Google Play Store Will Soon Showcase a New Space for Apps to Show Content-Led Experiences: Report

Google is reportedly working on a new feature that will help developers showcase their apps and capabilities in a new space. The tech giant is said to have shared its plans with third-party app developers at the Google I/O 2024 event during a session. This new feature will create a new surface where users can view and experience app content. The company reportedly believes this can boost engagement and help users find their way back to forgotten apps.

According to a TechCrunch report, Mekka Okereke, Google Play's general manager of apps, explained this new approach to a select group of app developers during its event. Okereke is reported to have said, “This new surface will automatically organize the best and most prevalent content from the apps users already have installed on their Android phone, and enable cross-app travel for almost all categories of applications”. He further explained that this experience would be full-screen content that could be launched with a single touch and would display immersive experiences corresponding to the most comprehensive content of installed applications.

Breaking it down, this new feature appears to be a space within the Google Play Store or on users' home screens (similar to Google Discover that exists on the left side of the home screen on some Android smartphones). In these spaces, the tech giant will show content from different applications and create immersive experiences. The report highlighted an example where users can see a pair of white sneakers and click on it to go directly to the app and make the purchase.

Notably, this is not an app discovery feature, as it is designed for apps that a user already has installed on their device but hasn't interacted with in a while. Immersive content aims to remind them of what they're missing and draw them back into the app. Although Google hasn't revealed exactly how it plans to incorporate this feature, but its description makes it look like an interactive ad, which may not appeal to many users.

The feature is currently limited to some developers that Google partners with. It has been reported that they will have access to their Engage SDK toolset to create content-based experiences that will then be showcased by the Android manufacturer. Users likely won't see them until the end of the year. According to the report, some of the popular app developers who have partnered with Google include Spotify, Prime Video, Reddit, Uber Eats, YouTube, McDonald's, Google Maps and more.