It seems Google is testing a new minor, but useful change, to Google Play Store listings. This one specifically focuses on the “more by” tab which can be found at the bottom of any app listing on the Google Play Store and allows the user to check out more apps by the same developer. Generally speaking, this section comes with a “more” button which once clicked sends the user through to a separate page to check out the full selection of apps from that developer.
However, this is where the change seems to be taking place. As now, Google is testing a side-scrolling (or swipable) element which allows the user to view all of the apps from that developer, without having to actually leave the page the user is on. This of course, is the type of change that makes sense from Google’s perspective, as the company has recently been pushing for an app listing style of presentation which make it easier (by requiring less clicks by the user) for users to find more apps. As a result, a number of swipeable and side-scrolling aspects have been popping up quite often with Google recently, and especially in the Play Store.
At the moment it is unclear how widespread this feature is. Usually, such changes only become available to a small selection of users, although we are seeing it on more than one device – which is less typical of these changes. What is also less clear is whether the ‘more’ button will remain if this change becomes the norm. At present the ‘more’ button does still work, although it seems largely redundant as you can scroll all the way through the list of available apps. In fact, it is even more redundant than before, as clicking through to that page would have loaded a full page where all apps were present and in-view. That is not the case anymore as the clicked through page now leads to one single horizontal tab which is navigated by side-scrolling. So it has in effect, become a bit of a dead link now. The fact that it is still active though, is likely further evidence that Google is yet to fully commit to this feature, even for those it is testing it with.
