Google to highlight tablet apps in the Play Store starting November 21st

BY Kelly Hodgkins

Published 11 Oct 2013

tablet-play-store

Starting next month, the Google Play Store will start to highlight apps that designed for tablets. These changes will make it easier for tablet owners to find and install apps compatible with their device.

According to a post on the Android Developers Blog, Android has over 70 million Android tablets in circulation and thousands of tablet-compatible apps. The changes coming to the Google Play store on November 21st will bring these two groups closer together.

First, the Google Play Store will show tablet apps when a tablet owner is browsing through the top lists (Top Paid, Top Free, Top Grossing, Top New Paid, Top New Free, and Trending). Users can easily switch views if they want too see all the apps (phone and tablet) available for their device.

Another small change will brand apps as ” designed for tablets” and “designed for phones.” This simple label will make it clear which apps look best on tablets and which ones are meant for Android phones. Google has a set of optimization tips that developers should follow if they want this “designed for tablet” label associated with their app.

On the surface, new labels and filtered lists are small changes, but they will improve the overall experience for Android users. Both new and seasoned tablet owners will appreciate being able to easily find apps that will look best on their devices. It’ll also eliminate those unfortunate surprises when you install a phone app on your tablet and it looks horrible.

[Via Android Developers Blog]