Google to tweak Play Store to make it better for large screen devices

According to a post on its Developers blog, Google will be introducing three main updates to the store -- ranking and promotability changes, alerts for low-quality apps and device-specific ratings and reviews.

San Francisco: In a bid to help users discover quality apps on large screens, tech giant Google is making big changes in Play Store to enable users to discover and engage with high-quality apps and games.

According to a post on its Developers blog, Google will be introducing three main updates to the store — ranking and promotability changes, alerts for low-quality apps and device-specific ratings and reviews.

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“We recently published our large screen app quality guidelines in addition to our core app quality guidelines to provide guidance on creating great user experiences on large screens,” the company said in the post.

“It encompasses a holistic set of features, from basic compatibility requirements such as portrait and landscape support to more differentiated requirements like keyboard and stylus capabilities,” it added.

In the coming months, Google said it will be updating featuring and ranking logic in Play on large screen devices to prioritize high-quality apps and games based on these app quality guidelines.

This will affect how apps are surfaced in search results and recommendations on the homepage, to help users find the apps that are best optimised for their device.

“We will also be deepening our investment in editorial content across Play to highlight apps that have been optimized for large screens,” the company said.

Users will soon be able to see ratings and reviews split by device type (e.g. tablets and foldables, Chrome OS, Wear, or Auto) to help them make better decisions about the apps that are right for them.