Posted by Todd Burner – Developer Relations Engineer Cybercriminals continue to invest in advanced financial fraud scams, costing consumers more than $1 trillion in losses. According to the 2023 Global State of Scams Report by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, 78 percent of mobile users surveyed experienced at least one scam in the last year. Of those surveyed, 45 percent said they’re experiencing more scams in the last 12 months. The Global Scam Report also found that phone calls are the top method to initiate a scam. Scammers frequently employ social engineering tactics to deceive mobile use ..read more

Posted by Dave Burke, VP of Engineering Today marks the second chapter of the Android 15 story with the release of Android 15 Developer Preview 2! Android 15 continues our work to build a platform that helps improve your productivity while giving you new capabilities to produce superior media and AI experiences, take advantage of device form factors, minimize battery impact, maximize smooth app performance, and protect user privacy and security, all on the most diverse lineup of devices out there. Android continues to add features enabling your apps to take advantage of premium device hardw ..read more

Posted by Aurash Mahbod – General Manager, Games on Google Play We’re on a mission to make Google Play the best destination for gaming, and your amazing games are what make it possible. That’s why we’re investing in tools that empower you to achieve more by increasing user engagement, accelerating your business growth, and maximizing your reach. Today, we shared more details about those investments at the Google for Games Developer Summit. Check out the Keynote session on demand, or keep reading for key product updates from the summit. More ways to increase user engagement We know that identi ..read more

Posted by Arjun Dayal, Director – Google Play Games Making informed marketing decisions relies on identifying your most valuable user acquisition channels for your games. By tracking referral data, you can understand which traffic sources send the most users to download your app from the Google Play store. These insights can help you make the most of your advertising spend and maximize ROI. That’s why in 2017, we launched the Play Install Referrer API, which gives you an easy, reliable way to track your apps’ referral information directly from the Play store. Until now, this feature was ..read more

Posted by Leticia Lago – Developer Marketing Today, we’re excited to reveal Google Play’s Indie Games Accelerator class of 2024. Selected game studios from around the world will take part in the 10-week accelerator designed to take their businesses to the next level on Google Play. The program includes: A series of online masterclasses, talks and gaming workshops hosted by industry leaders Mentorship sessions covering a broad variety of topics including technical development, gameplay and team leadership Access to gaming experts from Google and leading studios Due to the number of impress ..read more

Posted by Francesco Romano – Developer Relations Engineer on Android App screen sharing improves privacy and productivity Android 14 QPR2 brings exciting advancements in user privacy and streamlined multitasking with app screen sharing. No longer do users have to broadcast their entire screen while screen sharing or casting, ensuring they share exactly what they want to share. Leverage the new MediaProjection APIs to customize the screen sharing experience and deliver even greater utility to your users. What is app screen sharing? Prior to Android 14, users could only share or record their en ..read more

Posted by Almaz Mingaleev – Software Engineer and Masha Khokhlova – Technical Program Manager It's that time of year again when many of us move our clocks! Oh wait, your Android devices did it automatically, didn’t they? For Android users living in many countries, this may not be surprising. For example, the US, EU and UK governments haven't changed their time legislation in a while*, so users wake up every morning to see the correct time. But, what happens when time laws change? If you look globally, governments can and do change their time laws, sometimes every year, and Android devices hav ..read more

Posted by Geoffrey Boullanger – Senior Software Engineer, Shandor Dektor – Sensors Algorithms Engineer, Martin Frassl and Benjamin Joseph – Technical Leads and Managers Device orientation, or attitude, is used as an input signal for many use cases: virtual or augmented reality, gesture detection, or compass and navigation – any time the app needs the orientation of a device in relation to its surroundings. We’ve heard from developers that orientation is challenging to get right, with frequent user complaints when orientation is incorrect. A maps app should show the correct direction to walk t ..read more

Posted by Anirudh Dewani, Director of Android Developer Relations Last week, Android device makers released a slew of new devices, and today we’re unpacking what that means for developers, as well as the latest in Gemini Nano, Android 15, Jetpack Compose and more, in another episode of our quarterly show, #TheAndroidShow: The lastest wearables and foldables – get building! Android device makers unveiled their latest wearables and foldables last week at Mobile World Congress, and we were on the ground in Barcelona taking a look at those new devices and how you can get started building on top ..read more

Posted by Tatiana van Maaren – Global T&S Partnerships Lead, Privacy & Security, May Smith - Product Manager, and Anita Issagholyan – Policy Lead With millions of developers relying on our platform, Google Play is committed to keeping our ecosystem safe for everyone. That’s why, in addition to our ongoing investments in app privacy and security, we also continuously update our policies to respond to new challenges and user expectations. For example, we recently introduced a new account deletion policy with required disclosures within the Data Safety section on the Play Store. Deleting ..read more