Posted by Patricia Correa, Director, Global Developer Marketing
At Google Play we’re committed to helping all developers thrive, whether these are large multinational companies or small startups and indie game studios. They are all critical to providing the services and experiences that people around the world look for on their Android devices. The indie game developer community, in particular, constantly pushes the boundaries with their creativity and passion, and bring unique and diverse content to players everywhere.
To continue supporting indies, today we’re opening submissions for two of our annual developer programs - the Indie Games Accelerator and the Indie Games Festival. These programs are designed to help small games studios grow on Google Play, no matter what stage they are in:
If you are a small games studio looking for help to launch a new title, apply for the Accelerator to get mentorship and education;
Or, if you have already created and launched a high quality game that is ready for the spotlight, enter the Festival for a chance to win promotions.
This year the programs come with some changes, including more eligible markets and fully digital event experiences. Learn more below and apply by July 1st.
Accelerator: Get education and mentorship to supercharge your growth
If you’re an indie developer, early in your journey - either close to launching a new game or recently launched a title, this is the program for you. We’ll provide education and mentorship that will help you build, launch and grow successfully.
This year we have nearly doubled the eligible markets, with developers from over 70 countries being eligible to apply for the 2021 program.
Selected participants will be invited to take part in a 12-week online acceleration program. During this time you’ll get exclusive access to a community of Google and industry experts, as well as a network of other passionate developers from around the world looking to supercharge their growth.
Festival: win promotions that put your game in the spotlight
If you're an indie game developer who has recently launched a high quality game, this is your chance to have your game discovered by industry experts and players worldwide.
This year we will, again, host three competitions for developers from Japan, South Korea, and selected European countries.
Prizes include features on Google Play store, promotional campaigns worth 100,000 EUR, and more.
Posted by Alex Musil, Director of Product, Google Play
This year, we announced many great new features, tools, and updates to help you make the most of Google Play. You can check out all the updates in our I/O session, or keep reading for a quick overview of the new capabilities that will help take your business even further, from driving more installs to growing your engagement and revenue.
15% service fee for the first $1M in earnings
1. Earlier this year, we announced an additional service fee tier to help boost developer success on Google Play. Starting July 1st, the service fee will be 15% instead of 30% for your first $1M (USD) of earnings each year. You’ll be able to enroll for the new rate in Play Console the week of June 7th, so we’re sharing details about the process now to give you time to get ready.
New tools for managing policy compliance
2. We’ve built a new, dedicated Policy and Programs section in Play Console to provide you with a centralized place to see any policy compliance concerns, guidance on how to fix policy issues, and information about upcoming policy changes.
More SDK guidance
3. The new Google Play SDK Console lets providers report issues with their SDK versions so we can give you better guidance and recommendations. We’ve started with several large SDK providers and will continue to add more.
4. Later this year, we’re launching a new, public website with important insights about popular SDKs to help you choose the right SDK for your app. Learn more about how we’re helping you build safer and more stable apps in the I/O session below.
Helping more users discover your apps and games
5. To ensure that your store listing assets can help users anticipate your in-app or in-game experience and drive meaningful downloads, we’re pre-announcing a policy change for app metadata...
6. and introducing new guidelines on store listing preview assets.
Distribution features for the future of publishing
7. One million apps are in production using the Android App Bundle, with 15% size savings on average vs a universal APK. The app bundle is the future of publishing on Google Play and, starting August 1, 2021, they’ll be required for all new apps.
8. Based on developer feedback, we'll soon be launching an optional code transparency feature to offer additional cryptographic assurance that your app’s code on device has not been modified from its original version.
Identify growth opportunities with our new competitive insights
9. To help you understand your engagement and monetization trends and optimize your product plans, we’ve taken the best of our ecosystem data and contextualized your performance against peersets. Learn how to make the most of them in the I/O session below.
10. You can now also customize and pin the precise metrics that matter to you in a personalized KPIs section at the top of your app dashboard.
More features for a flexible monetization strategy
11. Your global reach just got even larger: In 2020, we added 34 new local forms of payment across 30 markets around the world.
12. We lowered the minimum prices developers can set for paid apps, in-app purchases, and subscriptions in 20 new markets across Latin America, EMEA, and APAC.
13. This year, we’ll be launching multi-quantity purchases, which will allow your users to buy more than one item at a time from the cart.
14. We’ll also be launching multi-line subscriptions, which will allow you to sell multiple products as part of a single subscription.
15. And finally, we’ll be launching prepaid plans, which will let you offer users access to content for a fixed amount of time. (Don’t worry, users can easily extend at any time.)
16. Want to take advantage of these new features? Many will be available when you integrate Play Billing Library version 4.0, and more will be rolling out later this year. As a reminder, new apps are required to integrate version 3.0 by August 2, 2021 or by November 1, 2021 for updates to existing apps.
Program enhancements to engage and retain users
17. This year, Google Play Pass expanded to over 40 markets, with more than 800 games and apps. Developers have on average more than doubled their Play revenue across participating titles in these markets. Let us know if you’d like to join!
18. Google Play Points expanded to 22 countries and added deeper integration with Play Console making it even easier for developers to onboard. Play’s loyalty program helps developers increase engagement and reduce churn with their most high value users. Developers can learn more about joining the program here.
More educational content
19. Want to learn more about any of these features? We’ve built a comprehensive website with best practices and resources to help you learn more about our programs and tools.
20. Last but not least, we’ve also added tons of new free courses to Google Play Academy. Whether you're about to launch your startup or grow your existing business on Play, Google Play Academy has you covered.
Posted by Suzanne Frey, VP, Product, Android Security and Privacy
We work closely with developers to keep Google Play a safe, trusted space for billions of people to enjoy the latest Android apps. Today, we’re pre-announcing an upcoming safety section in Google Play that will help people understand the data an app collects or shares, if that data is secured, and additional details that impact privacy and security.
Developers agree that people should have transparency and control over their data. And they want simple ways to communicate app safety that are easy to understand and help users to make informed choices about how their data is handled. Developers also want to give additional context to explain data use and how safety practices could affect the app experience. So in addition to the data an app collects or shares, we’re introducing new elements to highlight whether:
The app has security practices, like data encryption
The app needs this data to function or if users have choice in sharing it
The app’s safety section is verified by an independent third-party
The app enables users to request data deletion, if they decide to uninstall
This can be a big change, so we’re sharing this in advance and building with developers alongside us.
What this section will include
Among other things, we’ll ask developers to share:
What type of data is collected and stored: Examples of potential options are approximate or precise location, contacts, personal information (e.g. name, email address), photos & videos, audio files, and storage files
How the data is used: Examples of potential options are app functionality and personalization
Similar to app details like screenshots and descriptions, developers are responsible for the information disclosed in their section. Google Play will introduce a policy that requires developers to provide accurate information. If we find that a developer has misrepresented the data they’ve provided and is in violation of the policy, we will require the developer to fix it. Apps that don’t become compliant will be subject to policy enforcement.
What you can expect
All apps on Google Play - including Google's own apps - will be required to share this information and provide a privacy policy.
We’re committed to ensuring that developers have plenty of time to prepare. This summer, we’ll share the new policy requirements and resources, including detailed guidance on app privacy policies. Starting Q2 2022, new app submissions and app updates must include this information.
Target Timeline (Dates subject to change)
In the future, we’ll continue providing new ways to simplify control for users and automate more work for developers.
In the meantime, here are some resources to help you design secure & privacy-friendly apps
Review what you collect, send to your servers, or share with 3rd parties
We work closely with developers to keep Google Play a safe, trusted space for billions of people to enjoy the latest Android apps. Today, we’re pre-announcing an upcoming safety section in Google Play that will help people understand the data an app collects or shares, if that data is secured, and additional details that impact privacy and security.
Developers agree that people should have transparency and control over their data. And they want simple ways to communicate app safety that are easy to understand and help users to make informed choices about how their data is handled. Developers also want to give additional context to explain data use and how safety practices could affect the app experience. So in addition to the data an app collects or shares, we’re introducing new elements to highlight whether:
The app has security practices, like data encryption
The app needs this data to function or if users have choice in sharing it
The app’s safety section is verified by an independent third-party
The app enables users to request data deletion, if they decide to uninstall
This can be a big change, so we’re sharing this in advance and building with developers alongside us.
What this section will include
Among other things, we’ll ask developers to share:
What type of data is collected and stored: Examples of potential options are approximate or precise location, contacts, personal information (e.g. name, email address), photos & videos, audio files, and storage files
How the data is used: Examples of potential options are app functionality and personalization
Similar to app details like screenshots and descriptions, developers are responsible for the information disclosed in their section. Google Play will introduce a policy that requires developers to provide accurate information. If we find that a developer has misrepresented the data they’ve provided and is in violation of the policy, we will require the developer to fix it. Apps that don’t become compliant will be subject to policy enforcement.
What you can expect
All apps on Google Play - including Google's own apps - will be required to share this information and provide a privacy policy.
We’re committed to ensuring that developers have plenty of time to prepare. This summer, we’ll share the new policy requirements and resources, including detailed guidance on app privacy policies. Starting Q2 2022, new app submissions and app updates must include this information.
Target Timeline (Dates subject to change)
In the future, we’ll continue providing new ways to simplify control for users and automate more work for developers.
In the meantime, here are some resources to help you design secure & privacy-friendly apps
Review what you collect, send to your servers, or share with 3rd parties
Tablets are the perfect device to stay entertained, whether you’re watching a movie from your bed, playing games on your daily commute or reading a book while you travel. The screen is bigger than your phone, but more portable than your TV. In fact, over the last year, we’ve seen over 30 percent more people start using Android tablets compared to the prior year.
As a versatile device with many different capabilities, whole families often share the same tablet. Last year, we introduced Kids Space as a way for your kids under 9 to learn and have fun with recommended apps, books and videos on Android tablets. And for the rest of the family members, we’re now bringing you a new Android tablet experience that places the entertainment content you love front and center.
Entertainment Space is a one-stop, personalized home for all your favorite movies, shows, videos, games and books. You’ll save time and avoid having to hop between apps to try to figure out what to do, whether it’s to watch, play or read. Once you sign in to your subscription apps, Entertainment Space will show you your content in one place and tailored for you. And if you want to share your tablet, everyone in the family can have their own personalized profile.
Hit play on the latest movies, TV shows and YouTube videos
In the Watch tab, you can move between your streaming services, find movies and TV shows to watch, rent or buy from Google TV and view recommended videos from YouTube. With the Continue Watching row, you can also easily hop back into a show you were watching last night. And, if you’re not sure what to watch next, Entertainment Space will surface your personalized and trending recommendation rows from Google TV, Twitch, Hulu and many additional services.
Discover movies, TV shows and YouTube videos in the Watch tab.
Discover the next action-packed game
Build empires. Slay dragons. Save the universe. With the Games tab in Entertainment Space, a world of fun and adventure awaits your discovery with Google Play Games. Jump back into your favorite games in the continue playing row, or explore new games recommended for you. And to help you start playing more quickly, select games in Entertainment Space are available to Instant play – so you can try a game without downloading it.
Explore or hop back into your favorite games in the Play tab.
Bring your favorite books together, and find the next one too
Whether you’re looking for your next read or already have a stack of books on your virtual nightstand, the Read tab is where you’ll find your next chapter from Google Play Books. If your eyes get tired but you want more stories, you can find audiobooks in this section, too. Check out free sneak peeks before committing, plus see books with discounted prices and recommendations based on what’s trending and what meets your tastes.
Find your next book and audiobook in the Read tab.
Starting this month, Entertainment Space will be available on Walmart onn. tablets. And later this year, Entertainment Space will roll out globally on new and select existing Android tablets from Lenovo™, Sharp and more.
Posted by Bert de Weerd and Tingmui Li, Google Play
When Google Play launched in 2008, it was easy for developers to get noticed with only a few hundred apps and games live on the Play Store. Fast forward to today, there are now millions of apps and games available to audiences in over 190 countries. The unique assets you provide to the Store – images, video, descriptions, even your app name itself – are essential to users making a decision on what to download.
Google Play is increasingly showing more of your assets front and center, surfacing graphic assets and descriptions right on Apps and Games home. To ensure that your store listing assets can help users anticipate your in-app or in-game experience and drive meaningful downloads, we are:
Pre-announcing a policy change for app metadata
Introducing new guidelines on Store listing preview assets
1. Pre-announce policy change for app metadata
Since your app title, icon, and developer name are the most important discovery elements on your store listing page, we are preparing to launch a new set of policies to keep these elements recognizable and unique, focusing on:
Limiting the length of app titles to 30 characters
Prohibiting keywords that imply store performance, promotion in the icon, title and developer name
Eliminating graphic elements that may mislead users in the app icon
App title, icon and developer name that do not meet the upcoming policies will not be allowed on Google Play.You can expect more details about this policy change, including enforcement start dates, later this year.
We recommend reviewing the examples of do and don’t below and thinking about how these changes may impact you, so you can get ready for the upcoming policy changes.
Store performance or rank:
Price and promotional information:
Play programs and graphic elements that mislead users:
Emoticons & repeated or sequential special characters and or punctuations:
2. New guidelines for Store listing preview assets
We are also announcing new store listing preview asset guidelines for the feature graphics, screenshots, videos, and short descriptions you supply to showcase your app's features and functionality. Assets that don’t meet our guidelines may be ineligible for promotion and recommendation on major Google Play surfaces like Apps and Games home.
The new guideline for developer supplied assets focus on the following principles:
Do the preview assets accurately represent the app or game?
Do the preview assets provide enough information to help users decide whether to install?
Are the preview assets free of buzzwords like "free" or "best" and instead focus on providing meaningful information about the unique aspects of your app or game?
Are the preview assets localized correctly and easy to read?
To ensure that your apps and games are eligible for recommendations on all surfaces on Google Play, please review our new store listing guidelines. We’ll start using these guidelines to inform our recommendations starting in the second half of 2021.
We hope you found both the policy pre-announcement and preview asset guideline announcement useful as you plan your roadmap for the year, and we hope you share in our excitement for a more useful and engaging Play Store.
Posted by Eugene Liderman, Director, Android Security Strategy and Brooke Davis, Android Security & Privacy Partnerships
With all of the challenges from this past year, users have become increasingly dependent on their mobile devices to create fitness routines, stay connected with loved ones, work remotely, and order things like groceries with ease. According to eMarketer, in 2020 users spent over three and a half hours per day using mobile apps. With so much time spent on mobile devices, ensuring the safety of mobile apps is more important than ever. Despite the importance of digital security, there isn’t a consistent industry standard for assessing mobile apps. Existing guidelines tend to be either too lightweight or too onerous for the average developer, and lack a compliance arm. That’s why we're excited to share ioXt’s announcement of a new Mobile Application Profile which provides a set of security and privacy requirements with defined acceptance criteria which developers can certify their apps against.
Over 20 industry stakeholders, including Google, Amazon, and a number of certified labs such as NCC Group and Dekra, as well as automated mobile app security testing vendors like NowSecure collaborated to develop this new security standard for mobile apps. We’ve seen early interest from Internet of Things (IoT) and virtual private network (VPN) developers, however the standard is appropriate for any cloud connected service such as social, messaging, fitness, or productivity apps.
The Internet of Secure Things Alliance (ioXt) manages a security compliance assessment program for connected devices. ioXt has over 300 members across various industries, including Google, Amazon, Facebook, T-Mobile, Comcast, Zigbee Alliance, Z-Wave Alliance, Legrand, Resideo, Schneider Electric, and many others. With so many companies involved, ioXt covers a wide range of device types, including smart lighting, smart speakers, and webcams, and since most smart devices are managed through apps, they have expanded coverage to include mobile apps with the launch of this profile.
The ioXt Mobile Application Profile provides a minimum set of commercial best practices for all cloud connected apps running on mobile devices. This security baseline helps mitigate against common threats and reduces the probability of significant vulnerabilities. The profile leverages existing standards and principles set forth by OWASP MASVS and the VPN Trust Initiative, and allows developers to differentiate security capabilities around cryptography, authentication, network security, and vulnerability disclosure program quality. The profile also provides a framework to evaluate app category specific requirements which may be applied based on the features contained in the app. For example, an IoT app only needs to certify under the Mobile Application profile, whereas a VPN app must comply with the Mobile Application profile, plus the VPN extension.
Certification allows developers to demonstrate product safety and we’re excited about the opportunity for this standard to push the industry forward. We observed that app developers were very quick to resolve any issues that were identified during their blackbox evaluations against this new standard, oftentimes with turnarounds in a matter of days. At launch, the following apps have been certified: Comcast, ExpressVPN, GreenMAX, Hubspace, McAfee Innovations, NordVPN, OpenVPN for Android, Private Internet Access, VPN Private, as well as the Google One app, including VPN by Google One.
We look forward to seeing adoption of the standard grow over time and for those app developers that are already investing in security best practices to be able to highlight their efforts. The standard also serves as a guiding light to inspire more developers to invest in mobile app security. If you are interested in learning more about the ioXt Alliance and how to get your app certified, visit https://compliance.ioxtalliance.org/sign-up and check out Android’s guidelines for building secure apps here.
Posted by Tom Grinsted, Product Manager, Google Play
Google Play Console metrics can help you understand your app’s performance across growth and acquisition, engagement and monetization, quality, and churn. But with dozens of metrics — and thousands of variations — we know not every metric is relevant to every person. One of the challenges you’ve shared with us is that it can sometimes be difficult to find exactly the metrics that you need for your personal job role, and to access them quickly and regularly once you have found them. .
That’s why today, we’re pleased to announce that you can now customize and pin the precise metrics that matter to you in a personalized KPIs section at the top of your app dashboard. These customizations are unique to you, so you can configure your KPIs however you want without affecting the rest of your team.
Getting started is easy. On the dashboard for any app, scroll down to the KPI section and select “choose KPIs.” You can either build your own or start with suggested KPIs for job specialities, such as Growth, Quality and Health, or Monetization.
There’s an extensive list of available metrics, including our new engagement data and peer comparisons. Search filters make it easy to find just what you want, and once selected you can edit the dimensions and filters to suit your exact needs. For instance, you could display Daily Active Users for your top-five languages; or if you’re a country manager, only show revenue from a specific country or territory.
You can name any of your KPIs to make them easy to remember, and even include emojis!
?
Once you’ve configured a list of KPIs that suit you, you can order them to control where they appear. This way, you can make sure that your most important metrics are always first to be seen.
You can include up to 20 KPIs, so your dashboard can be as robust or as streamlined as you want.
In addition to our suggested metrics, you can also pin any other dashboard card to your KPIs. For even finer control, you can even add any reports you’ve saved from the Statistics page. This allows you to create hyper-specific custom KPI cards from any of our core metrics.
There are as many ways to customize your KPIs as there are people using the console. Instead of seeing default KPIs, now everyone can have a customized dashboard showing exactly the metrics that matter to their individual workflows.
Though women are playing mobile games at record numbers and make up 45% of gamers, they are heavily underrepresented in the gaming industry and as protagonists in video games. At Google Play, we have a mission to make mobile gaming truly for everyone by enabling women to be celebrated and empowered as both players and creators.
In 2017, we launched the Change The Game Design Challenge to inspire teens to turn their passion for gaming into careers. The Design Challenge has grown from just a five-winner program at its start, to now educating 100 students across the U.S. and Canada this year. Since our launch, we have been humbled by the creativity and drive of the teens who have participated in the program. Some have used their Design Challenge experience as a springboard to their gaming education in college. Others have taken the path of service, using their experience to mentor the next generation of young women in gaming. As the Design Challenge grows and reaches more applicants, what remains constant is the genuine interest and commitment our participants share for driving positive change for the industry.
Starting today, we’ll be accepting submissions for our 2021 Change The Game Design Challenge. We’re calling on teens to become Game Changers by sharing an original game idea and a unique vision for the future of the gaming industry. With school being virtual for the past year, and with a lot of us spending more extra time at home than usual, we’re hoping applicants think of our challenge as a fun way to switch things up while learning something new.
Much like last year, the 2021 Design Challenge will be virtual. Participants whose game ideas are chosen will be invited to an online game development workshop hosted by our partner, Girls Make Games. The workshop will consist of four sessions that will kick off in June and run through the end of the summer. At the end of the workshop, participants can expect to have made new friends and learned skills needed to create a playable game, no coding experience required. These Game Changers will also receive the materials from the workshop, a certificate of completion, custom swag and a brand-new Chromebook to help them continue to grow in their game development journey.
For a chance to participate in this workshop and join a group of innovators, applicants should fill out this entry form and share an original game idea. We’ll be reviewing entries on a rolling basis between now and July 31. The Change the Game Design Challenge is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only, subject to exceptions. For more details on submission guidelines and how to enter, please visit g.co/ctgdesignchallenge. At Google Play, we are excited to invest in a new class of Game Changers.
Google Play Pass helps you connect with awesome digital content: It’s your pass to hundreds of apps and games without ads and in-app purchases. We wanted to take another moment to spotlight a few of the titles and developers we think you’ll enjoy.
Dive in to the newest games and apps
With this most recent batch of new additions, we’re happy to share that Play Pass now offers access to 800+ games and apps. We’ve added some great, award-winning titles this past month, like:
Football Manager 2021 Make your mark on the beautiful game.
PRICE:$8.99 Free with Google Play Pass subscription
Feel the buzz as you effortlessly craft the perfect squad and tactical setup that’s guaranteed to pick up silverware, wherever and whenever you want. We love the new tactical templates which make finding your perfect style of play, and world domination, easier than ever.
Sago Mini School The revolutionary curiosity-led curriculum for little learners.
PRICE:$7.99/monthFree with Google Play Pass subscription
Developed with education and play experts, your child will build math, literacy, science and spatial skills as they discover fun learning games and kid-tested topics. With super fun activities like doodles, tracing, and mazes, you might catch yourself playing without your little ones.
Flockers Do ewe have what it takes?
PRICE:$1.99 Free with Google Play Pass subscription
Save the sheep by guiding them through 60 levels of crushers, giant buzz-saws, deep pits full of spikes and giant swinging meat cleavers. Word to the wary, don’t get too attached to these cuties. They can’t ALL survive.
Dead Cells (coming this week) Kill. Die. Learn. Repeat.
PRICE:$8.99 Free with Google Play Pass subscription
Play as a failed alchemic experiment and explore the sprawling, ever-changing castle to find out what happened on this gloomy island…! That is, assuming you’re able to fight your way past its keepers. If you love ripping monsters to shreds, you’ve come to the right place.
Explore the titles we ❤️
Teslagrad Forge your path through the Tesla Tower.
PRICE:$6.99Free with Google Play Pass subscription
Teslagrad is a 2D puzzle-platformer with action elements where electromagnetic powers are the key to discovering the secrets kept in the long abandoned Tesla Tower. We love, love, love the unique art style that visually brings the story to life, and the clever mechanics that unlock each puzzle keeps us coming back for more. What are you waiting for?
The Gardens Between Embark on a journey that examines the significance of their friendship.
PRICE:$4.99 Free with Google Play Pass subscription
A single-player adventure where you help two friends manipulate time to solve puzzles to find their path forward. This game is quite the emotional journey, so you might want to find a friend to hug (or elbow bump) after it’s all said and done.
Forgotton Anne Discover a world you won’t forget.
PRICE: Free (No in-app purchases with Google Play Pass subscription)
A seamless cinematic adventure with light puzzle platforming. You play as Anne as she sets out to squash a rebellion that might prevent her from returning to the human world. The hand painted environments (chef’s kiss) help make this adventure an animated masterpiece… and a game you won’t (no pun intended) soon forget.
Star Wars: KOTOR Determine the destiny of the entire galaxy!
PRICE:$9.99 Free with Google Play Pass subscription
Can you master the awesome power of the Force on your quest to save the Republic? Or will you fall to the lure of the dark side? Kudos to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Aspyr Media, who were featured as Pocket Gamer’s best Play Pass game of the year.
