Introducing a brand new Play Retailer for giant screens

Posted by Allison Chang, Product Supervisor, Google Play

Final yr at Google I/O, we shared some huge modifications coming to the Play Retailer for giant display screen units. Since then, we’ve seen much more individuals utilizing giant screens for work and play, throughout hundreds of thousands of lively Android units. Apps and video games play a important position in shaping the on-device expertise, so we’ve redesigned the Play Retailer to assist customers get probably the most from their tablets, Chromebooks, and foldables.

Right this moment, we’re introducing 4 main updates to assist customers discover high-quality giant display screen apps on Play: refreshed app itemizing pages, rating and high quality enhancements, streamlined retailer navigation, and a split-screen search expertise.

Your retailer itemizing web page is the easiest way to show the performance and worth of your app, so we’ve revamped the expertise to place your content material entrance and heart. Video games with high-quality movies will present a video banner on the high of their app itemizing web page, permitting customers to get a way of gameplay in an immersive manner. We have additionally reorganized apps and video games particulars pages in a multi-column format, bringing extra of your content material increased up the web page.

To advertise high-quality apps that shine on giant screens, we’ve made a number of rating modifications to spice up high quality throughout Play. Apps and video games that adhere to our giant display screen app high quality tips will now be ranked increased in search and Apps and Video games Residence. This helps customers discover apps that resize nicely, aren’t letterboxed, and help each portrait and panorama orientations. Editors’ Alternative and different curated collections and articles can even take into account these standards going ahead, creating new that includes alternatives for optimized apps.

Final yr, we additionally introduced app itemizing warnings and lowered visibility for apps and video games that don’t meet Play’s per-device technical high quality bar. This extends our telephone technical high quality necessities for telephones to giant screens, and impacts apps and video games with an 8% user-perceived crash fee or 8% user-perceived ANR fee on the consumer’s gadget.

These warnings will seem in your app particulars web page, with the aim of setting consumer expectations for a way apps will look and performance on their units. We’ll start rolling out these modifications in late August, so there’s nonetheless time to make use of Android vitals in Play Console or the reporting API to observe and enhance your app’s stability metrics.

Lastly, to assist customers higher perceive the in-app expertise up entrance, we’re more and more that includes your retailer itemizing belongings straight on Apps and Video games Residence.

New content material ahead codecs will use kind issue particular screenshots, movies, and descriptions to show a preview of the app expertise and assist customers make set up choices. As a part of this modification, apps with giant display screen belongings that comply with our content material high quality tips can make the most of these richer codecs, and can occupy extra display screen actual property on Play homepages. As you audit your giant display screen belongings, listed here are some greatest practices to assist your app stand out:

1. Add separate screenshots for every kind issue. Reveal the precise in-app or in-game expertise, specializing in the core options and content material so customers can anticipate what the app or sport expertise might be like.
2. Use high-quality photos with the right facet ratio.
3. Keep away from overloading screenshots with textual content or time-sensitive copy that requires frequent updates.
4. We don’t advocate together with gadget imagery, as this will turn into out of date shortly or alienate some consumer teams.

For extra suggestions and tips to constructing top quality apps, go to our high quality hub.

For extra seamless shopping, we’ve simplified our retailer navigation and moved to a left-side navigation rail on bigger screens. This places menu gadgets nearer to customers’ thumbs and makes them extra accessible, particularly when holding a tool in panorama mode.

We’ve additionally made sure facets of the shop simpler to seek out to assist customers uncover helpful and well-liked apps. For instance, we’ve moved the High Charts and Classes sections to Apps and Video games Residence. On tablets and Chromebooks, we’ve made the Children expertise a main tab, since these units are sometimes shared with youngsters.

Lastly, we’re excited to announce a brand new search expertise that makes it simple to find and evaluate apps from throughout the search outcomes web page.

We’re launching a split-screen search expertise on giant screens, displaying search outcomes and app particulars pages facet by facet. This prevents customers from switching backwards and forwards when exploring new apps and streamlines the invention course of.

These modifications will start rolling out over the approaching weeks, and are just the start of our journey in making a tailor-made Play Retailer expertise for giant screens. For extra inspiration and examples of high-quality giant display screen apps, go to our app design gallery or take a look at our latest session on app high quality from Google I/O.