Google’s plan to push Android apps outside of the Play Store is starting to take shape, as a new feature called “Collections” reveals a way for users to keep track of their apps from their Android home screen. At this year’s Google I/O developer conference, the company showed developers tools to re-engage users with the apps they already have installed on their devices. However, the company at the time didn’t specify what that surface would look like, focusing only on the software development kit (SDK) that developers could access to integrate the new offering.
Google also shared that it already has over 35 developer partners to test the new feature, including Spotify, Pinterest, Tumblr, TikTok and Shopify.
In a session at the conference, developers were shown information about a new invite-only Engage SDK designed primarily to bring users back into their apps by serving content, offers and promotions. Surface, Google said, “will automatically curate the best and most popular content from apps that are already installed” with a focus on enabling seamless paths between apps for nearly every app category.
With one tap, users will be able to launch full-screen, immersive experiences that highlight and organize the most important content from their installed apps.
Now, we’re starting to get an idea of what this surface will look like, thanks to an APK removal of the Google Play Store software, run by the Android Authority blog. Their experiments in reverse engineering reveal a feature still under development known as “Collections”. Previously codenamed “Cubes,” the feature introduces a Play-Store-powered widget to the Android home screen that organizes app updates into categories like Watch, Listen, Read, Games, Social, and Shop.
When users select a specific category, they will be shown all relevant content from their apps in that space, assuming the apps were integrated into the SDK.
As Google described during the I/O session, the device’s new skin will organize what’s most relevant to users, inviting them back to their apps. The company also offered some examples, showing how retail apps could invite people to continue their shopping journey by highlighting what they had saved in their cart, while apps like Uber Eats might invite users to place their favorite food order. . Reddit could encourage people to read and upvote interesting posts, while Spotify could display favorite playlists.
Google said app developers could also use the feature to present “personalized suggestions and promotions” that would help discover other content and offers they may have missed.
The APK teardown revealed that the feature is rolling out to the US first, before rolling out to new markets, and will also be easily accessible via a shortcut from the Play Store app itself. That is, when you long press the Play Store app, there will be a link to access to access the Collections from the popup menu that appears.
Google has yet to respond to a request for comment about the Collections feature, but it previously announced that the consumer experience will roll out later this year. It’s worth noting that Google recently announced a new hardware and Android event, “Made by Google“, which will take place in August. We’ve heard that Google expects to announce this feature more formally at that time.
