Megan Ellis / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is testing a redesigned Games tab in the Play Store that adds prominent, scrollable genre bubbles.
- The update also brings these genre bubbles to the Top Charts tab, replacing the easily overlooked and overwhelming Categories dropdown.
The Google Play Store remains the beating heart of Android for Google and its users. Naturally, this app has received plenty of attention, especially for its Games tab. Now, it appears that Google is giving this section of the app another new lick of paint.
Currently, the Games tab in the Play Store offers a fairly rigid top navigation structure, with options including For You, Top charts, Other devices, and Kids shortcuts. What it doesn’t do is make it easy to hop directly into a genre of your choice.
Based on screenshots from a newer Play Store build, it appears that Google is addressing this and testing a genre-specific shortcut list within this section.
You can see the comparison between the current and new UI layouts below. Take note of the top navigation tab bar.
The new layout now includes Material-like bubbles that direct users to Simulation, Puzzle, Life, and other game genres. Notably, these are the options already available in the Categories tab in the current UI. Ultimately, this change is saving gamers a step.
The Categories dropdown is something I always forget exists, and tapping it presents a rather overwhelming list of items. Making these visible through horizontally scrollable boxes alongside the Top Charts option should make the Play Store a little easier to navigate for gamers.
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It’s unclear where Google will place the legacy tabs, like Kids, Other devices, and Premium; it seems to have been removed from the new UI, but it’s unlikely that these options will be ditched entirely.
Thanks, Gzx, for the tip!
⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
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