Bug plagues the Google Play Store
A new bug that was first encountered in the Google Play Store earlier this week is causing some apps to disappear from the recently updated list. What exactly is going on?Google Play Store is one of the main channels used by Android users to download new applications for their device, offering a wide range of apps of all kinds and for every need. It is also the portal through which the applications on your Android smartphone or tablet are updated, very often automatically and without you having to intervene manually.
After opening the Google virtual store, just tap the profile photo at the top right and then select the Manage app and device item. If all the applications on your smartphone are up to date, a button will appear instead of the number of apps that need updating and will take you to the list in question.
The new Google Play Store bug seems to make some of the apps disappear from this list, even though they have been updated recently. You can verify this problem by checking the applications scanned by the Google Play Protect security service, a list that instead includes all the packages downloaded and updated in chronological order.
An annoying problem that certainly annoys some users more than others. Did you know this function of the Google Play Store? Did you already notice the problem?
Google Play Store Stops Showing App Version Numbers
Google has stopped showing the version numbers for apps on the Play Store. The change appears to have rolled out in recent days and only affects the phone versions of the apps as of now. It’s unclear whether the company deliberately made this change or it was caused by a bug.
The Google Play Store historically listed the app version number as the first item under the “App info” section of a listing’s description, which you can find by tapping the “About this app” button. However, as reported by 9to5Google, some users have noticed that the item is missing on their device. Specifically, Google has removed that information for the phone versions of the apps.
If you have a Wear OS smartwatch linked to the same Google account, the Play Store will show the version number for only the smartwatch version of the app. The information also continues to appear for AndroidTV or Google TV versions of apps. The Play Store web client, meanwhile, keeps the version numbers for all apps, including the phone versions. Version 31.6.13-21 of the mobile app that rolled out recently appears to be the culprit.
This suggests that the change isn’t deliberate and that it’s caused by a bug. As the new report notes, the Play Store shows the version number for phone apps twice within the description — both under the “App info” and “Compatibility for your active devices” sections. Maybe it wanted to remove the item from one of the two places but accidentally removed both. We certainly hope that’s the case. Otherwise, it would force users to dig into the phone settings to check app version numbers. Not being able to check version numbers before installing an app or updating would also prevent users from avoiding buggy releases.
Unless this is a bug, it seems like Google enjoys depriving users of key app information on the Play Store. There have been multiple such instances over the past few months. In November last year, the company briefly stopped showing when an app was last updated to some users, much to their frustration. It did that again earlier this year before reinstating the information a few days later.
If that was not enough, Google last month removed the Permissions list. This decision attracted wide criticism of the company, forcing it to reinstate the list shortly afterward. But fresh from that backlash, the Android maker seems to have taken away another key piece of information from the Play Store. Let’s hope it’s a bug and that version numbers for phone apps will be back for everyone soon.
