Google Play is preparing a new full-screen app discovery feature and adding more developer tools

Although Google's I/O 2024 developer conference is overshadowed by AI news this year, it's also focused on what's new for those developing for Android. This year, it's Google Play that's turning heads, with a new app discovery feature, new user acquisition capabilities, updates to Play Points, and other improvements to developer-focused tools like the Google Play SDK Console and Play Integrity API, among others Things.

Of particular interest to developers is the so-called Engage SDK, which offers app makers a way to present their content to users in an immersive, full-screen experience tailored to the individual user. However, according to Google, this is not currently a user-visible interface.

Instead, the Engage SDK will be offered as a developer preview, allowing developers to use the upcoming interface to highlight key content from user-installed apps, personalized recommendations, and promotions. If the user has already installed the app, they can highlight the most important content of these apps. If the user doesn't have the app installed, developers can use this space to showcase their app's most compelling features. It can also offer personalized promotions and offers.

To use this new feature, developers must complete an integration with the Engage SDK – which takes about a week. Currently, the Engage SDK is offered as an invite-only preview.

Play Points, the Play ecosystem's rewards program, is used to launch vouchers, discounts and exclusive in-game items. Now it's also easier to monitor these promotions through Play Console, allowing developers to better optimize their campaigns.

Google has also simplified integration with Play Games Services and expanded its Google Play Games on PC program to more than 140 markets. The program's catalog now includes over 3,000 titles, the company said.

For SDK developers, Google opens its SDK console to all SDK vendors as long as they are distributed through a canonical Maven repository source that Google can verify. First launched in 2021, the SDK Console is designed to help SDK makers improve their performance by providing tools such as crash reports, insights, and the ability to communicate more directly with developers. With the expansion, it will now be open to smaller SDKs and open source SDKs that were not previously supported. This will enable a wider range of SDK manufacturers to provide developers with tools to update to SDK versions that fix bugs and issues and comply with the latest Play Store guidelines.

Developers can also share crash reports and Application Not Responding (ANR) errors with SDK owners to help them improve.

The Play Integrity API, introduced in 2022, will also be updated. Using the API, developers can ensure that user actions and server requests come from an unmodified version of their app to protect against risk and fraud. Now three new features are added. One of them is the public beta version of “App Access Risk,” which tells an app whether another app is capturing the screen, displaying overlays, or controlling the device. (However, it is not triggered by features used for accessibility.) The API can now also respond with a Play Protect verdict, which informs developers whether Play Protect is enabled or whether known malware has been found on the device. Another feature, Recent Device Activity, allows developers to detect devices making high volumes of requests, which Google says could be a sign of automated traffic or an attack.

To help developers attract and retain users, the Play Store is introducing custom store listings, allowing developers to modify their listings and optimize them for different audiences. You can now also create listings based on the keywords users search for, and Play Console will make keyword suggestions. Google's Gemini AI can also help write app descriptions.

Following further changes designed to make the Play Store more useful for users with different form factors such as tablets or watches, listings can now display screenshots, ratings and reviews for each form factor. This is also useful when users filter apps by device type or browse the “other devices” apps page.

Developers who use deep links to their app – links that point to a specific page within their app – can now update those links without submitting an app update for review. Instead, they can use the deep links patching feature in Play Console to experiment with different links and then publish them live.

The company also teased various changes it has made to Play Store commerce, including support for UPI in India and Pix in Brazil, the ability for parents to approve purchases for children within a Google Family setup , and in India, the ability to ask a family member or friend outside of your own family group to purchase an app or in-app product. The latter is done by passing on a payment link via SMS or email.

Google has noted that Play Store prices are automatically updated to reflect currency fluctuations against the US dollar and is now allowing developers to price products up to US$999.99 (or local currency equivalent). Developers can also use a new Play Billing Lab app to test features to improve customer experience for one-time purchases and subscriptions.

The installment subscription feature, available in early stages in select markets, allows customers to pay for long-term subscriptions over time. So far, the program has seen an 8% increase in total subscription signups and 4% increase in user spending, but Google hasn't said when it will roll out more broadly.

To use the features, developers will need to upgrade to Play Billing Library 7.0 later this month, Google said.