The Play Store could soon display app ratings you actually care about (APK teardown)

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

TL;DR Google could make it easier to view Play Store app ratings by form factor, according to our teardown.

The company might add ratings directly to device chips seen in app listings.

This would save users time and a tap compared to the current method of viewing ratings by form factor.

The Google Play Store does a solid job of catering to various form factors these days. We’ve got icons to denote apps that support tablets and Chromebooks, and we’ve even got app ratings for each form factor. Now, it looks like Google will make another small but welcome change.

An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.

Leaker AssembleDebug and Android Authority dug into version 41.7.16-31 of the Google Play Store, discovering a more convenient way to view app ratings by form factor. Check out the second screenshot below.

Old chips New chips

Play Store app listings currently show chips for various form factors (i.e. phone, Chromebook, tablet). Users can tap one of these chips to view the app rating for that form factor. However, this latest change will see app ratings displayed inside these chips — no need to tap on them.

This is a small but welcome tweak, saving users a tap and a few seconds of their time. So we hope to see this change coming to the Play Store sooner rather than later.

This isn’t the only recent change we spotted in the Play Store. We previously discovered that the store could automatically open newly installed apps, while Google is also working on another layer of security when installing or updating apps.

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