The Latest from Google Play: Q2 2025

Hi everyone,

We're just halfway through the year, and Google Play is moving with incredible momentum.

For developers, we shared a powerful suite of new features and tools at Google I/O that showcases how we’re continuing to build a content-rich Play that helps them grow and engage their audiences and maximize revenue opportunities.

For our Google Play Points members, we leveled up the perks with “Diamond District," an immersive, custom game in Roblox that offers exclusive VIP vault access for Gold+ members and custom merch for points redemption.

Beyond that, I'm particularly proud of our “Download Apps, Not Traps” campaign. It underscores our significant investments in forging a safer Play experience – like conducting over 10,000 safety checks on every app we offer, enhancing transparency around data handling, and ensuring secure payments.

We’ve got so much to cover, so let’s get started!

Helping people discover even more content they’ll love

We launched new tools and features to connect users with their favorite apps and games while helping developers reach their ideal audiences.

Play Store enhancements: Making Google Play a more content-rich destination

Last year, we shared our vision for a content-rich Google Play that has already delivered strong results. Year-over-year, Apps Home has seen over a 25% increase in average monthly visitors with apps seeing a 10% growth in acquisitions and double-digit growth in app spend. Building on that vision, we're introducing more updates to elevate discovery and engagement.

• New topic browse pages: These pages feature timely, relevant, and visually engaging content, discoverable throughout the Store. Debuting in May in the US, our Media & Entertainment pages already showcase over 100,000 shows, movies, and select sports.

• Content search improvements: We've launched new formats for Where to Watch on Search, now with richer images, streamlined calls to action, and localized deep-links.

• Audio samples: We launched audio samples on the Apps Home. This feature is currently available for Health & Wellness app developers in the US, with more categories and markets coming soon.

Engage SDK improvements: Driving deeper engagement on Play, on and off the Store

Last year, we introduced the Engage SDK to help developers deliver personalized content and guide people to relevant in-app experiences. Integrating it unlocks surfaces like Collections, our immersive full-screen experience that brings content directly to Android homescreens.

We've recently rolled out even more updates, expanding how and where we surface content:

• Play Store integration: At I/O we shared that Engage SDK content is coming to the Play Store, making it even easier for users to discover.

• New content categories: We added travel and are now surfacing relevant content like reservations, recommendations, and recent searches.

• Global expansion: Collections is expanding globally to new markets, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, and the UK.

• Wider device availability: Collections is now available on older Android 10+ versions, increasing eligible devices in the US.

Streamlined experiences across devices: Making it easier to enjoy experiences on Watch and TV

We're constantly improving how people discover and engage with apps across all their devices.

• Seamless watch face activation: They can now set an installed watch face as their active watch face directly from their phone or tablet's post-install details page.

• Personalized watch face recommendations: Users can find new favorites with "Recommended For You" clusters on the Watch subnavigation and category homepage.

• Google TV ratings & reviews: Users can now see ratings, browse reviews, and leave their own directly on an app’s store listing on Google TV, helping them find quality apps for their Google TV more easily.

Play Console enhancements: Tools to help developers optimize their store listings

We've rolled out new features in Play Console to help developers gain deeper insights and refine their app's journey from pre-launch to ongoing engagement.

• Enhanced pre-registration metrics: Store listing reports now include pre-registration clicks, showing developers how their listings perform during pre-launch campaigns.

• Store listing open metrics: In addition to acquisitions data, open metrics give developers a clearer picture of how store listings attract, engage, and re-engage users.

• Asset library: Developers can repurpose their creative content across Play Console. They can upload from Google Drive, organize with tags, and crop existing visuals.

Editorial recommendations: Celebrating stories for everyone

Our editorial team curates timely, relevant, and engaging content, celebrating the culture and creativity that connect us all.

• For World Book Day in April, we highlighted tools that make reading more engaging for families, like rewards stickers in Google Play Books and Kids Space. And, in June, we shared the Play Books team’s picks for the best books of 2025 so far.

• For Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May, we created a vibrant hub showcasing books from Asian and Pasifika authors, APAHM-themed games, and Asian-developed comics.

• For Pride Month in June, we featured collections of LGBTQ+ created and Pride-related games, apps, curated book collections, and interviews with LGBTQ+ developers.

Making Play the best destination for games

Whether they prefer casual mobile games or immersive multiplayer PC titles, Play is there for gamers from discovery to gameplay and beyond.

Play Points Perks: Expanding experiences and rewards for members

We've significantly leveled up perks for Google Play Points members with new immersive experiences and merchandise.

• Diamond District on Roblox: This custom-built adventure allows players to navigate obstacle courses, play mini-games, and collect weekly drops. Gold+ members also gain access to an exclusive VIP vault with special digital avatar items.

• Exclusive merchandise and collectibles: We've started expanding ways for members to redeem points for must-have items, with a rotating selection of new and exclusive merchandise available in the US throughout the year.

Google Play Games: Making Google Play the best place to play and grow PC games

As more players enjoy immersive PC gaming and the ability to play their favorite games across screens, we’re making even bigger investments to make Play the go-to destination, with an expanded focus on native PC titles. Discover how native PC title Mecha BREAK is tapping into Google Play Games to expand its reach.

• Multi-account & multi-instancing: Now available to all, these features enable simultaneous play of multiple game windows, even with different accounts.

• Native Windows game publishing: Windows game developers can now publish their native installers directly to Google Play Games for PC via Play Console, streamlining the process to manage their builds from one place.
  

Play Games Services: Boosting discovery and engagement with achievements

We introduced more features powered by Play Games Services (PGS), a suite of services enabling developers to deliver tailored gameplay experiences. We're making achievements a central part of the Play Store, significantly increasing their visibility in search and on game detail pages to attract new players and boost engagement, especially with Play Points rewards.

Driving global growth with secure, frictionless payments

Google Play Commerce helps buyers make seamless, secure purchases and unlocks international revenue growth for apps and games businesses.

Expanded payment options: More ways for people to pay for content

We're continually providing consumers with more convenient ways to make purchases worldwide, while helping developers reach even more customers.

• More local payment methods: Our payment library continues to grow with recent additions including Troy (Türkiye), Airtel (Kenya), PayPal (Singapore), and Napas (Vietnam).

• QRIS in Indonesia: We launched QRIS, a new QR code standard enabling seamless cashless payments.

• "Ask Someone to Pay" expansion: Following its India launch, this feature allows requesting purchases via payment links from friends and family in the US, Japan, Indonesia, and Mexico.

• Increased pricing flexibility: Established developers in good standing with Google Play can now offer products priced up to $5,000 USD (or local equivalent).

Subscriptions enhancements: More convenience and flexibility for users and developers

With over a quarter-billion subscriptions, Google Play is one of the world's largest subscription platforms. We're providing even more ways for people to manage their subscriptions and tools for developers to maximize recurring revenue.

• Single checkout for multiple subscriptions: Developers can sell add-ons alongside base subscriptions, providing buyers with a simpler purchase experience.

• More subscription benefit reminders: Developers can specify their subscription benefits in Play Console, and Google Play will highlight these details in more places, like reminder emails, the Subscriptions Center, and key points in the purchase and cancellation flows.

• Longer grace periods & account holds: Developers can now offer subscribers more time to resolve billing issues before cancellation, with grace periods up to 30 days and account holds up to 60 days (with a combined duration between 30 and 60 days).

• Backup payment methods: Users can manage multiple backup payment methods at the Google account level so they don’t need to set them up for each new subscription.

Orders API: Giving developers immediate access to order details

We've expanded access to the Orders API, a long-requested feature that provides developers with real-time information, including subscription pricing phases. This offers developers more efficient analysis, faster decision-making, and sophisticated customer management strategies.

Fair pricing safeguards: Helping developers confidently offer localized pricing

We've expanded pricing arbitrage protection to more countries, automatically detecting and blocking abusive purchases that exploit regional price differences. This helps developers confidently offer localized pricing and promotions. For limited availability content, we're providing granular control with payment location restrictions in Play Console, alongside enhanced protection against free trial and introductory pricing abuse for subscriptions.

AI-powered recommendations for payment methods: Improving transaction completion

In 2025, we reached a major milestone with 700M purchase-ready users on Play. To enhance the purchase experience and maximize developer revenue, we invest in improving the buyer journey—before, during, and even after checkout. Our recent investments include AI-powered payment method recommendations that suggest optimal options at critical moments to improve transaction completion.

Boosting trust with safer, high-quality experiences

Google Play enables high-quality experiences by prioritizing secure and seamless interactions, empowering developer tools, and robust platform protections.

Strengthening our app ecosystem: Enhanced tools for smoother app reviews

We’re continually finding new ways to help developers have the tools and support they need for secure & efficient development.

• New policy insights beta in Android Studio: Addressing developer requests for early policy guidance, the Play Policy Insights beta offers richer, in-context guidance on policies that can help prevent unexpected delays from disrupting launch plans.

• Developer Help Community expansion: Our popular Help Community for policy questions and knowledge sharing, is expanding to include more languages, such as Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese.

Play Integrity API updates: New features to protect revenue and enhance user safety

The Play Integrity API helps developers safeguard their apps and users from attacks, abuse, and unauthorized access. We recently launched more features to help developers further defend against security threats:

• Strengthened anti-abuse checks: We've strengthened the checks with Android hardware-backed security signals. This makes them harder to spoof for attackers, more performant, and more private for users.

• Repeat abuse detection: Device recall is now in public beta, helping developers detect repeat abuse from the same device, even after reinstalls or resets, without the need to use persistent identifiers.

• Device issue self-service: To help developers manage user support, we launched the ability for people to check and fix device certification issues directly within the Play Store app.
  

Safer apps campaign: Educating on Google Play’s commitment to safety

Providing a safe and trusted experience is central to everything we do at Google Play. To reinforce this commitment we launched our consumer campaign, 'Download Apps, Not Traps'. It aims to build confidence by demonstrating how Google Play helps protect users and included our announcement that Google Play runs over 10,000 safety checks on every app it offers.

Performance insights & tools: Helping developers build high-quality experiences

We're continually providing developers with new tools and insights to help them build and release high-quality apps and games:

• New Play Console app dashboard and overview pages: A redesigned app dashboard puts the most essential insights front and center and offers objective-related metrics and contextual advice.

• New Test & Release, Monitor & Improve and Monetize with Play overview pages: These pages bring together objective related topline metrics, status of Play features' usage and a "take action" section with contextual and dynamic advice, tailored to the app or game and their specific state.

• Halting fully rolled-out releases: In response to developer feedback, this highly anticipated feature allows developers to stop the distribution of problematic app versions through Play Console and the Publishing API. This means developers can prevent a subpar experience from reaching users.

• Enhanced app quality guidance: New pre-review checks help developers detect and resolve incorrect edge-to-edge rendering and large screen layout issues. The new "low memory kill" metric in Android vitals provides device-specific insights to resolve stability problems, while an "excessive partial wake lock" metric (beta) addresses battery drain.

• Support for better performance on newer hardware: With Android 15 supporting 16 KB memory pages for apps, we announced a page size compatibility requirement to help ensure optimal performance on newer devices.

• Faster installs and open rates: We've launched two projects to drive faster app installs and increase app open rates: one tailors installs based on context and device state, and another allows users to open apps prior to full download.

• Preventing install cancellations: We launched a "VIP Lounge" feature that provides engaging content while people wait for downloads to complete.

Championing our global developer community

Our global developer community is the heart of Play. We're constantly looking for ways to offer the resources they need to grow their businesses and to celebrate their successes.

Global initiatives: Empowering developers and startups around the world

Our programs provide essential training, mentorship, and funding to help local mobile app and game startups enhance their skills, grow their businesses, and expand their reach globally.

• ChangGoo Program (South Korea): Kicked off its 7th year with 100 participants to foster growth and global expansion for Korean mobile app and game startups in collaboration with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and KISED.

• Google Play x Unity Game Developer Training Program (Indonesia): The third edition launched in April, offering a 6-month online curriculum, meetups, and mentorship for Indonesian game developers in partnership with Indonesia’s Ministry of Creative Economy and the Indonesian Gaming Association.

• Google for Startups Accelerator (India): Applications closed in May for this program which will empower Seed to Series-A AI-powered Indian app startups with AI advancements, mentorship, and expert guidance. The second cohort begins in July.

• Indie Games Fund (Latin America): Returning for its fourth year, applications opened July 1 for this $2 million fund. The program will support 10 promising game studios with funding and hands-on assistance.

#WeArePlay: Shining a spotlight on the global developer community

Our latest #WeArePlay film features Clement, founder of Imagine Games and creator of My Lovely Planet. This game supports global reforestation with in-game tree planting resulting in real trees planted through NGO partnerships. Inspired by environmental changes, Clement designed the game to make a tangible impact. To date, the community has supported over 360,000 trees being planted!

And that concludes this edition of The Latest from Google Play! The team recently wrapped up at our I/O Connect event in Berlin, and we look forward to connecting with even more developers at the Connect events in Bengaluru and Shanghai this summer. We're excited to hear from the community and explore the challenges we can tackle together.

Until our next update,

Sam Bright
VP & GM, Google Play + Developer Ecosystem