C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The Play Store’s Collections feature is now widely available in the US.
- This feature automatically groups installed apps by topic and then delivers personalized info about them via a widget.
Google revealed the Google Play Collections feature for the Play Store in July. This feature lets you group your installed apps by topic and receive information about them via a home screen widget.
We previously confirmed that this Google Play Collections widget had started rolling out in the US, and 9to5Google reports that it’s now widely available in the region. Google says the feature requires a phone running Android 12, and the outlet reported that they’re seeing it in version 42.5.15 of the Play Store.
In any case, the Collections feature automatically groups your installed apps by topic. It then delivers personalized information about these apps in a home screen widget. For example, tapping the “Watch” topic will show recommendations from all your installed video streaming apps. Meanwhile, tapping the “Listen” topic will let you continue listening to songs or listen to new album releases in your installed music streaming apps.
Google offers seven topics in Google Play Collections right now:
- Watch
- Food
- Listen
- Shop
- Read
- Social
- Game
The search giant also said at the time of the feature’s reveal that it will offer four more categories, namely Dating, Health and Fitness, Travel and Events, and Sports. Google also expressed interest in user-made topics, although it didn’t say this option was actually coming.
Google noted in July that Google Play Collections would be available outside the US soon. We’re still waiting for this expansion, but a full-scale launch in the US suggests a wider release isn’t far away.
