The Latest from Google Play: Q2 2026

Hi everyone,

We’re halfway through 2026, and over the last quarter, we launched a wave of Google Play updates, including new tools and programs to help developers grow their businesses. Our developers are the driving force behind Google Play, and their success is our top priority.

At Google I/O, we showcased how we’re continuing to expand developers’ reach on and off the store, while helping them scale their businesses more easily than ever before. We also enjoyed connecting with Play developers in-person at our flagship event in Mountain View, California, as well as at global I/O Connect events in Berlin and Bengaluru (and soon Shanghai).

We also reached the next milestone in the evolution of our business model and our user choice billing program, which allows developers to offer alternative billing options. In addition, we shared program updates on new requirements that can help developers qualify for lower service fees.

To learn more about these and other exciting announcements, check out our I/O session and read on!

Helping users discover content they’ll love

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

Enhancing content formats and conversational search

We’re optimizing the Play Store with engaging content formats and a more intelligent search experience to make it easier than ever for users to find and connect with their favorite apps on and off the store.

• Ask Play: Our AI-powered overlay turns discovery into a natural conversation, understanding the full context of a user's question and adapting to follow-ups to recommend the right app. With Ask Play highlights, users can also get a high-level summary of complex searches directly on search results pages to help them find the right apps and games more effortlessly.

Ask Play understands the full context of questions to help users find the right apps and games.

• Surfacing Play apps and content in Gemini: More people are asking virtual assistants to help them find what they are looking for. So we've enabled app discovery in the Gemini app on Android to make finding apps and games easier for millions of Gemini users globally.

Gemini provides users with app suggestions and directs them to Play Store listings for a streamlined install.

Expanding cross-device app discovery across form factors

We are making it easier for users to find and enjoy high-quality apps tailored for all of their devices, whether they use a phone, tablet, smartwatch, or TV.

• Form-factor deep links: Users are now automatically directed to app detail pages with ratings, reviews, and screenshots specific to their device (phone, tablet, or watch).

• Personalized multi-device navigation: To increase cross-device app discovery, we redesigned the Other Devices subnavigation to feature device-specific badges that surface tailored content for each form factor.

• Large-screen badges: A new store badge now highlights high-quality apps specifically designed and optimized for tablets and foldables, making them easier to spot.

• Optimized Google TV discovery: Developers can now prepare their apps for the next generation of Google TV. By adding support for motion-controlled remotes and using new discovery tools, they can ensure their TV app is fully visible to users.

Helping readers get more out of Google Play Books

We launched Book insights, a helpful reading companion in Google Play Books. In select English language ebooks, readers can now generate a recap of what they’ve read so far, or highlight a passage to ask questions and dive deeper into themes, context or characters. Readers can try the feature today in free-of-charge titles like "Romeo and Juliet", "Moby Dick" or "Pride and Prejudice".

Spotlighting key moments and relevant apps

We continue to expand how users engage with their favorite entertainment and global sporting events, delivering timely content and immersive formats when they matter most.

• Global sports spotlights: We activated highly-tailored global sports campaigns to capture major cultural moments. This included dedicated, feature-rich Spotlights for the FIFA World Cup and the NBA Finals.

• Ani-May Global Spotlight campaign: We launched a promotional campaign across 23 markets to celebrate May as the month for Anime, showcasing subscription offers as well as exceptional content from international developers of comics, manga, webtoons, anime games, and books, all leading up to the highly anticipated Anime Awards.

• Discovering AI apps: Across several markets, we introduced initiatives designed to help users discover and adopt AI applications, enhancing both their productivity and creativity. For example, in India, we promoted a series of challenges that encouraged users to experiment with AI apps and in Japan, we demonstrated how AI tools can transform images through AI app sampling.

• Bite-sized manga episodes in Japan: We launched a new feature in Japan that allows users to acquire manga by individual, bite-sized chapters. Episodes are discoverable throughout the Play Store and in Google Play Books. Readers can easily try a new series with free-of-charge chapters, purchase paid chapters, and read this content online.

Reaching global audiences with AI-powered store tools

We’re using AI models to help developers with localizing store content and tailoring listings to what people are searching for.

• Effortless store localization: Developers can scale their global reach by uploading a structured file (like a CSV or Google Sheet) in Play Console, which will pre-populate store listings across different languages for easy review. Developers can also use AI-translated subscription benefits to quickly localize their offerings.

• Turning search trends into tailored listings: We’ve simplified the path from search insight to action. Developers can click a keyword recommendation on their Grow overview page in Play Console to automatically create a new custom store listing tailored specifically to that keyword.

Helping developers get from prompt to Play Store

We’ve streamlined the path from a great idea to a live Android app by bringing one-click publishing directly to Google Play. Anyone can now use Google AI Studio to design and build native Android apps from a simple text prompt—and publish them directly to Google Play's internal testing track with a single click. To date, we’ve seen app builders use Google AI Studio to create 1.3M native Android apps, which can be quickly and easily published to Google Play. By automating the app creation and packaging process, we’ve created a safe, sandboxed environment that makes it easier than ever to get AI-generated apps straight onto real devices for internal testing and rapid prototyping. All public apps still undergo our standard rigorous security and quality review processes to ensure app quality.

Anyone can now create an Android app in Google AI Studio and then publish the app to an internal test track in Google Play

Understanding user discovery with deeper metrics and insights

We’re providing more comprehensive reporting and AI-powered insights to help developers understand their platform visibility and maximize their performance.

• Expanded measurement of marketing and visibility impact: Developers can now better understand their app’s visibility on Play with our new reach metric, gaining increased insight into their store listing performance.

• Using Gemini models to navigate reports: Based on developer feedback, chart descriptions and interactive Q&A are now available on the Statistics, Reach and Devices, and Store Performance pages. This transforms the experience on these pages from data visualization into AI-powered actionable insights and guidance.

Developers can get instant answers and recommendations to help optimize their business.

Continuing to make Play the best destination for games

Google Play’s mission is to build a gaming experience that revolves around our users—whether they prefer casual mobile games or immersive multiplayer PC titles. This past quarter, we introduced new ways for players to discover their next favorite game, celebrate their achievements, connect with friends, and unlock premium rewards.

Supercharging player engagement & competition

We are introducing new ways for players to track achievements, compete with friends, and stay immersed in their favorite games across devices.

• Streaks and Quests: We launched a new Streaks Overview feature to remind players which games count toward their daily streaks. To help players protect their progress, we also introduced notifications before a daily streak is lost, alongside automated Playtime Trophies on the You tab to celebrate time spent in-game.

• Leagues: We expanded our competitive Play Games Leagues with Subway Surfers and Fruit Ninja—powered by gamer profiles and new community features that make players’ favorite games even more fun.

Rewarding player loyalty and boosting rewards

We are expanding our rewards to give players more choices and better value whenever they spend on Play.

• Play Points: We expanded our rewards program to PC with a centralized hub and weekly prize claims. We also introduced points-to-gift card exchanges, milestone rewards, and new tools for developers to offer exclusive items or discounts to top-tier and returning players.

• Daily Deals in Japan: We now showcase guaranteed daily discounts. And, when users check in for six consecutive days, they unlock high-value special offers on the seventh day.

• Google-funded promo alerts: Developers will now get instant notifications in Play Console whenever Google-funded promotions, like points boosters or quest events, go live for their app. This helps developers easily track and prepare for sudden spikes in player spending.

Google Play Games for PC & paid-game enhancements

As part of our commitment to expanding our platform for PC and paid titles, we launched Play Managed Installs. By handling the installer setup for developers, we’re making it much easier for PC developers to launch games on Play. We're also helping players find more games to play by launching the Google Play Games for PC app when they open up a game via a desktop shortcut.

Driving global growth with secure, frictionless payments for users

Google Play helps buyers make seamless, secure purchases, while providing the tools and flexibility that help developers unlock revenue growth for their apps and games businesses.

Expanded billing choice and lower fees

We updated Google Play's business model to provide greater flexibility and lower service fees to help developers continue to thrive around the world. Starting June 30, 2026, we began the evolution of the new model:

• More billing flexibility: As of June 30, 2026, developers can now offer alternative billing systems or link users directly to their own websites for purchases in the US, UK, and European Economic Area (EEA), with more markets coming soon.

• Separated, lower service fees: We are separating our standard service fee from the billing processing fee. Across all checkout systems, the service fee now starts at 10% for a developer’s first $1M USD in annual earnings and for all auto-renewing subscriptions. The separate billing fee only applies for transactions that use Google Play’s billing system. Explore the different scenarios, details, and market availability here.

• Unlocking lower program rates: We published requirements for the new Apps Experience and updated Games Level Up programs. Developers who meet all guidelines and build exceptional, quality user experiences across Android devices are eligible for program rate cards with lower service fees starting September 30, 2026.

Details on how these rates apply to each business can be found in the Play Console Help Center.

More revenue opportunities with less development work

We’ve built new tools to help developers maximize revenue for both one-time purchases and subscriptions.

• Flexible subscription management: New APIs allow users to change plans or accept downgrade offers when cancelling a subscription, while automated replacement modes handle refunds smoothly to help retain at-risk subscribers.

• Extended recovery periods: We’ve extended the default account recovery window from 30 to 60 days to give subscribers more time to fix failed payments, helping reduce involuntary churn.

• Delayed charging: When a payment fails due to a temporary glitch, low-risk users are granted immediate access to content while we retry the charge in the background, keeping developer revenue steady.

Flexible flows let subscribers change plans or accept downgrades to help developers boost retention.

Enhancing billing experiences and boosting pre-registration installs

We are further supporting developers with updated tools to manage purchases and keep subscribers engaged through the launch of Play Billing Library v9.0.0. Upgraded for Android 15, this release also introduces in-app price messages that allow developers to seamlessly notify users of upcoming price changes right inside their app, enabling easy review and confirmation.

Safeguarding developer earnings with updated refund policies

To stop refund abuse, we’ve updated Google Play’s global refund rules to automatically block refunds for users with a history of fraud, lower free "courtesy" refund limits to match local spending habits, and require password confirmation for purchases to prevent false "accidental buy" claims.

Expanding platform reach and payment reliability for web purchases

We modernized Google Play’s web payment system to make buying apps and subscriptions even more frictionless. This update makes web checkouts faster and more reliable internationally.

Boosting trust with safer, high-quality experiences

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

Introducing new standards for contact and location access

We announced new policy updates to help strengthen user trust when sharing sensitive data. For one-time requests, Play apps must now use the new Android Contact Picker and single-tap location button instead of complex, full-permission pop-ups. Full, ongoing access to a user’s contacts or persistent precise location will now be restricted strictly to apps that cannot function without them.

The new, single-tap location button gives users more clarity on what information they share and for how long.

Safeguarding app business revenue and reputation

We’ve made it easier for developers to secure their app’s revenue and reputation with a single, dedicated space in Play Console. The new Protected with Play dashboard brings security, app distribution, and revenue defenses together in one convenient view. We’ve also made the Play Integrity API much faster, allowing developers to run critical security checks instantly during quick user actions to block threats and risky devices.

The Protected with Play dashboard provides centralized insights to help developers safeguard their app.

Providing app memory usage with new Android vitals insights

We’ve added a new memory section to Android vitals in Play Console to help developers keep their app running smoothly on all kinds of devices. This new data makes it easy to see how much memory an app uses when people are actually using it. It also helps catch "memory leaks"—a common issue where an app accidentally uses more of a phone's memory over time, which can slow down the device or cause the app to crash.

Securing account transfers in Play Console

We introduced a secure, official way to transfer developer account ownership during business changes like mergers or sales. All ownership changes must now use this feature in Play Console. Unofficial methods like sharing login credentials or using third-party marketplaces are no longer permitted. To keep app businesses safe, every transfer includes a 7-day security cool-down period, giving teams time to catch and cancel any unauthorized attempts.

Championing our global developer community

Our incredible developer community is the foundation of Google Play. We’re focused on streamlining their path to success, equipping them with the tools to grow, and shining a spotlight on the innovations they bring to life.

Celebrating the Google Play Apps Accelerator class of 2026

We’ve officially wrapped our inaugural Google Play Apps Accelerator, a 3-month initiative that helped 38 companies from around the world supercharge their product growth on Google Play. We celebrated these milestones at our Showcase in Sunnyvale, CA, where founders pitched to industry leaders before heading to Google I/O. We congratulate the entire class and look forward to watching them scale with Google Play.

This quarter, we strengthened the ecosystem by expanding AI-powered discovery, introducing more business flexibility, and launching new user protections. As the year unfolds, we look forward to building on this progress and evolving Google Play with, and for, all of you.

To the future,
Sam Bright
VP & GM, Google Play + Developer Ecosystem