If you have a super fast internet connection, you might have thought about downloading more than one Android app on your smartphone at the same time. Google seems to be working on adding support for parallel downloads in the Google Play Store, according to TheSpAndroid.
The website revealed that turning on some flags in Google Play Store v40.0.13 on a rooted Android device enables a parallel installation feature that Google is experimenting with. However, previous reports and screenshots shared on Reddit reveal that this isn’t the first time the company has considered bringing parallel downloads to Google Play.
By default, the feature is configured to download two apps simultaneously, but you can increase that limit to five by enabling the flag. However, you can’t use it to update multiple apps at the same time, the website said.
There’s no word on when (or if) the feature will be released to the public, or if Google will adhere to the two-app download limit. Google tested the ability to download multiple Android apps about four to five years ago, but the company may have abandoned the feature then and never released it.
By comparison, Apple is already several steps ahead because you can download more apps on the iPhone. Moreover, you can update several apps simultaneously by tapping the Update All button in the App Store.
In separate news, a user on X (formerly Twitter) reported that the Google Phone app has started showing WhatsApp call entries alongside regular call entries. Mishaal Rahman noted that “third-party calling apps can choose to have calls logged in the system call log” as of Android 9. Again, this feature is already available in the Phone Dialer app on the iPhone.