While early versions of Android supported installing multiple app updates on Google Play Store simultaneously, this feature was eventually removed. As discovered in the recent Play Store version, Google has seemingly enabled the feature back, making app updates on your Android phone faster.
For the past years, updating apps via Play Store was quite constricting in instances when you update all apps at once and there were several updates lining up at the same time. This is because you needed to wait for the updates to finish installing before you can use any of the apps in the update list.
It was remembered that a similar feature was tested and introduced to select users by Google on Play Store this year, but it was pretty much limited to new apps installations, leaving older and existing apps on your device unsupported. But this is finally changing.
Why multiple app updates feature is useful for Android users
As discovered by 9to5Google, Google’s latest Play Store app is now supporting multiple app updates in the Play Store app simultaneously. It was noted that the feature has been widely rolled out to users, so chances are that you should have the feature on your Android device by now.
We tested by installing updates for more than 20 apps on one of our Galaxy handsets and noticed that Play Store can download and install up to three items at a time, although it’s unclear to us what is the extent of this feature. The number of app updates also varies rather than having three throughout the process.
With multiple app updates, updating more than 20 apps only took less than 5 minutes to install all the items compared to before it could take double the time or longer. Of course, the actual speed will still vary on your device, internet connection, and the file size of the updates.
Aside from the latest change, Google has been busy adding enhancements to the Play Store app. For example, it recently introduced “Personalization in Play” which shows AI-curated suggestions and content like related app reviews. There is also a new privacy toggle for each app, letting users select which apps will be included in the personalized content.
What are your thoughts on these Play Store improvements? Do you think Goole is planning to make the Android app store a bigger platform for more than just apps and content in the future? We’re eager to hear your answers.
