Google revamps its Play Store with AI features and more

6 months ago 54

Google said Tuesday it’s making a fig of changes to however the Play Store looks and functions successful an effort to amended personalize the store to its users and summation engagement. Among the caller features is simply a redesigned Apps tab, a caller Play Games experience, a caller tab focused connected your interests, and different features that leverage Gemini AI.

The update builds connected different caller additions that purpose to marque the Play Store much of a destination — similar a tab that shows you wherever you tin ticker your favourite shows oregon Collections, which organizes your favourite apps and games into areas similar shop, watch, and listen, Google Play Games VP and General Manager Aurash Mahbood explained to TechCrunch successful a property briefing.

“For implicit 4 cardinal users, Google Play is an important gateway to discovering apps, games, books, movies, TV, and timely taste content, and our ambition is to assistance each users prosecute with the apps and contented that substance their needs and interests,” helium said successful a property briefing up of today’s launch.

Not surprisingly, the update is adding AI-powered functionality to the Play Store.

AI Search and caller Apps tab

With a diagnostic called Guided Search, users tin find the app oregon crippled they privation to effort by typing successful a extremity oregon thought alternatively of the app’s name. For example, a idiosyncratic could benignant successful “find a home” to beryllium pointed to existent property apps.

The Play Store’s Apps tab is besides being updated to see caller “curated spaces” dedicated to seasonal topics and those tailored to a user’s interests. These could propulsion successful contented from aggregate apps, Google says. In the U.S., contented related to the WNBA volition beryllium featured here, for instance.

This enlargement follows the motorboat of curated spaces successful India and Japan, which had focused connected determination interests similar cricket and comics, respectively. Korean users volition besides summation a curated abstraction focused connected video content, offering a premix of movies, TV shows, and short-form video, including play and serialized stories. Google notes that short-form contented is the astir often consumed media format connected smartphones.

A idiosyncratic location with the You tab

A caller You tab aims to pull users to prosecute with the Play Store much frequently, arsenic it volition connection a centralized spot for tracking subscriptions, rewards (like Play Points), recommendations, stats, and updates.

Notably, the tab volition connection recommendations related to your interests, similar movies oregon shows, podcasts, ebooks oregon audiobooks, and marque it easier to leap backmost into what you were reading, listening to, oregon watching last.

Gamers volition besides spot their caller gamer illustration successful this tab, which organizes stats and achievements crossed games and devices. These profiles tin besides present beryllium customized with a Gen AI avatar.

Image Credits:Google

A caller Games tab and AI ‘sidekick’

New features for gamers are besides rolling retired aft the motorboat of the caller Games app that shipped with Android rival Apple’s iOS 26 release.

Now, the Games tab volition centralize stat and accomplishment tracking, rewards, and assemblage into 1 place. Play Games Leagues volition let users to situation their friends and vie for Play Points rewards. This kicks disconnected with the archetypal league dedicated to the fashionable rubric Subway Surfers, which volition tally from October 10 done October 23.

However, the much absorbing update is the summation of the AI-enabled Play Games Sidekick. This is simply a caller in-game overlay that you tin entree to get real-time gaming assistance from Gemini Live.

The thought is that you tin inquire Gemini for assistance erstwhile you get stuck successful a crippled and request guidance oregon tips. The diagnostic builds connected the enactment Google showcased with DeepMind successful December, wherever the institution showed disconnected however it was processing AI agents crossed domains, including gaming.

“Instead of having to permission the crippled to question retired tutorials oregon walkthroughs, we’re leveraging the latest Gemini audio-to-audio exemplary to assistance recognize your gaming context, providing you speedy responses and encouragement,” said Mahbood.

The Sidekick volition besides curate and signifier different applicable gaming info successful 1 place, truthful you tin enactment successful the game. Initially, the diagnostic volition beryllium supported successful games from EA and Netmarble, including Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, FC Mobile, and Solo Leveling: Arise.

Also caller are the enhanced Game Detail Pages, which volition showcase accusation astir the title, including ongoing events, developer updates, and offers. Next month, gamers volition besides beryllium capable to inquire questions and stock answers connected this leafage to supply oregon get assistance from different gamers.

The Google Play Games connected PC offering, which brings much than 200,000 titles to Windows desktops, is exiting beta today, too, Google said.