At the end of last year, Google started to post changelogs for the Google Play System Updates it issues to Android devices (phones, watches, TVs, and tablets). The introduction of a changelog for these updates is somewhat of a big deal because for the first few years of these updates, we had no idea what was in them. They were a mystery, which is not awesome knowing that they impact almost every single device running Android.
The world first noticed these changelogs a week ago with a January update. The update listed out 10 changes you could see on your Android device, from critical fixes to system management stuff and Google Play Store improvements. Today, Google further updated the January update page to include another 10 items that will show up through Google Play Services and the Google Play Store.
These new updates will be available as Google Play Services v22.02.03 and Google Play Store v28.8. This fresh round of updates began rolling out on January 14.
So what’s new? Well, Google says it is improving the support experience and adding manual credential adds to the Google Password Manager. There is new discovery flow to explain what’s new in major system updates, a new way to sign-in to Android TVs with your Android phone, improvements in several Wallet areas, and a couple of Developer Services items.
Account Management
- [Auto, Phone, Tablet, TV, Wear OS] Improve the support experience for the Google Account on Android by serving more relevant content to users based on entry point.
Security & Privacy
- [Phone] With password addition, you can manually add credentials for apps and sites to the Google Password Manager.
Support
- [Auto, Tablet, TV, Wear OS, Phone] New user discovery flow on supported Android devices to explain what’s new in a major operating system update.
Utilities
- [Phone] With the update to Android TV, users will have a new way of signing in to their TV using Android Phones.
- [Phone] With updates to the new version of Contact UI, users can opt in to consents.
Wallet
- [Phone] Users will have the ability to search for the agency they are looking for without manually scrolling.
- [Auto, Tablet, TV, Wear OS, Phone] Some eligible cardholder users will default to SMS verification.
- [Phone, Wear OS] Improvements to Wallet landing experience.
Developer Services
- New developer features for Google & 3rd party app developers to support ads, analytics & diagnostics, machine learning & AI related developer services in their apps.
- Improvements to the Sign in with Google user interface.
Again, these new updates began rolling out a couple of days ago.
To check for updates to the Google Play Store, head into the Store, tap your profile (top right), then Settings>About and tap “Update Play Store.”
