience for large screens." So hopefully, Google's developers will follow Google's developer guidelines soon.

Google Play Store Gets An Update That Brings A Better Foldable UI

Google is updating the Play Store soo that it looks less than a dumpstire fire

Google is redesigning the Play Store to cater to non-smartphone devices like Android tablets, Chrombook, but mainly, foldable phones like the Pixel Fold or any of the from the Ssamsung's lineup.

However, this is not a sudden move from the company. Google first announced its plans to upgrade the Play Store at Google I/O last year.

It's just now that the company is making progress on this by introducing four new upgrades in order to help users with larger-screen devices get a better Play Store experience.

Changes to the app listings

Google's first priority is to add high-quality videos to the app listing pages for gaming apps. It would be a great visual guide for the users, as they will see the video banners at the top of the app's listing page.

This is potentially a good way to give users some insight into gameplay before downloading the game.

Additionally, Google has reorganized the app and game details pages and added a multi-column layout, making for less scrolling to see the content.

Ranking changes to boost high-quality applications

Google is also making multiple changes to the app rankings on the Play Store. The goal is that this benifets ;s for large-screen devices in order to promote high-quality applications.

Applications that can be resized across all devices with support for both landscape and portrait will get better ranking. In the future, Editors' Choice and other curated collections and articles will also consider these criteria.

In summation, Google is pushing the developers to improve their app experience to suit large-screen devices better.

Streamlining Play Store navigation

Google is also enhancing the Play Store navigation for Android devices with larger displays. If you are a tablet, Chromebook, or foldable user, a navigation rail will be visible on the left side of the screen.

This will put the menu items closer to your left thumb, making them more accessible. The new function will be especially useful if you are holding a tablet or a larger device in landscape mode.

New split-screen search experience

Google has also added a new split-screen search moijtth ing it easier to locate and compare applications in the search results of the Play Store. Users can see the app details side-by-side in the search result, eliminating the frustration of moving back and forth.

These changes haven't arrived yet, but they will start rolling out over the coming weeks.

And with that, it is also clear that Google is thinking proper tablet support is the only way forward for the Android apps, which makes us believe the Google Pixel Tablet is not going to be the last tablet we see from Google.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors' Recommendations:

Saurav loves writing and tech. So, after engineering, he didn't look back and embarked on a journey to become a tech writer. Saurav has worked for various tech websites across the globe. Saurav has recently joined Know Techie and is proud to be a part of it.

On Google Play, Twitter App Is Now X

It looks like the Twitter name is already dead, at least on the Google Play Store.

As part of the ongoing rebrand for his no-longer-a-bird site, Elon Musk has ditched the Twitter name on the Google Play listing(Opens in a new window) for the social media app. It's now just X from X Corp.

The X app now appears if you search for Twitter on Google's app store. In addition, the listing offers a preview of how the rebrand will change the app's design. For example, the iconic bird logo at the top of the app has been replaced with the letter X.

(Credit: Google Play/X)

The whole interface has also been turned black. Initially, we thought this might just be because Twitter is introducing two new dark modes in the app—dim and lights out. But on Thursday, Musk tweeted(Opens in a new window): "This platform will soon only have 'dark mode.' It is better in every way."

So get ready for gloomy vibes. For now, though, the blue bird logo and white backgrounds remain standard on existing Twitter installs for Android devices. On desktop, the social media platform still defaults to the Twitter.Com domain too, even if you enter via the X.Com address.

[UPDATE: After pushback from users who noted the accessibility issues with forcing a dark mode, Musk backtracked and said light mode will remain an option.]

Recommended by Our Editors

But it may only be a matter of time before Musk throws out the old visuals and Twitter domain for the new X. The company has already switched its official Twitter handle to @X, forcefully taking over the account from its original owner, a San Francisco man who'd had it since 2007. The Twittle Blue account has also migrated to @XBlue.

Still, Twitter is facing some challenges in switching over to the new name. For one, X is often connected to porn. It's likely why the company has refrained from changing the @TwitterMovies account to @XMovies, which is also the name of a real porn site.

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.

Search This Blog

Software And Application