Google has big new ideas about the Play Store

Google is bringing several new features to its Google Play store on Android today. There are new categorized “collections” that highlight content from the apps you already have installed. The company’s rewards program is adding more prizes, including Pixel hardware. Google’s Play Pass subscription service is introducing more versatile gaming features. And in Japan, Google is launching a curated comics space that will let people dive into previews of the first few chapters without needing to install third-party apps first.

Together, these changes aim to make Google Play “an end-to-end experience that is more than a store.”

The company presented some of the latest updates at a press conference in New York City on Tuesday. Google Play Vice President Sam Bright highlighted some updates announced at I/O, such as AI-generated app reviews. These AI capabilities are being expanded with a new tool that will make it simpler to compare apps in similar categories (like photo editing software or fitness apps).

Next, Bright moved on to some of the bigger new features. The first is a new section of Google Play called Collections.

Instead of trying to sell you new apps, Collections are designed to showcase content from the ones you already have installed and organize everything into categories like buy, watch, and listen. You’ll see a line to continue watching on various streaming apps, plus the latest deals from select retailers. “With your app content in one place, it’s easier to pick up where you left off,” says Google’s blog post.

Gaming is another big focus of today’s updates. When searching, you can now select from a list of interest filters to refine the types of games Play suggests. And starting today, Play Pass subscribers on PC will be able to play multiple titles at once, so you can get yours Clan Conflict fix in one window while playing another game elsewhere on the screen. Google launched Play Games for PC as a beta in 2021 and has continued to iterate on it with 4K support and now this.

Google is also trying to make its Play Points rewards program more attractive by adding “super weekly rewards.” Available to gold, platinum, and diamond members, they up the usual prizes by adding Pixel devices, Razer gaming products, and other hardware into the mix. Super Weekly Prizes will rotate weekly and can be redeemed in the Play Points Perks tab.

Android customers in Japan are getting a new curated space on Google Play dedicated entirely to comics. “You can access comics-related content in one place — including free first chapter previews, live events and trailers, editor’s picks, and fan reviews, even from apps you haven’t installed,” says Google’s blog post . A new “comics” tab is coming directly to the Google Play home screen. The company continues to explore how to best utilize these curated spaces in other regions; the first example was a cricket section in India.

Importantly, Google is also giving everyone greater control over exactly what data is used for personalized Play recommendations. You can now choose apps that may contain sensitive data that you no they want to be considered in the store’s personalization algorithms. You can find this option by navigating to “In-Game Customization” in the main menu.

Will these new features make people spend more time on Google Play? Maybe, but many of them (like Collections) are easy to ignore if you’d rather keep using them as a destination for apps as usual.