You wouldn’t buy a car without taking it for a test drive, and now, you don’t have to buy a game without streaming it first either. According to new reports, Google is now allowing users to try before they buy, which means that they can stream an app for 10 minutes before deciding whether or not it’s worth spending money on. It was a concept first proposed in March, and now, seven months later, it looks like it’s starting to go live in the United States.
With the abundance of free apps readily available on the Google Play Store, it’s no wonder that app makers are having to prove their worth when it comes to asking consumers to put down some plastic. And although refunds have been available for apps for a while now, this new feature from Google eliminates the hassle of sending money back and forth, and instead gives users the information and experience they need before making a commitment.
Given that the “Try Now” feature is still relatively new, some folks have reported there are still a few bugs that need to be addressed, and that it tends to crash every now and again. But as the testing feature becomes more widely available, Google will doubtless improve upon its functionality. For now, it looks like you can only test out games, and while you can stream these apps as many times as you want, you can’t resume progress when one session expires.
Google hasn’t officially announced the feature’s release, nor is it clear as to when the rest of the world will be able to try before they buy, but taking Google’s previous update history into consideration, we can probably expect broader access in the coming weeks.
And of course, we may still garner more information at Google’s Pixel event later today.
