Good news if you have several Android devices: the new version of the Google Play Store allows you to automatically install and synchronize your favorite applications on different mobiles.
Downloading an app on an Android device is a quick and easy action. Just go to the Play Store, search – and find – the desired app, press Install, and you’re done! For those who have several devices on the other hand – a personal telephone, a professional, a tablet, a connected watch … – the operation promises to be a little more tedious. To solve this problem, Google allows, on the download page of the application, to choose on which devices to install it. This was the case for tablets and connected watches (Wear OS), and smartphones are also entitled to it, as reported by Internet user ArtemR on Twitter. And a new feature for syncing apps between devices is also appearing.
Synchronize apps with devices: a function already present at Apple
By going to the menu accessible by tapping on their profile icon – at the top right – and then selecting “Manage apps and device” from the Play Store, users will be pleased to discover an option called “ Synchronize apps and devices”. Thanks to her, “Apps you install on this device will also be installed on your synced devices”, explains Google. For example, if a user installs a new game on their primary smartphone, the Play Store will automatically launch the download of the same application on their secondary smartphone, so that they can continue their game there.
Whoa, coupled with this release of installing apps to other phones, you can sync all apps to other phones too now.
This is huge, especially when you set up a new phone and don’t migrate the apps.
Cheers @AssembleDebug and Moshe E. pic.twitter.com/HTXDkaW3P7
— Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) March 21, 2023
It would seem that, for now, the option only works for newly installed apps. It is therefore impossible to use it to quickly transfer your list of apps when changing smartphones – you always have to go through the usual process. Also, synchronization does not apply to updates. Also, if they are not automatic, they must always be executed manually on each device. Still, this change is welcome among users who use several Android devices on a daily basis. As often on Android, all models from different manufacturers are not entitled to new features at the same time. It is therefore possible that it is necessary to wait a little before being able to take advantage of it. Note that this function has already been present for a while on Apple’s side with iCloud for applications, photos, settings…