Google Play Store

The Google Play Store is a rather ironic part of Google's ecosystem. For a company that puts information at your fingertips in Search, it seems to make it so difficult to extract information in its Play Store app and website. For example, it was only recently that Google even added the option to sort your installed apps. Soon, it will finally have the ability to show you exactly what you're getting when you update an app, without having to go through different screens to do so.

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Machine learning was the pervading theme of Google's keynote at I/O 2017, and it has found ways to inject it into almost every nook and cranny possible. Case in point is the "all new" Google Play Protect, which uses machine learning to weed out malicious Android apps and keep them from harming your device. As impressive as that might sound, this something Google has actually been doing on Android for years now. At least those Android devices with Google Play Services.

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Give how easy it is to install apps, especially free ones, on Android, it’s only a matter of time before your list of apps becomes out of control. For all its experience in sorting and grouping search results, Google has done a rather dismal job at making it easier to sort through your apps in Google Play Store. That now changes with its addition of a sorting option to the My Apps section in the Google Play Store app.

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Who doesn't like free? Especially in the world of mobile apps, free apps, or even freemium ones, have a strong pull. Google's Play Store has lots of free apps and games but it's also notorious for having tons of low-quality, even deceptive, entries. That is probably why Google has created its own curated and recommended section for free apps. But there's one catch: its highlighted app will only be free for a week.

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Google Play is now 5 years old. No, that doesn’t mean that Android is that old as well. Google Play, specifically Google Play Store, just replaced the Android Market back in March 2012 to become a one stop shop not just for apps but for all sorts of digital content. That includes music, books, movies, and TV shows. And it isn’t just for phones and tablets either, as Google Play also distributes content for Chromebooks as well as Daydream VR. To celebrate its birthday, Google takes a look back at its stats and reveals the 5 most popular apps and digital content that has graced its shelves for the past five years.

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Beginning next month, the number of apps offered through the Google Play Store may thin out a bit. Google has been sending out emails to developers alerting them to what is likely an incoming purge, and telling them what they can do to avoid it. Apparently, Google isn't too fond of the fact that a number of apps require sensitive permissions from users, but don't provide a privacy policy to explain why the apps need those permissions.

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Putting the Google Play Store and, by extension, support for Android apps on Chromebooks is still a relatively rare thing, but starting this year, Google is really looking to ramp up support. The company announced today that all Chromebooks released in 2017 will support Android apps, which is good news indeed. Obviously, this seems like the next logical step, but getting actual confirmation never hurts.

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Daydream View owners take note, because your wait is over: Netflix has finally arrived. Now you'll be able to use Netflix instant streaming to watch movies or original shows like Stranger Things or House of Cards in wonderful virtual reality. Of course, you could do that before thanks to the Gear VR, but now you can also do it on the Daydream View.

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There was a time, back in the old Symbian and Windows CE days, when app sizes, were only measured in kilobytes. These days, however, it isn’t unusual for apps to go into megabyte territory, and we’re not talking just about games either. Technology and the price of components have made it far too easy to take file sizes for granted, but just because we can doesn’t mean we should. Especially when it comes to app updates, which, ideally, should be smaller than the original app download itself. Taking up the cause for smaller file sizes, Google has revealed a new technique to keep updates to a minimum, reducing sizes by 65% on average.

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Google is launching a new app called Trusted Contacts today, and it's aimed toward making sure you're never truly alone - especially in dangerous situations. With the app, you can name a number trusted contacts who can see your location to ensure that your safe. The app also features some degree of offline functionality, so people will be able to see your last known location even if you're venturing into an area will poor wireless service.

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In an ideal world, users will only install software from, usually a single, blessed source, like a repository or app store, containing only trustworthy and quality software. But we don’t live in an ideal world and even with app stores like Google Play or iTunes, some questionable apps still manage to get through the cracks. In an attempt to protect the integrity and image of its Play Store, Google has announced new security measures to weed out fraudulent or downright malicious apps. But users also have a role to play in protecting themselves from such “soft” attacks.

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One of the most annoying things for mobile gamers who like to play on their smartphone is downloading a free or purchased game only to find out it's terrible a few minutes into play and delete the game. To help users find games they really like Google began to support streaming samples of games in December of 2015 but the catch was that the streaming was only for certain apps. As of today, the ability to try games via streaming before you buy has begun to roll out to more games.

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