Google Play Store Update Finally Adds Must-Have Android Feature

Google Play Store logo in front of the Pixel 8 smartphones
Credit: Google

Google Play Store logo in front of the Pixel 8 smartphones
Credit: Google

Breakdown

  • Google is finally rolling out an update that allows users to download two apps at a time from Play Store
  • The Google Play Store update only allows for multiple app installs, and not app updates at the same time
  • It's currently limited to two apps at a time, but it could be expanded in the future

Whether you've just picked up a new smartphone or you're diving into the Google Play Store to download multiple games and apps, it can take... some time. Regardless of your internet speeds, Google usually limits the downloads to one at a time. However, a recent update changes that.

Whether you're downloading the best Android emulators to test them all out, or picking some of the games on our best Android games list, a new Google Play Store update that is currently rolling out lets you download two apps at the same time. It's not a huge change, may I add, but it's a promising sign.

As spotted by 9to5Google, this feature has been in testing for a few years now, but it seems like Google is finally rolling it out as a standard update. It's more than likely that Google doesn't want to make it difficult for users on older Android smartphones, with numerous concurrent installs using CPU power, and potentially slowing down the device by a lot until the app are installed.

Downloading a third app while another two are installing will tell you that the latest app you've downloaded is pending. As such, you'll have to wait for at least one of the apps to download first before the third will start installing.

Google Sheets and Google Slides downloading while Google Docs is pending
expand image
Credit: 9to5Google
Two apps downloading while one remains pending

Unfortunately, another caveat is that the update only applies to numerous app installs, and not updates. It's certainly a great start for those who are opening up their brand new smartphones, but it's a shame that those of us downloading our daily batch of updates have to wait for each update to install.

It's more than likely that Google is rolling out this update and will make a bigger push for simultaneous downloads and updates in the near future. According to the same report from 9to5Google, the update has been seen on Android 14 devices with Google Play Store version 40.6.31.

If you've been waiting for this feature before switching to Android, you should find out the best Android camera phones, as well as the best Android earbuds before diving into the world of Google, Samsung, and more.

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