What you need to know
- Google’s latest version of the Play Store shows signs of a new “parallel download” feature, which would allow users to download and install multiple apps simultaneously.
- The feature appears to have limitations, such as the lack of support for app updates and the fact that users can only download two apps at a time.
- This “parallel” feature was revealed a few years ago in an apparent Google test, but never made it to Android.
The latest in-depth research seems to show Google’s ongoing development of a new simultaneous download feature for multiple apps.
According to AssembleDebug (TheSpAndroid), a peek at the latest version 40.0.13 of the Play Store showed evidence of a new “parallel download” feature (via Android Authority ). Enabling the appropriate flags made the feature able to download more than one app at once instead of making the user wait.
Unfortunately, testing has shown that this handy feature has some limitations. First, the post states that downloading and installing at the same time doesn’t work with app updates. Users can tap “update all,” but the Play Store will only download and install one at a time, which is similar to how it currently works.
It has also been noted that Google has implemented a limit on the number of simultaneous downloads a user can make. The company only deployed two apps at a time. However, AssembleDebug pushed this to five in the code.
The feature will likely remain in testing for some time until Google fixes all known issues.
What’s interesting is that this feature was apparently in testing years ago, as a user on Reddit drew attention to it. The original poster noticed that the Play Store was downloading three apps at once. Interestingly, these appear to be all app updates that are no longer supported by the current development process. A user on Reddit also mentioned a drop in internet quality, with their phone often downloading three apps at once.
Maybe that’s why Google decided to limit simultaneous downloads to two – at least for now.
Another revelation involving the Play Store shows Google’s plans to introduce “Featured Stories” to the app’s details section. These stories would appear as colorful cards when information about the app is expanded. The discovery showed that users will find recommended apps of a similar category to the app they are in.
Additionally, a look at version 39.8 of the Play Store showed signs of some dialog UI changes.