Android is, and has always been, one of the most flexible platforms on the planet, and a lot of this is down to the sort of apps that we can install on our devices. These apps all come from the Play Store – for the most part – and Google have been updating the Play Store over time with some great improvements to make it easier to find apps, and they’re working on a whole lot more, too. The latest version of the Play Store app, V6.9, has been torn apart by Android Police and has quite a few hints at what’s coming soon for the Play Store, as well as Android in general.
During Google I/O earlier on in the year, we saw Google demonstrate a number of great new features that are launching later this year, and being able to stream apps was one of them. This is something that Google has been working on for a long time now, and it appears as though they’re getting closer than ever to being able to launch it. Inside of the latest APK file, Android Police found a number of strings that relate to streaming of apps, such as “Streaming app from Google Play” and “Connection error”. Google is working on this to be backwards compatible throughout earlier versions of Android, and while a number of apps have been compatible for some time now, Google will enable all apps to be able to do this soon. With the launch of Android 7.0 Nougat getting closer every day, it looks as though this is one feature that could launch sooner, rather than later.
As well as the evidence of app streaming inside of this APK, there’s also the beginnings of a purchasing screen for VR apps and games. Strings such as “VrPurchaseActivity” android:screenOrientation=”landscape” android:theme=”@style/VrActivityTheme” practically confirm that Google is working on giving developers a way of enabling users to purchase add-ons inside of Virtual Reality. While this could be implemented into Cardboard, it’s more likely that they’re going to be using this to complete Daydream, their upcoming virtual reality platform which is poised to turn the experiment that has been Cardboard into a very real product. Either way, it looks like the Play Store is all set to become a lot more powerful before the year is out.