If you consider yourself a bookworm in this digital age, even if the majority of the books you read are still bound together with a front and back cover and the words are printed on the pages with ink, chances are that you spend at least some amount of time in the Play Books app if you own an Android smartphone. If you’re like any number of individuals who read nearly all of their books exclusively from their mobile devices, you know that searching for books may end up getting a bit tedious and challenging. Google has already made some sweeping changes in making the search function in Play Books a more intuitive interaction, an they’ve improved upon it just a little bit more in version 3.9 of the Play Books app which is just starting to roll out to users.
Although we’re not looking at massive changes to the app here and there aren’t handfuls of new features, the changes that do pop up with this latest release are sure to make words jump off the page for a portion of excited readers. Specifically those who use the search function often. While there isn’t a lot changing with the way search looks and acts, following the 3.9 update search will now give users a little bit more information on the results that surface after they have typed up a search term, and there might even be a few extra results that show up in the list.
Aside from the improvements made to search suggestions, Google has also added indicators that are designed to alert users when there is new content to be found in the Play Store for any given series of books that they may be keeping up on. Say for example, that you’re waiting for the next book in the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series. While there is no clear date for the release of the 7th book, should you be looking through your Play Books library one day at that particular franchise in the series tab, a little blue dot would appear in the top right corner of the thumbnail image for the series. Google has also made some small improvements to accessibility and to the performance of the app overall.
While not necessarily available just yet, there are some things coming in Play Books to look forward to which it appears Google has started to lay the foundation for, as per evidence found in the strings of the version 3.9 APK. First up is a feature which still seems to be in development called “spotlight,” which Google will use to allow readers to give feedback on errors within specific books that they may have in their library. Lastly, it also appears that Google is preparing the Play Books app to include a book recommendation that may have been mentioned in a video that the user was watching, perhaps through YouTube. If you enjoy the Play Books app and would like to get your hands on the latest version, you can find the link to download it below.
Download Google Play Books v3.9 APK