Tag Archives: Google Play

Boosting developer success on Google Play

Posted by Sameer Samat, VP, Product Management

Helping developers build sustainable businesses is a core part of Google Play’s mission. We work with partners every day to understand the challenges they face and help them bring their innovative ideas to life. Getting a new app off the ground and into orbit is not easy! To aid their quest for growth we provide a broad range of support, from powerful marketing tools and actionable data in the Play Console, education via Play Academy, best practices and thought leadership resources, programs such as the Indie Games Festival, Indie Corner, and accelerator programs around the world. We’re always looking for new ways to give them an added boost.

Starting on July 1, 2021 we are reducing the service fee Google Play receives when a developer sells digital goods or services to 15% for the first $1M (USD) of revenue every developer earns each year. With this change, 99% of developers globally that sell digital goods and services with Play will see a 50% reduction in fees. These are funds that can help developers scale up at a critical phase of their growth by hiring more engineers, adding to their marketing staff, increasing server capacity, and more.

While these investments are most critical when developers are in the earlier stages of growth, scaling an app doesn’t stop once a partner has reached $1M in revenue — we’ve heard from our partners making $2M, $5M and even $10M a year that their services are still on a path to self-sustaining orbit. This is why we are making this reduced fee on the first $1M of total revenue earned each year available to every Play developer, regardless of size. We believe this is a fair approach that aligns with Google’s broader mission to help all developers succeed. We look forward to sharing full details in the coming months.

As a platform we do not succeed unless our partners succeed. Android and Google Play have always listened to our developer partners from around the world and we continue to take their input into account as we build and run the ecosystem. We look forward to seeing more businesses scale to new heights on Android, and to further discussions with our developer community to find new ways to support them technically and economically as they build their businesses.

Boosting developer success on Google Play



Helping developers build sustainable businesses is a core part of Google Play’s mission. We work with partners every day to understand the challenges they face and help them bring their innovative ideas to life. Getting a new app off the ground and into orbit is not easy! To aid their quest for growth we provide a broad range of support, from powerful marketing tools and actionable data in the Play Console, education via Play Academy, best practices and thought leadership resources, programs such as the Indie Games Festival, Indie Corner, and accelerator programs around the world. We’re always looking for new ways to give their growth a boost.  


Today we are announcing a significant change for those developers that sell in-app digital goods and services on Play (e.g. gems in a game). Starting on 1st July, 2021 we are reducing the service fee Google Play receives to 15% for the first $1M (USD) of revenue every developer earns each year. With this change, 99% of developers globally that sell digital goods and services with Play will see a 50% reduction in fees. These are funds that can help developers scale up at a critical phase of their growth by hiring more engineers, adding to their marketing staff, increasing server capacity, and more.


While these investments are most critical when developers are in the earlier stages of growth, scaling an app doesn’t stop once a partner has reached $1M in revenue -- we’ve heard from our partners making $2M, $5M and even $10M a year that their services are still on a path to self-sustaining orbit. This is why we are making this reduced fee on the first $1M of total revenue earned each year available to every Play developer that uses the Play billing system, regardless of size. We believe this is a fair approach that aligns with Google’s broader mission to help all developers succeed. Once developers confirm some basic information to help us understand any associated accounts they have and ensure we apply the 15% properly, this discount will automatically renew each year. We look forward to sharing full details in the coming months.


Last year when we clarified the requirements of Google Play’s Payments policy, we explained that the service fee for Google Play is only applicable to developers who offer in-app sale of digital goods and services. More than 97% of apps globally do not sell digital goods, and therefore do not pay any service fee. For the developers in India that do sell digital goods, but have not yet integrated with Play’s billing system, they continue to have until 31st March, 2022 as announced previously.  For the thousands of developers in India that are already using Play to sell digital goods, they can start receiving the benefit of this change as soon as it goes into effect in July.


As a platform we do not succeed unless our partners succeed. Android and Google Play have always listened to our developer partners from around the world and we continue to take their input into account as we build and run the ecosystem. We look forward to seeing more businesses scale to new heights on Android, and to further discussions with the Indian developer community to find new ways to support them technically and economically as they build their businesses.


Posted by Sameer Samat, Vice President, Android and Google Play

Sub-dollar pricing expansion in 20 markets

Posted by Neethi Thomas, Dafna Gal and Ashnil Dixit, Google Play

At Google Play, we’re committed to giving Android developers access to the largest possible market for your apps and games. Google Play already supports free and paid apps in over 165 markets. We had previously lowered minimum prices developers can set for their products for 20 markets like India and Brazil. Today, we’re happy to announce that we have reduced the minimum price limit for products in 20 more markets across Latin America, EMEA, and APAC.

With these new lower limits, you can now set prices in the range of 10-30 cents US equivalent in most of these markets. These ultra-low price points, or “sub-dollar” prices, allow you to reach new potential buyers by adjusting your pricing to better reflect local purchasing power and demand. It also gives you more flexibility to set your global pricing strategy and gives more users the opportunity to enjoy monetized experiences in your apps and games.

The minimum price limit for paid apps, in-app products, and subscriptions has been lowered in these new markets: Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Croatia, Hungary, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan, Paraguay, Romania, Serbia, Thailand, Tanzania and Vietnam.

Additional markets where sub-dollar pricing is available: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and Ukraine

To adjust your prices in Google Play Console, please see our Help Center article. The full list of price ranges can be found here.


Best practices for sub-dollar pricing

Since the feature was introduced in 2015, Android developers have been using sub-dollar pricing to expand their paying user base in creative ways. Here are a few ways you can use sub-dollar pricing to help grow your own business:

  • Try offering limited-time promotions. Sub-dollar pricing is a great tool to entice new users through promotions, or to reward loyal users with low-cost perks. For example, to convert more paying users of their popular game Lords Mobile, developer IGG sometimes offers special bundles for only IDR 3000 (USD 0.20) that offer 2-3x more value for a limited time. Because these are special offers, it allowed them to expand their payer base without cannibalization.
  • Offer seasonal deals. Sub-dollar pricing is also useful for seasonal sales. Because users know they have a limited opportunity to buy these items, it makes them more attractive. Combined with the low price, it can be an attractive offer for first time buyers. Moonton offers rare skins when users make their first purchase of the season in Mobile Legends, even if it’s a sub-dollar purchase.
  • Try introductory pricing offers. Sub-dollar pricing can also be used to attract new paying users with introductory pricing. For example, you could offer users who have never made a purchase a valuable item at a sub-dollar price. Developer Moonton does this, offering users access to popular heroes in their game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang when they make their first purchase. This strategy helps them reach new paying users without much impact on their overall game economy.
  • Reward loyalty. You can also try sub-dollar pricing in conjunction with repeat purchase events. For example, you could offer special bonuses to players making one purchase a day for seven days, without users spending more than they are comfortable with.
  • Offer gacha. Sub-dollar pricing works well for chance-based items, or “gacha,” which can appeal to new users. Users who aren’t willing to spend $5 on a valuable in-game item may be willing to pay $0.15 to open a treasure chest with a chance of finding the item inside. By offering gacha at sub-dollar pricing, many users may be willing to pay a token amount just to try their luck.


There are many ways to use sub-dollar and localized pricing and the suggestions listed above are just a starting point. We’re excited to see how you’ll use our features to grow your business.

New tools make children’s books easier to read

As a parent to two young kids, bedtime stories are a big part of our evening ritual. My daughter, who’s almost 4, can now recognize all the capital letters, but she’s still learning how to identify lowercase letters and put them all together in a complete word. As we celebrate National Read Across America Day in the United States, I’m reminded of aspiring readers like my daughter, who experiences both the joys and the challenges of books. Google Play Books recently introduced a set of tools to help new readers and their families enjoy the process of learning how to read. 

Thinking about those who are learning to read

Until recently, the Google Play Books user experience was primarily designed for proficient readers. With the launches of Teacher Approved Apps and Google Kids Space in 2020, we had an opportunity to rethink what learning to read means for younger readers, their parents and anyone else who may be a beginning reader.

New reading tools to help you

Here are more details about the reading tools now available to you:

Read & listen:Listen to a book read out loud, with a choice of whether the pages turn automatically or manually.

A book featuring Sesame Street characters being read out loud through Read and Listen.

Read & listen narrates a book and highlights the text being read aloud. 

Tap to Read and Kid Friendly Dictionary:  Hear a word spoken out loud by tapping on any word on the book page. Read or listen to thousands of kid-friendly definitions, many of which have illustrations to support comprehension and learning.

Kid-Friendly Dictionary defining the word "Friend" for kids, with an illustration of two children talking.

With Tap to Read, users can tap a word to hear it read out loud. And Kid Friendly Dictionary defines words for a young audience, often with illustrations. 

How to access reading tools

When you are browsing in the Google Play Store or Google Play Books app, you’ll find a large catalog of books designated for ages 0-8, and the vast majority of these titles have reading tools enabled. You can also download a free sample of any children’s book to confirm if reading tools are enabled for that title before purchasing the book. In celebration of National Read Across America Day, here are some free ebooks that feature these reading tools:


  • "We're Amazing, 1-2-3!:" This Sesame Street story stars Elmo, Abby, and their friend Julia, who has autism. Together, the three pals have a delightful playdate.

  • "Ara the Star Engineer:" This is a STEM book on a mission! An inspiring, inclusive, whimsical way to learn about computers and technology from real-life trailblazers, written by a Googler.

  • "Family Forever:" This Sesame Street picture book features Julia and her family and friends as they spend a day in the park.

We look forward to doing more work in making reading more accessible and fun for our youngest users, families and aspiring readers.  To learn more about reading tools, please visit the help center.

New tools make children’s books easier to read

As a parent to two young kids, bedtime stories are a big part of our evening ritual. My daughter, who’s almost 4, can now recognize all the capital letters, but she’s still learning how to identify lowercase letters and put them all together in a complete word. As we celebrate National Read Across America Day in the United States, I’m reminded of aspiring readers like my daughter, who experiences both the joys and the challenges of books. Google Play Books recently introduced a set of tools to help new readers and their families enjoy the process of learning how to read. 

Thinking about those who are learning to read

Until recently, the Google Play Books user experience was primarily designed for proficient readers. With the launches of Teacher Approved Apps and Google Kids Space in 2020, we had an opportunity to rethink what learning to read means for younger readers, their parents and anyone else who may be a beginning reader.

New reading tools to help you

Here are more details about the reading tools now available to you:

Read & listen:Listen to a book read out loud, with a choice of whether the pages turn automatically or manually.

A book featuring Sesame Street characters being read out loud through Read and Listen.

Read & listen narrates a book and highlights the text being read aloud. 

Tap to Read and Kid Friendly Dictionary:  Hear a word spoken out loud by tapping on any word on the book page. Read or listen to thousands of kid-friendly definitions, many of which have illustrations to support comprehension and learning.

Kid-Friendly Dictionary defining the word "Friend" for kids, with an illustration of two children talking.

With Tap to Read, users can tap a word to hear it read out loud. And Kid Friendly Dictionary defines words for a young audience, often with illustrations. 

How to access reading tools

When you are browsing in the Google Play Store or Google Play Books app, you’ll find a large catalog of books designated for ages 0-8, and the vast majority of these titles have reading tools enabled. You can also download a free sample of any children’s book to confirm if reading tools are enabled for that title before purchasing the book. In celebration of National Read Across America Day, here are some free ebooks that feature these reading tools:


  • "We're Amazing, 1-2-3!:" This Sesame Street story stars Elmo, Abby, and their friend Julia, who has autism. Together, the three pals have a delightful playdate.

  • "Ara the Star Engineer:" This is a STEM book on a mission! An inspiring, inclusive, whimsical way to learn about computers and technology from real-life trailblazers, written by a Googler.

  • "Family Forever:" This Sesame Street picture book features Julia and her family and friends as they spend a day in the park.

We look forward to doing more work in making reading more accessible and fun for our youngest users, families and aspiring readers.  To learn more about reading tools, please visit the help center.

Google Play Console powers better strategic decisions with new engagement metrics and unique benchmarks

Posted by Tom Grinsted, Product Manager, Google Play

Today in Google Play Console, we’ve launched a suite of new metrics* and unique comparative benchmarks. Using these, you can evaluate your app or games’ engagement and monetization trends against up to 250 different peersets, helping you make better, more informed decisions about your product roadmaps and opportunities.

Whether you want to prioritize new features to drive engagement, experiment with pricing, or drive up retention, we hear from all developers that they need great data and insights to help make the best investments.

While some larger developers can compare data from across their portfolios, this isn’t always possible — for instance, when entering a new territory, if you don’t publish directly comparable apps, or if you only publish one or two games in the first place. In these types of cases, how do you know if your app or game’s performance is good and where you can be better?

With this launch, we’re here to help all developers better contextualize and understand their performance. Here’s what’s new:

New engagement and monetization metrics

In partnership with experts in mobile apps and games growth, we’ve introduced a new set of engagement and monetization metrics based on best practices in evaluating app and game performance. These include:

  • DAU/MAU
    The ratio of users who open your app each day vs. each month (28-day rolling period). This is a key measure of “stickiness.” It tells you if you’re driving regular, habitual use.
  • 28-day returning users
    The percentage of your daily users who have also used your app in the previous 28 days. This can help you judge if you’re building a loyal audience.
  • DAU and MAU growth rates
    How quickly you’re growing the number of users who open your app daily and at least once in 28 days. These are your fundamental audience-growth measurements.
  • ARPDAU
    Average Revenue Per Daily Active User. This is your daily revenue divided by your DAU, which measures your success in driving revenue from your users.
  • Average purchase value
    How much you make on average from each transaction. This is useful for pricing optimization decisions.
  • Purchases per buyer and User-buyer ratios
    The number of times buyers transact with you, and the percentage of your DAUs and MAUs who become buyers. Especially helpful if you’re looking to see if there’s growth opportunity in increasing how many people purchase or how often.

In total, we’re launching 15 new normalized metrics with benchmarks, and making the absolute numerators and denominators available to query, too. They can all be found in the new “Compare to peers” tab in the Statistics page*. For convenience, we’ve included other key normalized metrics, like store listing conversions, here too.

Track your performance with peerset comparison

To power your decision-making and help you discover areas of opportunity, all of these new normalized metrics are launching with peerset comparison performance as standard. You’ll be able to track your metrics over time and compare up to 250 different types of apps and games such as “Match-3 games,” “Audiobooks,” or “Comics.”

Compare your performance to peers on the Statistics page in Google Play Console.

Country filters allow you to customise these insights to suit your business needs. For instance, you’ll be able to see if games similar to yours are driving more revenue from users in Japan, or if your team’s latest feature drop means that you’re outperforming other similar apps in terms of loyalty in India.

During our development process, we tested this suite of new insights with select partners. As well as useful in shaping our approach, their feedback has been positive:

Plarium logo
"These new metrics and comparisons help drive our decision-making. Not just around what we should do with our games right now, but also strategic decisions about upcoming games. For us, it's already one of the most valuable features on the Play Console."

Guy Ulmer, Plarium Global Ltd.

To help you make the most of these new metrics and insights, we’ve launched a new course on Play Academy to get you up to speed. You can also check out our masterclass webinars about super-powering your growth.

Strong privacy protections for users and developers

The data powering these new metrics comes from users who have agreed to share their app activity with Google, and is modeled to better represent the whole population. The data simply records if an app is opened in the foreground. Users have control over their data and can opt out of sharing it, or delete individual events, in myactivity.google.com.

Additionally, these new developer metrics are our first to use differential privacy - an advanced technique that provides increased privacy protections across datasets. You can find out more about this approach in our technical blog.

Just like previous benchmark launches, all of the peer comparison metrics come with protections for developer privacy. The data is generated from a large number of apps and games, and the peer groups, driven by Play Store’s advanced tagging system, do not share the performance of individual apps. So although you can find high-quality, reliable, useful peerset comparisons we've worked to obscure the performance of any individual competitor’s app from the peersets you see, and obscure your apps' performance in peersets too.

More to come

This is the first launch of a multi-year project to bring more helpful insights and active recommendations to Google Play Console. The largest mobile app developers often use growth consultants to help inform their long-term strategic product decisions. We’re dedicated to bringing this kind of help and expertise to all Play developers via the console. So look out for more launches over next year!

*Please note you need a Google Play Console account to access these links.


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Quality to match with your user’s expectations

Posted by Hoi Lam, Android App Quality

Since the launch of Android more than 10 years ago, the platform and the user’s expectations have grown. There are improvements from user experience through material design to the importance and advancement in privacy. We know you want your apps to offer a great user experience. At the same time, we also know that it’s not always straightforward to know which area to tackle first. That’s why we are launching a new App Quality section in our developer site to help you keep up-to-date with key aspects of app quality and provide related resources.

In the first release, we have updated the Core App Quality checklist to take into account recent Android releases as well as the current trends of the app ecosystem. Here are some highlights in this update:

  • Visual Experience - We highlight the best practice of using Material Design Components in place of platform components such as buttons. This will give your app a modern look as well as making features such as dark theme easy to implement. In addition to advice on back stack, we have expanded it to preserving the state of the app. This is becoming more important as edge-to-edge screens and gesture navigation are becoming commonplace, even in entry level phones.
  • Functionality - There are three areas where we have updated our guidance. For media applications, we have updated our recommendations around the playback experience as well as support for HEVC video compression for video encoding. For sharing between apps, we highlight the importance of using the Android Sharesheet. This will be critical going forward as apps will have limited visibility to other installed apps in API level 30 by default. Lastly, we expanded our recommendations around background services. Helping users to conserve battery is a priority for Android, and we will continue to share updates on this topic.
  • Performance & Stability - We have added tooling now available such as Android vitals in the Google Play Console. One important point to highlight here is Application Not Responding (ANR). ANRs are caused by threading issues and are something developers can fixed. The ANR troubleshooting guide can help you diagnose and resolve any ANRs that exist in the app.
  • Privacy & Security - We have summarized our latest recommendations to take into account the latest safeguards from runtime permission to securely using WebView. We have also expanded to include privacy norms that users come to expect from protecting private data to not using any non-resettable hardware Ids.
  • Google Play - In this section, we highlight some of the most important policies for developers and link you to more information on the guidelines.

Going forward, we aim to update this list on a quarterly basis to make sure this is up-to-date. In addition, we will be updating the quality checklists for other form factors.

We are working on additional tools and best practices to make it easier for you to build quality applications on Android. We can’t wait to introduce these new improvements to you. Stay tuned!

Quicksave: The latest from Google Play Pass

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. It’s been a pretty busy year for Play Pass, so let’s take a moment to spotlight a few of the games and developers we think you’ll enjoy.

Program updates

This past year, Play Pass…

  • Celebrated its first birthday

  • Expanded to 42 countries

  • Added more than 300 new apps and games, including more than 100 teacher-approved kids’ titles

New games coming and recent additions

An image from the game Giant Dancing Plushies


Giant Dancing Plushies (Rogue Games, Inc.):

Help huge, adorable stuffed animals conquer the planet in this adorable (yet… terrifying) take on the rhythm game genre. Jam to the great in-game tracks or Kaiju it up to your own favorite music and get ready to stomp on the city! 

An image from the game Figment


Figment (Bedtime Digital Games):

Venture into the whimsical, dream-like world of the human mind. Solve puzzles to restore the peace and rediscover the courage that's been lost–all while beating back the nightmarish fears that threaten to take over! If you’re looking for a mind-blowing weekend playlist, we recommend checking out Figment, Samorost 3, Old Man’s Journey and The Gardens Between (all included with your Play Pass subscription). Can you identify the theme that links them?

The logo for the game The Legend of Bum-Bo


The Legend of Bum-Bo (The Label Limited):

Help Bum-Bo recover his lost coin in this edgy, puzzle-based, rogue-like prequel to the Binding of Isaac.  We won’t give away too much, but this combo of turn-based combat and poop (yes, poop) makes for one unforgettable gaming experience.

Titles we can’t get enough of

The logo from the game The Escapists

Everything by Team17: Bust out of a life behind bars, save some sheep and battle your way to worm domination. Almost every live Android title from this renowned publisher will be joining Play Pass. From the Escapists series, Flockers, to every Worms game, Team17 sure knows how to bring it and we’re all here for it.

The Escapists: Prison Escape

The Escapists 2: Pocket Breakout

and many more

An image from the game Basketball Club Story

Basketball Club Story (Kairosoft): Create your own basketball team, recruit a cast of zany players and compete against other teams in the league! You’re the coach taking the team to victory in this sim game from Japanese developer Kairosoft.  Keep an eye out for more from them soon.

An image from the video game Grand Mountain Adventure

Grand Mountain Adventure: Snowboard Premiere (Toppluva AB):The new Winter 2021 Expansion adds a bunch of new mountains and challenging excitement to this local multiplayer. If you can’t hit the slopes this winter, everything you need (including an avalanche of recently added content) is included in this game for you. Well… everything except the après-ski festivities.

The logo of the video game Hole Down

Holedown (grapefrukt games):Shoot balls, break blocks, upgrade all the things. How deep can you go? We love this game so much and are excited to have just welcomed another grapefrukt game (rymdkapsel) to Play Pass.

The logo of the video game Evoland

Evoland(Playdigious):Embark on an epic action/adventure journey with plenty of humor and nods to the classics. Upgrade your graphics and gameplay as you advance on your quest. As we know, every great title has a sequel, so make sure to be on the lookout for more Evoland coming to Play Pass.

Full list of additions since December 1, 2020:

Turning the page on Google Play Books’ first decade

With more time on my hands during this pandemic, I’ve learned that I’m not a gardener (yield from 7 tomato plants--> 2 teeny tomatoes), nor am I a furniture refinisher (but it seemed so straightforward on YouTube!). I am, however, a reader. I’ve indulged more in this lifelong hobby in 2020, finally getting around to books that have been in my Google Play Books library for a long time, and discovering new titles.  

This week marks Google’s 10th year as a digital bookstore. On December 6, 2010, we launched Google eBooks in the U.S., so that people could read books on any device and with recommendations tailored to your interests. Since then, our bookstore—now Google Play Books—has expanded to more than 75 countries and our book catalog has grown to nearly 7 million titles. 

Over the years, we’ve used Google’s technology to expand our offerings and meet the needs of our readers and publishers. Bubble Zoom makes it easier to read comics on your phone by using machine learning to identify and expand speech bubbles. And, you can now access hundreds of thousands of audiobooks in our store, including a selection of free public domain audiobooks created with our auto-narration technology.  

Google Play Books has welcomed publishers of all sizes, becoming an important platform for our tens of thousands of publishing partners to grow their audience worldwide. Google Play Books is a success because of the publishers and book lovers we’ve brought together. 

As we look back on the last decade, here’s a list of our top fiction and nonfiction ebooks on Google Play Books each year in the U.S. (I’m proud to report that I’ve read 7 of 11 of the fiction titles!)

Top-selling fiction ebooks

Top-selling nonfiction ebooks

Books are more than just sources of information; they offer us connection, comfort, inspiration and joy—especially this year. As we recognize our tenth anniversary of Google’s digital bookstore, we’re thankful for all the bibliophiles who have made Google Play Books the hub of their reading life.


6 new ways Android can help this holiday season


With the holidays around the corner, we’re sharing six new Google features for Android—a few more ways your phone gets more helpful over time, even outside of major OS updates. Whether you’re texting holiday greetings to loved ones or winding down with a book, here’s how Android can help.


1. Mix up more of your favorite emoji

Emoji Kitchen gets new stickers and mixing experiences

Click on the image above to see a video of the latest mixing experience coming to Emoji Kitchen 

With Emoji Kitchen on Gboard, people have mixed their favorite emoji into customized stickers over 3 billion times since it was released earlier this year. With this latest update, Emoji Kitchen is going from hundreds of unique design combinations to over 14,000. Each mix makes it easier for you to express yourself with a little extra flair. Now you can simply tap two emoji to quickly see suggested combinations, or double tap on one emoji to reveal some more intense emotions. 

Already available on Gboard beta, the new version of Emoji Kitchen will be available on Android 6.0 and above over the coming weeks. Download Gboard on Google Play to enjoy the new emoji kitchen stickers this holiday season. ❄️️⛄️

2. Enjoy more stories as audiobooks

Auto-narrated audiobooks give voices to more ebooks

Click on the image above to see a video of how Google Play is bringing more audiobooks to Android

The holiday season is the perfect time to wind down and catch up on some books, and audiobooks make it even more convenient to immerse yourself in a story. But not all books, like the one written by your favorite indie author, are converted into an audiobook. Now Google Play, working with publishers in the U.S. and the UK, will use auto-generated narrators so books without audio versions can be narrated—meaning you’ll have more audio titles to choose from on Play Store. The publisher tool to create auto-narrated audiobooks is currently in beta, but it will roll out to all publishers in early 2021.

3. Use Voice Access to navigate your device 

Easily use and navigate your phone by speaking out loud with Voice Access

Click on the image above to see a video showing how Voice Access can help you navigate your smartphone

Built with people with motor disabilities in mind, Voice Access lets you control your phone using your voice. Now using machine learning technology, you can add labels to the screens of your Android apps to help you work within them with your voice. For example, you can say “open Photos”, “tap Search”, “tap Your Map” to see a map of all your photos. This makes navigation convenient and hands-free, using just your voice. Previously rolled out on Android 11, this new version of Voice Access is now available globally on all devices running Android 6.0 and above. You can download Voice Access on Google Play and try the new version out by joining the Beta today.

4. Get around with the Go Tab

New Go Tab in Google Maps is available today

Click on the image above to see the video of the new Go Tab in Google Maps

With the new Go Tab in Google Maps, you can more easily navigate to frequently-visited places with just one tap. Pin your favorite driving destinations like school or a grocery store to quickly see directions, live traffic trends, disruptions on your route, and an accurate ETA—all without typing the place’s address. If you take public transit, you can pin specific routes, which will let you see accurate departure and arrival times, alerts from your local transit agency, and an up-to-date ETA right from the Go Tab. You can even pin multiple routes (including a driving route and a transit route) to the same destination to see which one will get you there most efficiently. The Go Tab starts rolling out on Android and iOS in the coming weeks. 


Be sure to check out other helpful Google Maps features on Android, like live transit crowdedness and Assistant driving mode to help you navigate and get things done this holiday season.


5. Android Auto expands to more countries

Android Auto is rolling out to more countries


Over the next few months, Android Auto will be expanding to new countries, bringing your favorite apps and services from your phone onto your car display. With Android Auto, you can talk to Google to play music, send messages, get directions, and more, so you can keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel. With phones running Android 10 and above, all you need to do to get started is plug your Android phone into a compatible car. For Android 9 and earlier phones, you can download the app.


6. Share your favorite apps with Nearby Share

Send and receive apps without cell or wifi connection

An upcoming update to Nearby Share will let you share apps from Google Play with the people around you with an Android phone, even if you don’t have a cell or Wi-Fi connection. Simply open Google Play, go to the “Share Apps” menu in “My Apps & Games,” select the apps you want to share, and let your friend accept the incoming apps. This update will roll out in the coming weeks.