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Google has begun working on new ways to make navigation of the Google Play Store easier. As reported by Android Central this has taken the form of tests of new features and designs.
The Google Play Store has seen a series of interesting innovations from a business standpoint over recent months. Most recently, the Play Store made betting apps available in the US and other territories.
Due to the varying betting laws across states and countries the breakdown of where and what was available ended up being very complex. Hence why it made for such an interesting move for the company.
Another interesting move was the beginnings of displaying FitBit products on the Play Store. This is clearly an effect the recent Google acquisition of the aforementioned Fitbit turning into some lucrative advertising.
This change looks to help with navigation to and within the settings menu of the Play Store. However, reports have emerged of alterations to the hamburger menu.
Google Play Store makes a series of UI changes
Google has made a series of redesigns to some of its apps. Many of which are yet to see the light of day and may never do so if they do not prove to be successful.
The latest images of the Google Play Store show a redesign for the set menu. The changes show expandable sections instead of a full-page of listed options.
As the screenshot shows above the setting menu now displays headings and expandable sections. These cover General, User Controls, Family and About. Generally speaking, most of the reaction has seen this as a positive change as it makes the menu look a lot cleaner.
Google had toyed with getting rid of the Hamburger menu back in October. This would have seen Google place the menu within the user thumbnail.
Currently, only a small group of users has been able to access the change to the settings menu. Nothing surprising here as Google is clearly testing the new feature trying to gauge opinion and its success.
These changes can take a whilst to roll out more fully depending on the urgency of the developers and the test’s success. We will have to keep our ears to the ground to see whether this change becomes permanent and when it may roll out to the rest of the userbase.
Given the initial reaction to the change has been positive we would expect to see this change become a permanent one sooner rather than later.