Google could soon deliver system updates through the Play store

By Christian de Looper Published April 11, 2019

It looks like Google could be working on a way to change how system updates are delivered to Android phones. While users have long had to head into the Settings app to check for system updates, code discovered by 9to5Google suggests that Google could soon deliver updates to Android phones through the Google Play store.

If Google ends up making the change to how Android updates are pushed, it would likely look similar to how updates are currently delivered — just in Google Play instead. The code notes that there’s a download button, an interface highlighting that the update is “Installing” and a message saying “All good! Update complete” when the update has finished installing.

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The concept of delivering updates through an app store isn’t totally new. That’s how Apple delivers updates to Mac computers, and it’s a pretty user-friendly experience. It’s likely Google is hoping that changing how updates are delivered to Android phones will make for a more user-friendly update experience on Android.

In general, Google is working to make updating Android phones a painless process, and for good reason. Not only do you get new features with newer updates, but getting the latest updates also ensures that you’re up to date on security patches — which will make it hard for others to maliciously access your data or hack your device.

Google has also been working on Project Treble, which is aimed at helping Android device manufacturers release Android updates quicker than they’re known to do. Often, manufacturers like Samsung or Huawei wait months to release updates to Android phones — and sometimes they skip updates altogether. That can leave users exposed to malware or hackers through bugs in Android code.

Apart from bringing Android updates to Google Play, Google might also be updating other aspects of Google Play. According to 9to5Google, Google may be bringing its all-white theme to Google Play, as it has done to a range of other apps in the past few months. Along with the all-white theme, Google also tends to give apps dark modes — as more black is better on battery for phones with OLED screens.

Just because code suggests a change is coming, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Google will pull the trigger on the features. Still, given Google’s track record with the white theme and simplifying interfaces over the past few years, we definitely wouldn’t be surprised to see the new features in the near future.

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Christian de Looper

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Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…

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