Google Play Store will promote tablet apps with a “quality” rating

Google wants to make 2022 the year of Android tablets, and after launching the tablet-focused Android 12L update, staffing the Android tablet division, and releasing an app or two for tablets, the company is now giving the Play Store some tablet love. The goal is to make it easier for tablet users to find relevant tablet apps rather than stretchy phone apps.

First of all, these are “ranking and profitability changes”for the Play Store. Google says, “Over the coming months, we’ll be updating our display and ranking logic in Play on larger devices to prioritize high-quality apps and games.”The rating will “affect how apps appear in search results and recommendations on the homepage, with the goal of helping users find the apps that are best optimized for their devices.”

To get the best rating, the app must be “high quality”. The qualifications for this designation are detailed on the Large Screen App Quality page.”, which contains sound recommendations for improving applications for tablets. It starts at the “Basic Compatibility”level, which includes things like “landscape mode support”(you’d be shocked to find out how many Android apps have messed this up) and “don’t limit your app to borders.”The Best tier includes layouts for large screens, multi-window support, and mouse and keyboard support. The “Best”level includes a fully responsive design for tablets, foldable devices, and desktop mode, as well as stylus support and right-click context menus.

Also, if the apps don’t meet at least the “basic”tablet requirements, they will be marked as “poor quality”and the Play Store will show some kind of warning when the tablet user starts installing them. Google suggests “watch for further updates later this year”for more details.

Google Play will also categorize reviews by device type and show the most appropriate review type by default. So tablet users will see the reviews of the tablet app, and phone users will see the reviews of phone users.

All in all, it’s a lot of significant improvements to tablet app discovery on Google Play. Now we just need developers – especially Google – to create apps for tablets.