Hi everyone,
Welcome to our next installment of The Latest! It has been an incredibly inspiring season, from sharing Play updates with developers at I/O Connect to celebrating fandom with our Google Play Points members at San Diego Comic-Con.
The AI era has sparked an explosion of content, with the number of new apps and games joining Play doubling year-over-year. While this wave of creativity brings incredible opportunities, it also means we must build smarter ways to curate and surface the very best experiences. Here’s a look at just some of the ways that we’re creating the best offerings for our users and developers:
Helping users discover content they’ll love
We launched more features to connect people with their favorite apps and games while helping developers reach new and existing audiences.
Connecting fans with live sports across Play
Whether fans are following a major global championship on Apps Home or searching for where to stream an upcoming match, we are making it easier to keep up with live sports.
-
- Global tournament experiences across Play: During the FIFA World Cup and ICC Women's T20 World Cup, we brought the action to fans through dedicated Apps Home spotlights featuring streaming options, local broadcaster content, and related mobile games.
- Match schedules across detail pages and search: Beyond major tournaments, sports fans in the US, Australia, India, and New Zealand can now keep up with upcoming games through live match cards on app detail pages, organized by kick-off time. And when fans search for a game, the "Where to Watch" section shows whether streaming a game requires a subscription or a one-time purchase.
Users can see details of upcoming games and where to watch them
Improvements when searching for apps
We’re evolving the search experience on Play to help users find and connect with apps. We expanded "Broaden Your Search" to Spanish, French, and Hindi locales to help users find relevant apps when specific searches return limited results. And, users can now input multi-line text searches, ensuring longer queries are fully visible, rather than cut off.
Google Play Books: More ways to dive deeper into books with AI
We’re making it easier to get more out of your ebooks with the help of new AI tools.
- Expert Intelligence and Google Play Books: We helped launch Expert Intelligence, a new way for users to engage with their trusted sources through Google AI products. Users can now add select ebooks they’ve purchased from Google Play Books directly to a Gemini Notebook. This enables users to ask questions about the book and receive relevant responses or use Gemini Notebook to understand books in new ways, for example, by generating Infographics or Audio Overviews.
- Book insights expansion: Book insights, our helpful reading companion, is now available in more than a million English language ebooks, including popular bestsellers and free-of-charge titles. Building on availability in the Play Books Android app and on the web, we’ve also brought the feature to the Play Books iOS app.
Play Shorts: More metrics for developers to understand what resonates
Developers can now access more Play Shorts metrics in the Play Console for a clearer view of how their videos connect across countries and languages, including view counts and impact on installs and re-engagement.
Play Labs: Offering users access to experimental features
We launched Play Labs as a new destination in the Play Store that allows users to voluntarily opt-in to experimental features, such as "Expand Everything" for search results.
Continuing to make Play the best destination for games
We’ve continued to focus on building a gaming experience that revolves around our users. 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.
Keeping players immersed and celebrating their progress
We introduced new ways for players to stay in the flow of their favorite games, keep up their daily momentum, and celebrate major milestones.
- Increased availability of Play Games Sidekick: Our in-game companion is now live in more than 115 titles across all Google Play markets. With a quick swipe from the edge of the screen, players can check their streaks, track active rewards, and get helpful tips.
Play Games Sidekick provides helpful information and tips
- Updates to Gameplay Streaks: Players can now protect their hard-earned momentum with Streak Restores, a simple way to rescue a missed day and keep their daily run going. We also rolled out celebratory notifications for major milestones, like reaching a 100-day streak.
- Triggering quests and competitions through gameplay: To help developers create new opportunities to engage players, a new Game Stats tool in Play Console allows them to set up real-time gameplay signals that trigger quests, leaderboards, and personalized monthly recaps.
- Uniting players with Play Games profiles: More than 750 million monthly active players have enabled Play Games profiles across more than 28,000 games. Powered by Play Games Services, this thriving ecosystem connects players through achievements, Sidekick, Game Stats, and rewards.
Community Posts: Bringing more global gaming communities together
We expanded Community Posts to all languages and are scaling this offering to every game on Google Play. Millions of players around the world can now swap strategies, mentor newcomers, and celebrate wins together.
Community posts are now available for every game on Google Play and in all languages
Google Play Points: Celebrating fandoms and rewarding members
We brought Google Play Points members closer to the worlds they love with exclusive experiences, rare collectibles, and once-in-a-lifetime prizes on the ground at events and in the Play Store.
- The Auction at San Diego Comic-Con: We returned to Comic-Con International in San Diego with an interactive auction house where Play Points members enjoyed priority entry and bonus tokens to trade or bid on rare collectibles. Members joining from home across the US could also unlock digital reward cases for coveted prizes and redeem points for limited-edition merch.
Link to Youtube Video (visible only when JS is disabled)
- Play Points Sweepstakes: We launched our first Google Play Points sweepstakes, giving members in the US the chance to exchange their points for entries to win heroic prizes, including an original copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 (the first appearance of Spider-Man), VIP trips to New York Comic-Con, AMC Theatres tickets, and more.
- Gamescom in Cologne: At Gamescom, attendees could visit the Google Play booth on the main show floor, which included an interactive treasure hunt, a live Fruit Ninja League, and a chance to play unreleased games.
- Exclusive, co-branded gaming gear: Play Points members in the US can now redeem their points directly in the Play Store for physical hardware drops and merch, turning their in-game achievements into real-world gear. The redeemable options include exclusive Android figurines, hardware and accessories from Google and Samsung, and more.
Google Play Games Level Up: Showcasing the developer experience
Game developers can leverage the Google Play Games Level Up program to deliver optimized gaming experiences and build a more connected community of players. PUBG Mobile has connected billions of players across the gaming world and we recently showcased how they’ve continued to evolve with Google Play Games Level Up.
Link to Youtube Video (visible only when JS is disabled)
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 businesses.
New purchase methods and surfaces
We continue to provide our users and developers with new options to make their purchasing journey seamless.
- New payment option: Google Play now supports Venmo as a payment option, allowing users to seamlessly link their existing digital wallet.
- Frictionless in-game purchasing in PC games: We launched in-game purchasing for native PC titles via the NativePC SDK, letting players buy content instantly without minimizing their game.
New reporting functionality in the Play Console
Based on developer feedback, we updated our reporting tools with customizable filters, standard top-line metrics, and seamless toggling between user and device data. Developers can now segment metrics like Acquisitions and Retention by traffic source for better channel insights, or track specific audiences such as DAUs in Germany for Google Play Games on PC.
Developers can view more granular analytics with our enhanced reporting tools
More flexible tools for monetizing subscriptions
As app experiences and AI-powered business models evolve, we are rolling out new subscription capabilities that give users more ways to purchase and help developers grow the lifetime value of recurring purchases.
- Usage-based billing: Prepaid metered billing allows users to automatically top up their balance whenever it falls below a set threshold, ensuring uninterrupted service for variable-cost AI tools.
- Cross-developer bundling: Developers can partner and sell complementary subscriptions in a single discounted package to reach new audiences and drive recurring revenue.
More ways to retain and re-engage subscribers
Long-term subscription growth depends on minimizing purchase friction, so we are investing in new retention and recovery tools that make it easier to stay subscribed.
- In-App Messaging API: This tool is now available to all developers, allowing them to prompt users directly in the app to immediately resolve a payment decline and provide a seamless user journey.
-
- Dynamic Grace Period: Developers can set customized recovery windows for individual subscribers following a payment decline using Play’s intelligent models.
- Retention offers: Developers can now present incentives, such as discounts, directly within the Google Play cancellation flow to retain eligible subscribers.
Samsung devices and Google Fi offers on Google Play
Users in the US can now shop for Samsung hardware directly from the Play Store, and explore new Google Fi wireless offers, making it easier for Android users to find the gear and plans that work seamlessly with their devices.
Digital gift cards: Easier ways to send and receive
We’re making it easier than ever for users to purchase and share Google Play gift cards as well as gift cards from hundreds of other retailers.
- Expanding to new surfaces and countries: Building on earlier availability in the Google Play Android app, we launched a dedicated digital gift card experience on the Google Play web store in the US, the UK, and Mexico. We’ve also expanded Android gifting to Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Italy, and Japan.
- Sending Google Play gift cards in messaging apps: Users can now share a digital Google Play gift card as a secure link directly through WhatsApp, Google Messages, or Instagram. Friends and family can claim their credit in a single tap, making gifting effortless.
Boosting trust with safer, high-quality experiences
Google Play enables high-quality experiences for all users by prioritizing secure interactions, empowering developer tools, and robust platform protections.
Age Signals API: Connecting users with age-appropriate experiences
We announced the expansion of the Google Play Age Signals API to all Play developers globally. Building on current availability in Brazil, we expanded this experience to users in Australia and Canada with a full global rollout coming in November. The Age Signals API enables developers to deliver age-appropriate experiences and enables users to share their age range when requested. In the Google Family Link app, parents can also choose to always share their child’s age range with all Play apps that use the Age Signals API. This lets children jump straight into age-appropriate content without parents having to manually configure settings.
Optimizing memory and code metrics in Play Console
To help address industry-wide memory availability constraints, which may result in excess usage triggering system-wide slowdowns and app terminations by the OS, we announced a new app quality requirement and diagnostic tools to help developers proactively discover, investigate, and optimize their apps. Developers can now deep-dive into new memory metrics, filter for crashes and ANRs caused by severe memory pressure, and analyze DEX code optimization insights all in Play Console.
Providing a secure and seamless device migration experience
When users switch to a new device, moving their apps over should be secure and effortless. To provide a better onboarding experience, we announced a second app quality requirement for integrating the Android Restore Credentials API. The Zero-Tap Sign-In standard ensures that users are instantly recognized and securely signed into apps when setting up a new device.
Expanding Play Policy insights to any IDE
We open-sourced Play Policy Insights as agent skill on GitHub, grounding LLM agents directly in Google Play policies. This update enables developer IDEs and AI tools to catch policy compliance issues directly in local developer workflows before submitting their app to Google Play.
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.
Indie Games Fund: Investing in African Game Developers
Expanding on our indie games funds in other markets, we launched the first Google Play Indie Games Fund in Africa. We’re committing $1 million to help 10 promising local studios scale their businesses and reach a global audience. African game developers applied this summer and we’ll be announcing the recipients later this year.
And that's a wrap on the Q3’26 edition of The Latest from Google Play! Whether we are helping fans jump straight into live sports and new games, giving subscribers more choice at checkout, or keeping families safe, every update this quarter brings us closer to a more helpful and rewarding Google Play. We are grateful for the creativity and passion you all bring to this community, and we cannot wait to share what is coming next as we close out the year.
To the future,
Sam Bright
VP & GM, Google Play + Developer Ecosystem