A few interface and wording changes make the app a little more friendly
A new version of the Google Play Store is rolling out to a wide number of people this week, bringing with it a few new options in the settings and some visual tweaks that make the whole app run a bit smoother. Nothing will blow you away in this update, but there are a few solid improvements, starting with new control over your password settings. Rather than an on/off option for requiring a password for purchases, you now have three — all purchases, every 30 minutes, or never. (You can make a guess this has something to do with a current lawsuit.) Further in the settings, you can now force check for an update to the Google Play Store itself by tapping the build versoin (nice!).
Also in the settings is new wording that changes “auto add widgets” to “add icon to home screen,” which makes dramatically more sense considering that the Play Store was never actually putting widgets on your homescreen, just apps. Falling in line with other recent Google app updates, the settings menu itself (along with the “help” menu) can be accessed from the slide-in panel on the left side, rather than an overflow menu button in the top bar.
Last but not least, you can now batch select and install apps from the “all” tab of “my apps,” letting you quickly restore apps onto a new device at your own convenience. Previously you could select multiple apps to remove them from the list, but now you simply have the option to install multiple apps at once. This latest version of the Play Store will be rolling out over time, as usual, but should be hitting most devices in the coming days.
