Google Appears To Be Testing A New Review Highlights Feature in Play Store

Category: Technology

Google Play is planned to receive a major overhaul which was teased by the company last month. Ahead of the overhaul, Google appears to be testing a new Review Highlights feature. A recent report indicates that Google is currently testing the Review Highlights feature with select users. Listed under each app on Google Play, it will offer a quick glance at common phrases used in reviews of the app, thus giving users an idea of what to expect before they download it. The screenshots of the Review Highlights feature include common phrase examples such as 'too many ads', 'easy to use', and 'video problems'. Details regarding the new feature at this point are limited as of now. Unfortunately, there is no word when we will see the new feature rolling out to broader audience but we can expect it to be part of Google Play's anticipated overhaul. The feature testing was first reported by Android Police. Last month, Kirill Grouchnikov, a user interface engineer on the Android project at Google had teased upcoming revamp expected soon for Google Play. At this point, it's too soon to know for certain if this will eventually roll out to every user, but if the data collected by Google is favorable (and I'm somewhat inclined to believe it will be), we may hope to see this in a future Play Store update. Or maybe not. Who knows? The revamp will the creation of Apps & Games and Entertainment tabs, amongst other changes. Currently, the Google Play homepage shows combined contents from all the sections including Apps, Games, Movies and TV, Music, Newsstand, and Books. The new design is expected to replace the current visible interface. There are not many details about the new design; though by looking at the image, it was clear that the 'Entertainment' tab would have content from movies and TV, music, books, and the newsstand. The 'Apps & Games' tab would feature apps and games, along with sub-tabs for top charts, games, and categories among others. The new Google Play interface definitely looked simpler compared to the current setup with six tabs for Apps, Games, Movies & TV, Music, Books, and Newsstand appearing on top on mobile device. Google Play to Prominently Display Which Apps Include Ads The Google Play store will next year prominently display an 'Ads' label on those apps that include advertisements. The latest move by Google is to help ensure users know what they are downloading, preventing misunderstandings. The search giant has started sending emails asking app developers to mark whether their apps include ads in the Play Developer Console. Developers have until January 11 next year to declare if the apps feature ads including those by third party ad networks, display ads, native ads, and/or banner ads. After the due date the ads declaration would be required to update the apps. The email adds that misrepresenting ad presence would violate Google Play Developer Program Policies and might result in a suspension. Google's Support website elaborates that the new Ads label "isn't meant to cover whether an app contains other kinds of commercial content, like paid product placement or offers to make in-app purchases or upgrades. If your app includes paid product placements, make sure they comply with local laws." Once verified by Google, the app listing page would then start showing an Ads label, which is said to appear alongside where in-app purchases are marked. The exact text of the Ads label is still not known, and may be similar to what was introduced with Designed for Families - 'Ad-supported family app'. When Google earlier this year launched Designed for Families in which developers were required to mark their apps as family friendly, started showing the 'ad-supported' label as well for those apps. Google in its email informs developers this ad-supported label is being expanded to all apps on Google Play. Google Play's App Size Limit Doubled to 100MB Google has announced that it is increasing the size limit for Android apps listed on Google Play from 50MB to 100MB. The move will allow developers to write richer apps without being as storage conscious. It will also come in handy to write more powerful codes for devices that have higher resolution graphics. Apps aimed at devices running Android 3.2 or lower will still retain the 50MB limit for apk files however. "We understand that developers are challenged with delivering a delightful user experience that maximises the hardware of the device, while also ensuring that their users can download, install, and open the app as quickly as possible," Kobi Glick of Google Play team said in a blog post. The company's move to bump up the size limitation, however, doesn't change the size of expansion files that a developer can attach to an app. That limitation remains unchanged at 4GB. These expansion files are hosted by Google Play, and users are informed if the app is large (if it's larger than 100MB in total, including expansion files) before downloading or purchasing it. ​Users can always check the actual size of the app when installed by viewing the Read More section from their Android device. However, Google warned developers that despite the larger app size limit, they should still be careful with the size of the app and make it as compact as possible, Google insisted. Every megabyte a developer adds to an app makes it harder for many users to download, and requires more resources from the device to run. The company also recommends the install time be as small as possible, as the longer users wait to use the app, the higher the chance they will give up. "Users around the world have varying mobile data connectivity speeds. Particularly in developing countries, many people are coming online with connections slower than those of users in countries like the U.S. and Japan," Glick added. "Many mobile networks around the world give users a limited number of MB that they can download each month without incurring additional charges. Users are often wary of downloading large files for fear of exceeding their limits." Google Play Store Redesign Teased; Apps and Entertainment to Be Separated Google Play is set to receive a major revamp in coming days which will see the creation of Apps & Games and Entertainment tabs, amongst other changes. Currently, the Google Play homepage shows combined contents from all the sections including Apps, Games, Movies and TV, Music, Newsstand, and Books. The redesign was teased by Kirill Grouchnikov, a user interface engineer on the Android project at Google, who shared an image of the Google Play redesign over the years in a Google+ post. In one of the images, the new design which will likely replace the current interface was visible. There are not many details about the new design; though by looking at the image, it is clear that the 'Entertainment' tab will have content from movies and TV, music, books, and the newsstand. The 'Apps & Games' tab will feature apps and games, along with sub-tabs for top charts, games, and categories among others. The new Google Play interface definitely looks simpler compared to the current setup with six tabs for Apps, Games, Movies & TV, Music, Books, and Newsstand appearing on top on mobile device. Below the six tabs lie sub-tabs for New + Updated Games, Popular Apps + Games, Movies Top Charts, and New + Updated Apps among others. Unfortunately, Grouchnikov has not detailed any time-frame for the new Google Play redesign rollout, but we can expect it to hit the Play Store soon. In his Google+ post, Grouchnikov announced that he will no longer be a part of the Play Store team and confirmed will join the frameworks team. "Android Market / Play Store has been my work home for the last (almost) six years. Now that I'm moving to the frameworks team, the story of Play Store will not be mine to tell - if I could even ever lay such a claim to begin with, since it's always been a team effort, and I was the self-selected messenger of all things pixels," he said. Separately, the Google Play v5.10.29 app has started rolling out to users, Android Police reports. The website adds that the highlight of the update will be the new Google Play text logo, which now follows the new Google logo design language. The update will also 'allow users to copy changelogs and descriptions from mobile devices. Earlier this week, Google announced that the Google Play store would next year prominently display an 'Ads' label on those apps that include advertisements. The latest move by Google was to help ensure users know what they are downloading, preventing misunderstandings. Back in September, Google increased the size limit for Android apps listed on Google Play from 50MB to 100MB.