Tracking your Play Store downloads is about to be much more convenient
GooglePlay System Updatesrarely pack significant life-altering changes. When they come through, we see improvements to the Play Store and Google Play Services. Recently, we were introduced to app archiving facilitated by the Play Store to help us save storage space onbudget phones, or just reallocate it if required. Google also appears to be laying the groundwork for a much-needed floating app download progress indicator.
At present, there are three ways to track the progress of an app download that’s already underway. You can stay on the app’s listing page to stare at the circular progress bar, check on the progress in your notification shade, or visit the Pending downloads page under the Manage apps and device menu. However, many people often download multiple apps at once, and checking on their progress could become a chore.
9to5Google reportsthe Play Store is developing a floating pill-shaped bubble to show you the download progress of an app while you scope out the next download. You can reposition the floating pill at will, much like a chat bubble. It shows you the percentage progress alongside a circular progress bar around the icon of the app you’re downloading. To dismiss it, you can drag the bubble to the bottom.
Google also announced thatapp archivingwould be available on Android devices worldwide with the November Google System Update. It is rolling out now and showing up on devices. Archiving an app uninstalls it while leaving app data untouched in your phone. So, when you re-install it, you can pick up right where you left off. This feature could be a boon for big apps and games which don’t offer cloud sync, and that you might not need to access at all times.
These may not be significant changes to the Play Store, but they could make tracking downloads and living with a budget Android device slightly easier, especially when you don’t want to deal withfreeing up storage on your phone.
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