Tag Archives: Google Play

#WeArePlay | Meet Geraldo from Utah. More stories from around the world.

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing

Another month, another series of #WeArePlay stories from apps and games we all love. From a Salt Lake City-based music editing app to successful game studios from Indonesia, Uruguay and Türkiye - discover the inspiring founders behind them.

This time we’re starting in the US with Geraldo. Inspired by his mom’s studies in computer engineering, he decided to start his own tech company at just 16 years of age. But he was also a keen musician and merged both his passions in Moises, alongside childhood friend and co-founder Eddie. The app uses artificial intelligence to remove vocals and instruments from any song. Geraldo describes the process as like “getting a smoothie and removing only the banana” – complex, to say the least, but Moises makes it easy. He hopes “to democratize access to cutting edge audio tools for everyday musicians.”

#WeArePlay Diori & Agung MINIMO South Tangerang Indonesia g.co/play/weareplay Google Play

Next up, we’re crossing the Pacific over to Indonesia where colleagues and game enthusiasts Diori and Agung decided to collaborate outside of the office on their own independent project. This culminated in the launch of their studio, Minimo, with their most successful game, Mini Racing Adventures, accumulating over 38 million downloads to date. The pair channeled Agung’s passion for cars and mechanics into this particular release, but next they’re shifting genres and working on a new shooter game.

#WeArePlay Pablo & Gonzalo Ironhide Game Studio Montevideo Uruguay g.co/play/weareplay Google Play

Now we’re heading down to Uruguay where friends Pablo, Gonzalo and Alvaro had a dream of making games for a living and created Ironhide Game Studio in 2010, learning how to code for mobiles from scratch. As Pablo puts it: “Over the years we’ve realized that what we have is special, because we have the passion, but we also work really hard. This has allowed us to create something great.” Their popular title, Kingdom Rush: Tower Defence, is a strategy game set in a medieval settlement and chock-full of action-filled battles. Looking to the future, they’re hoping to branch into multiplayer games and expand their Kingdom Rush saga.

#WeArePlay Remi, Mithat, Rina, Fuat & Barkin SPYKE GAMES Instanbul Türkiye g.co/play/weareplay Google Play

And finally we’re crossing over to Europe to meet Rina. While working in private equity and meeting an array of business heads, she was inspired to pursue an entrepreneurial path herself. Seeing how popular gaming was becoming, Rina delved into creating titles for a Turkish audience. She struck gold with her first studio becoming a tech unicorn, and soon followed it up with Spyke Games, launched alongside her brother Remi and friends Mithat, Barkin and Fuat. Their title Tile Busters combine social multiplayer fun and skill-based puzzle solving. Soon, they’re releasing a follow-up, Blitz Busters, keeping their goal of being “great content developers creating games that people crave more of.”

Discover more global #WeArePlay stories and share your favorites.



How useful did you find this blog post?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

#WeArePlay | Meet Geraldo from Utah. More stories from around the world.

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing

Another month, another series of #WeArePlay stories from apps and games we all love. From a Salt Lake City-based music editing app to successful game studios from Indonesia, Uruguay and Türkiye - discover the inspiring founders behind them.

This time we’re starting in the US with Geraldo. Inspired by his mom’s studies in computer engineering, he decided to start his own tech company at just 16 years of age. But he was also a keen musician and merged both his passions in Moises, alongside childhood friend and co-founder Eddie. The app uses artificial intelligence to remove vocals and instruments from any song. Geraldo describes the process as like “getting a smoothie and removing only the banana” – complex, to say the least, but Moises makes it easy. He hopes “to democratize access to cutting edge audio tools for everyday musicians.”

#WeArePlay Diori & Agung MINIMO South Tangerang Indonesia g.co/play/weareplay Google Play

Next up, we’re crossing the Pacific over to Indonesia where colleagues and game enthusiasts Diori and Agung decided to collaborate outside of the office on their own independent project. This culminated in the launch of their studio, Minimo, with their most successful game, Mini Racing Adventures, accumulating over 38 million downloads to date. The pair channeled Agung’s passion for cars and mechanics into this particular release, but next they’re shifting genres and working on a new shooter game.

#WeArePlay Pablo & Gonzalo Ironhide Game Studio Montevideo Uruguay g.co/play/weareplay Google Play

Now we’re heading down to Uruguay where friends Pablo, Gonzalo and Alvaro had a dream of making games for a living and created Ironhide Game Studio in 2010, learning how to code for mobiles from scratch. As Pablo puts it: “Over the years we’ve realized that what we have is special, because we have the passion, but we also work really hard. This has allowed us to create something great.” Their popular title, Kingdom Rush: Tower Defence, is a strategy game set in a medieval settlement and chock-full of action-filled battles. Looking to the future, they’re hoping to branch into multiplayer games and expand their Kingdom Rush saga.

#WeArePlay Remi, Mithat, Rina, Fuat & Barkin SPYKE GAMES Instanbul Türkiye g.co/play/weareplay Google Play

And finally we’re crossing over to Europe to meet Rina. While working in private equity and meeting an array of business heads, she was inspired to pursue an entrepreneurial path herself. Seeing how popular gaming was becoming, Rina delved into creating titles for a Turkish audience. She struck gold with her first studio becoming a tech unicorn, and soon followed it up with Spyke Games, launched alongside her brother Remi and friends Mithat, Barkin and Fuat. Their title Tile Busters combine social multiplayer fun and skill-based puzzle solving. Soon, they’re releasing a follow-up, Blitz Busters, keeping their goal of being “great content developers creating games that people crave more of.”

Discover more global #WeArePlay stories and share your favorites.



How useful did you find this blog post?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Grow your game on Google Play with the Indie Games Accelerator – submissions now open

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing

At Google Play, we’re committed to helping app and game businesses of all sizes reach their full potential. That’s why we’re excited to announce we have opened submissions for the Indie Games Accelerator 2024.

If you’re an indie developer who is early in their journey - either close to launching a new game or have recently launched a title - this high-impact program is designed for you.

Selected game studios will be invited to take part in the 10-week accelerator program starting in March 2024. This is a highly-tailored program for small game developers from across 70+ eligible countries. It includes a series of online masterclasses, talks and gaming workshops, hosted by some of the best in the industry.

You’ll also get the chance to meet and connect with other passionate founders from around the world who are looking to take their games to the next level.

Learn how founder of Gambir Studio, Shafiq Hussein, and team grew their revenue by 20% with the advice from mentors at the Indie Games Accelerator.

All submissions must be completed by December 12, 2023 @ 1 pm CET and meet all eligibility requirements. Apply now to supercharge your growth on Google Play.

Grow your game on Google Play with the Indie Games Accelerator – submissions now open

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing

At Google Play, we’re committed to helping app and game businesses of all sizes reach their full potential. That’s why we’re excited to announce we have opened submissions for the Indie Games Accelerator 2024.

If you’re an indie developer who is early in their journey - either close to launching a new game or have recently launched a title - this high-impact program is designed for you.

Selected game studios will be invited to take part in the 10-week accelerator program starting in March 2024. This is a highly-tailored program for small game developers from across 70+ eligible countries. It includes a series of online masterclasses, talks and gaming workshops, hosted by some of the best in the industry.

You’ll also get the chance to meet and connect with other passionate founders from around the world who are looking to take their games to the next level.

Learn how founder of Gambir Studio, Shafiq Hussein, and team grew their revenue by 20% with the advice from mentors at the Indie Games Accelerator.

All submissions must be completed by December 12, 2023 @ 1 pm CET and meet all eligibility requirements. Apply now to supercharge your growth on Google Play.

#WeArePlay | Meet Solape and Yomi from Nigeria. More stories from around the world

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing

We continue to be inspired by the amazing #WeArePlay stories of app and game creators on Google Play, from all corners of the Earth. This month, hear about a game changing financial app for women in Nigeria to an early learning platform that uses augmented reality.


First up, we’re in Nigeria where two former colleagues at an investment bank, Solape and Yomi, channeled their economic expertise into improving women’s accessibility to finance. HerVest is an app exclusively designed for farmers and small business owners, with saving and investment tips, financial education and credit options. Intent on improving gender equality in the financial sphere, the pair plan to reach a million women by the end of 2024 and “become the go-to financial platform for the financially underserved in Africa”.


#WeArePlay Juliana BLW Social Singapore g.co/play/weareplay Google Play
Now we’re crossing the ocean into maritime Singapore, where native Brazilian Juliana launched her baby-led weaning app, BLW Meals. When her firstborn was 6 months old, she struggled to transition her onto solid foods. Unable to find adequate resources in her mother language, Portuguese, she decided to make her own platform, sharing everything she’d learned. Today, she’s overjoyed by how much the app - also offered in Spanish and English - has supported other moms through their weaning journey. Soon, she’s launching a new feature for chatting directly with nutritionists, ensuring parents always have an expert on hand to guide them.

#WeArePlay Harry & Luke Visible London, United Kingdom g.co/play/weareplay Google Play
Next, we’re heading over to the UK to meet mechanical engineer Harry, who’s on a mission to revolutionize perceptions around energy-limiting health conditions. When he got sick with long Covid after a mild infection in 2020, his ability to do the wild, athletic activities he once enjoyed – like cycling across Iceland – was no longer on the cards. Disappointed by the lack of treatment options, he decided to create a health monitoring app, partnering up with friend and tech lawyer Luke to make it happen. On Visible, patients are empowered to track and monitor their symptoms and activity levels. The anonymized data is also used by medical researchers to improve understanding and treatment options, feeding into Harry’s larger goal of “working to change health policy laws to recognize these conditions”.

#WeArePlay Ilan, Nastassja & Edison Pleiq Santiago, Chile g.co/play/weareplay Google Play
Finally, we’re heading to Chile, South America, to meet brothers Ilan and Edison and their friend Nastassja. A veritable dream team, the trio began their tech careers running an augmented reality advertisement agency in their native Venezuela. But when they saw how much kids loved their commercials, they decided to instead use their AR skills to develop an education platform for children. After being offered a place on an accelerator program, they moved to Chile to launch PleIQ – an immersive, early learning app for kids aged 3-8. Next, they’re expanding across Latin America with the goal of “improving education quality to create a more equal society”.

Discover more global #WeArePlay stories and share your favorites.



How useful did you find this blog post?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

#WeArePlay | Meet Solape and Yomi from Nigeria. More stories from around the world

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing

We continue to be inspired by the amazing #WeArePlay stories of app and game creators on Google Play, from all corners of the Earth. This month, hear about a game changing financial app for women in Nigeria to an early learning platform that uses augmented reality.


First up, we’re in Nigeria where two former colleagues at an investment bank, Solape and Yomi, channeled their economic expertise into improving women’s accessibility to finance. HerVest is an app exclusively designed for farmers and small business owners, with saving and investment tips, financial education and credit options. Intent on improving gender equality in the financial sphere, the pair plan to reach a million women by the end of 2024 and “become the go-to financial platform for the financially underserved in Africa”.


#WeArePlay Juliana BLW Social Singapore g.co/play/weareplay Google Play

Now we’re crossing the ocean into maritime Singapore, where native Brazilian Juliana launched her baby-led weaning app, BLW Meals. When her firstborn was 6 months old, she struggled to transition her onto solid foods. Unable to find adequate resources in her mother language, Portuguese, she decided to make her own platform, sharing everything she’d learned. Today, she’s overjoyed by how much the app - also offered in Spanish and English - has supported other moms through their weaning journey. Soon, she’s launching a new feature for chatting directly with nutritionists, ensuring parents always have an expert on hand to guide them.

#WeArePlay Harry & Luke Visible London, United Kingdom g.co/play/weareplay Google Play

Next, we’re heading over to the UK to meet mechanical engineer Harry, who’s on a mission to revolutionize perceptions around energy-limiting health conditions. When he got sick with long Covid after a mild infection in 2020, his ability to do the wild, athletic activities he once enjoyed – like cycling across Iceland – was no longer on the cards. Disappointed by the lack of treatment options, he decided to create a health monitoring app, partnering up with friend and tech lawyer Luke to make it happen. On Visible, patients are empowered to track and monitor their symptoms and activity levels. The anonymized data is also used by medical researchers to improve understanding and treatment options, feeding into Harry’s larger goal of “working to change health policy laws to recognize these conditions”.

#WeArePlay Ilan, Nastassja & Edison Pleiq Santiago, Chile g.co/play/weareplay Google Play

Finally, we’re heading to Chile, South America, to meet brothers Ilan and Edison and their friend Nastassja. A veritable dream team, the trio began their tech careers running an augmented reality advertisement agency in their native Venezuela. But when they saw how much kids loved their commercials, they decided to instead use their AR skills to develop an education platform for children. After being offered a place on an accelerator program, they moved to Chile to launch PleIQ – an immersive, early learning app for kids aged 3-8. Next, they’re expanding across Latin America with the goal of “improving education quality to create a more equal society”.

Discover more global #WeArePlay stories and share your favorites.



How useful did you find this blog post?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Notes from Google Play: Keeping our platform safe

Posted by Jacqueline Hart, Director, Trusted Experiences, Developer Enablement

Hi there,

With millions of Android apps to choose from, users are increasingly focused on the privacy and security of the titles they download. That’s why it’s so important to build user trust with delightful, high-quality app experiences built on a secure foundation.

I’m Jacqueline Hart and I lead the team that helps developers navigate our policies. We’re also responsible for reviewing apps on Google Play to make sure they are safe for users.

In this edition of Notes from Google Play, I’d like to share how we’re working to improve your policy experience and how we’re helping strengthen user trust by highlighting your app’s approach to privacy and security.

Over the past few months, we’ve shared updates on our key privacy and security initiatives to help you prepare for changes and use new tools and resources, including enhanced account data transparency and controls in your app’s Data safety section and new Android 14 functionality. Now, I’m pleased to share the next phase of features, tools, and updates that we’ve been working on to help keep our platform safe and trustworthy.

Giving you a better policy experience

A few months ago, we announced that we’re redesigning the App content page in Google Play Console to make your outstanding tasks clearer, and now we’re adding more information to help you:

  • Spot deadlines with a new timeline view for new and updated declarations
  • Understand why your app is in-scope for a particular declaration
  • Find relevant policy issues alongside each declaration, helping you identify and fix issues more quickly

Later this year, we plan to show not just existing declarations, but also upcoming declaration requirements and deadlines to give you more time to plan.

Clearly see outstanding declaration-related tasks in our redesigned App content page. 
Example is illustrative and subject to change

We’re also getting you critical information about third-party SDKs, including a new notice on Google Play SDK Index to help you make more informed decisions about which version of an SDK may cause your app to violate Google Play policies.

And now we’re bringing more critical information right into Play Console. Previously, you could only learn about SDK-related policy issues affecting your apps through an Inbox message or email. Later this year, we’ll bring this information to you right on the Policy status page so you can see any issues in one place and stay on top of your app’s policy status.

Soon, you can learn about SDK-related policy issues on the Policy status page in Play Console.
Example is illustrative and subject to change

We’re also making it easier to find out if your app is impacted by our Target API requirements, which requires you to build for the latest versions of Android so you can make use of our latest security updates and platform enhancements. Since early August, you may have seen information outlining any potential impact on your app on the Policy status page, including resources to help you learn what to do to stay compliant.

To give you further support, we’re launching more ways to improve the experience. These include the new Developer Help Community, where you can ask your peers about everything from Play Console to the latest policy changes, and the Google Play Strike Removal program, which helps eligible developers get certain enforcement strikes removed after passing a related Play Academy training course. We launched the program as a pilot last year and have seen a successful reduction in repeat violations, so now we’re making it available to all developers.

Building user trust with the Data safety section
Security plays an important role in helping users decide whether an app is right for them. Recently, we announced account data transparency and controls in the Data safety section to help build user trust. If you haven’t completed your updated Data safety form yet, watch our two-minute video to learn how before the December 7, 2023 deadline. Users will begin to see your new information in your store listing in early 2024.
Provide data deltion options in Play Console by Dec 7, 2023
Soon, you can learn about SDK-related policy issues on the Policy status page in Play Console. 
Example is illustrative and subject to change.

To help users feel confident about their downloads in sensitive app categories, we’re soon adding a new Play Store banner for the VPN app category to emphasize the importance of reviewing an app’s Data safety section before installing.

When users search for “VPN” apps in Google Play, they’ll see a banner that encourages them to look for a shield icon in the app’s Data safety section, which indicates that the app has completed an independent security review. VPN developers such as NordVPN, Google One and ExpressVPN are early adopters of this program. We encourage and anticipate additional VPN app developers to undergo independent security testing, bringing even more transparency to users. Users can learn more about the independent security validation process and see VPN apps that have been independently validated by tapping “Learn more” to go to the App Validation Directory.
Independent Security Review - VPN apps with this badge in the Data safety section have been independently validated against a global security standard.
We're rolling out a Play Store new banner to build user confidence in the VPN app category. 
Example is illustrative and subject to change.

If you are a VPN developer and interested in learning more about this feature, please submit this form.

Looking ahead

Our team at Google is prioritizing new ways to give users even more confidence in the quality and security of the apps and games they download, establishing Google Play as the most trusted app marketplace. This includes efforts like our new developer verification process for new Play Console accounts.

We’ve got a lot more to come, but I’m excited to share these updates with you now, and I hope they help you continue to thrive on our platform. As always, thanks for partnering with us to make Google Play a safe, trustworthy platform.

Jacqueline Hart

Grow user acquisition and store conversions with the updated Play Store Listing Certificate course

Posted by Rob Simpson, Product Manager - Google Play & Joe Davis, Manager - Google Play Academy

Since we launched the Google Play Store Listing Certificate in 2021, our no-cost, self-paced training courses have helped thousands of developers in over 80 countries increase their app installs. Over the course of the training, developers learn essential mobile marketing best practices, including how to leverage Play Console growth tools like store listing experiments (SLEs) and custom store listings (CSLs).

Today, we’re excited to release a major update to our self-paced training, covering all the latest CSL and SLE features, as well as real-world examples showing how you might use them to drive user growth. We’re also releasing video study guide series to help you lock in your new knowledge ahead of the exam.

Built for app growth marketers, take Google Play Academy's online growth marketing training and get certified in Google Play Store Listing best practices!
Videos: Google Play Store Listing Certificate Study Guide

What’s new: New features in custom store listings and store listing experiments

The new course content focuses on custom store listings and store listing experiments. For the unfamiliar, custom store listings allow you to show different versions of your title’s Play Store content to different people. For example, you might create versions tailored to users in different countries where feature availability varies, or an experience just for users who have lapsed or churned.

Custom store listings can help you convey the most effective messaging for different users. Based on an internal comparative analysis, CSLs can help increase an app or game’s monthly active users (MAUs) by an average of over 3.5%1.

Store listing experiments, on the other hand, offer a way to explore what icons, descriptions, screenshots (and more) convert the best for your title on the Play Store.

These are features you can use today! Google Play Academy’s training now includes four new courses on custom store listings, four updated existing courses, and nine new study guide videos.

Finding app and career growth

Here’s what some developers, entrepreneurs and marketers have said about their experience after getting trained up and certified:




Learning best practices for store listing experiments allowed me to know more about our audience. Something that simple as using the proper icon increased acquisitions of one of our games by approximately 60%

Adrian Mojica 
Marketing Creative, GameHouse (Spain) 





The knowledge I gained empowered me to make more informed decisions and learn effective strategies. The credibility I got from the certificate has opened new doors in my career. 

Roshni Kumari 
Student & Campus Ambassador (India)


Play Academy increased efficiency in mentoring relationships by 50%, and we've seen a 30% increase in our game launch speed overall. 

Kimmie Vu
Chief Marketing Officer, Rocket Game Studio (Vietnam)


Top tips to prepare for your certificate exam

  1. Take the training and watch the study guide videos
    2. Take the online training on Google Play Academy to learn best practices to help create a winning store listing, then lock in your knowledge with the new video study guides. You’ll learn key skills to help you drive growth with high-quality and policy-compliant store listings.

  2. Pass the exam and get certified
    3. After the training, take the exam to get an industry-recognized certificate. You will also be invited to join Google Developer Certification Directory, where you can network with other Google-certified developers.

  3. Get started with custom store listings and experiments
    4. Time to put your new skills into action. Start with 2-3 custom store listings for markets important to your app or game, such as users in certain countries or lapsed or churned users. Or test a new icon or short description.

Start your learning journey on Google Play Academy today!


1 Source: Internal Google data [Nov 2022] comparing titles that use CSL to those that do not.