Play Store on Android




Play Store
Developer(s)Google
Initial releaseOctober 22, 2008; 12 years ago (2008-10-22)
Stable release(s) ±
Android19.0.12 / February 28, 2020; 9 months ago (2020-02-28)
Android TV18.7.18 / February 21, 2020; 9 months ago (2020-02-21)
Wear OS17.3.27 / November 14, 2019; 12 months ago (2019-11-14)
Operating systemAndroid
TypeDigital distribution, App store
Websiteplay.google.com Edit this on Wikidata

Play Store is Google's official pre-installed app store on Android-certified devices. It provides access to content on the Google Play Store, including apps, books, magazines, music, movies, and television programs. Devices do not ship with the Play Store in China, with manufacturers offering their own alternative.

Play Store filters the list of apps to those compatible with the user's device. Developers can target specific hardware components (such as compass), software components (such as widget), and Android versions (such as 7.0 Nougat). Carriers can also ban certain apps from being installed on users' devices, for example tethering applications.

There is no requirement that Android applications be acquired using the Play Store. Users may download Android applications from a developer's website or through a third-party app store alternative. Play Store applications are self-contained Android Package files (APK), similar to .exe files to install programs on Microsoft Windows computers. On Android devices, an "Unknown sources" feature in Settings allows users to bypass the Play Store and install APKs from other sources. Depending on developer preferences, some apps can be installed to a phone's external storage card.

Installation history

The Play Store app features a history of all installed apps. Users can remove apps from the list, with the changes also synchronizing to the Google Play website interface, where the option to remove apps from the history does not exist.

Compatibility

Google publishes the source code for Android through its "Android Open Source Project", allowing enthusiasts and developers to program and distribute their own modified versions of the operating system. However, not all these modified versions are compatible with apps developed for Google's official Android versions. The "Android Compatibility Program" serves to "define a baseline implementation of Android that is compatible with third-party apps written by developers". Only Android devices that comply with Google's compatibility requirements may install and access Google's Play Store application. As stated in a help page for the Android Open Source Project, "Devices that are "Android compatible" may participate in the Android ecosystem, including Android Market; devices that don't meet the compatibility requirements exist outside that ecosystem. In other words, the Android Compatibility Program is how we separate "Android compatible devices" from devices that merely run derivatives of the source code. We welcome all uses of the Android source code, but only Android compatible devices—as defined and tested by the Android Compatibility Program—may participate in the Android ecosystem."

Some device manufacturers choose to use their own app store instead of or in addition to the Play Store.

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