Skip to main content

The Early Beginnings of Google Play

Could you ever imagine Android without it´s logo?  Because whether you’re a user or a developer, you definitely know Andy,  the Android logo. In a way, Andy is part of the history of Android, and so it is Google Play.

Just for a second try to imagine the online world without the biggest application store. It seems impossible, right? Nowadays, we use Google Play  for  almost everything: gaming, being more productive, making lists, taking pictures, and the list goes on and on.

The emergence of Android Market
Maybe because now we’re so used to go to the Google Play, we had never think about the beginnings of this platform. To get started, the online store was launched in 2008, developed and operated by Google of course.

The first official name of the store was “Android Market”. Here, Android users could find games, movies, TV shows and other types of apps. Music was stored in Google Music and e-books in Google EBookstore.

However, in March of 2012,  Google decided to fuse all their online stores in only one platform, and that decision changed the experience of all Android users for good as it expanded and unified the Android App market.

Becoming Google Play Store
The new platform was named “Google Play Store” as we know it now. Some of the innovations for this new online store were the introduction of in-app payments and giving developers the chance to answer user’s comments.

Another innovation was to provide an easy way to publish apps in almost 49 languages. Since the beginning, Google Play offered free and paid apps for smartphones and tablets.

Google Play is flexible about the admission of author´s apps or big enterprises developer’s apps. This strategy is definitely a key piece of its evolution.

In 2014, Google Play Store made some changes to improve user experience, such as providing additional information about the apps, file size and ratings.

New functions and improvements in Google Play
In 2015, Google Play added new functions for android app developers in order to test their apps before launch them into the market. Also, new categories were improved inside the store: “Apps and Games” and “Entertainment”, which later became “Movies, Music, Books” (including TV shows and magazines).

The same year, Google decided to separate the sale of its hardware devices out of Google Play Store and put them in its own  Google Store division. With this decision, Google Play became a store for downloading and purchasing digital content purposes only.

Google Play didn’t stop there and in 2016 they were committed to enhance UI, guarantee user’s security and eliminate fraudulent or incentivized ratings. A task that they continue doing with their latest policy changes.

Google Play Store, 5 years and still making history
In a short matter of time, Google Play Store has become the online store with more visits of the market, having nearly 3.2 million apps.

To celebrate these first 5 years, Google published on its blog: “Google Play turns 5 today”. A post in which they presented a list of apps, games, movies, music albums and books most downloaded. Certainly special for the knowledge of their users.

Google Play Store is the perfect example of innovation of a digital platform. It has evolved in terms of support, security, user experience and design. And it will continued doing it for the coming years.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Advantages of Choosing Android for Mobile Applications Development

Android has become a need for most smartphone users nowadays since most of them usually have one or more of them in their homes. The Android apps are now not part of luxury since its popularity has penetrated every strata of the society. The versions have boosted its popularity and increased its credibility. Android App Development is useful for developing mobile applications for the platform. Out of the current crop of mobile platforms, Android stands to win. Android is very easy to implement because of its open source nature. The SDK or the software development kit assists the developers to start developing and working on applications instantaneously and the app can be implemented faster. Android is Google's product and presented by the Open Handset Alliance group. The platform consists of an operating system (OS), middleware, main applications, and the development kit, which is comparatively easy to use. The SDK facilitates developers with strong APIs and tools, which is r

What’s New (And Tasty) in Android Lollipop 5.1?

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Switchers Notification panel now features drop-down menus of available Wi-Fi networks and active Bluetooth devices. From this day, to connect to a Wi-Fi network or a Bluetooth device, all you need is to open the notification panel. Smooth. Hiding Switches In stock Android, not all switches are shown in the notification panel. Some of them show up only after manipulating with phone’s parameters. Some of these switches are Invert and Hotspot, which are seldom used, but still someone may need them one day. Hiding Notifications In Android 5.0, we’ve got a new way of displaying notifications. If yesterday we found out about getting a notification in the status bar, today this function is fulfilled by a drop-down ticket. To delete it, swipe left or right. To check it out later, swipe up. Sound Level In Android 5.1, the functionality of a sound bar has been changed a bit. When you’re in the Clock app, tuning the sound bar up or down will set the Alarm sound. Whe

Top 6 Reasons why need to hire android app developer

Biggest and major companies in mobile industry and technology – Apple and Google are continuously introducing new innovations and advancements to dominate the mobile industry. In this era, mobile application development (Android and iPhone apps) are emerging through different sectors especially in most businesses, brands, and other larger industry. Both of these major mobile platforms are competing with each other but only shares one goal – to contribute a more futuristic approach to every task of human life. According to data gathered from statistic reports, Android users are continuously increasing and contributing to the market for about 80% at a much higher rate compared to iOS which is only 17%. So, if you’re business doesn’t have an Android application yet, then now is time to consider hiring Android app developers. In this article, let’s tackle the top reasons that will prove how important and beneficial it is to hire android app programmers from an Android app