Filter out search results for your phone, watch, or Android TV.
What you need to know
- The Google Play Store has enabled a new search filter.
- Users are now able to filter their searches based on the device they want to install apps on.
- The filters should work for Wear OS and Android TV devices.
The Play Store is finally getting a helpful new search filter to make installing apps on various devices more accessible.
9to5Google spotted the change on Friday, although it’s unclear when it rolled out to the Play Store. Now, when searching for an app, you can select which device type you want to filter for.
The filter will only show up once you’ve initiated a search. You can see below how the search result changes for YouTube Music when “Watch” is selected, showing Spotify as an alternative app compatible with Wear OS.
Similarly, if you own any of the best Android TVs or the Chromecast with Google TV, this option will also appear in the dialogue for compatible apps.
The new filter makes it a bit easier to discover new apps for various devices since it can be cumbersome to search on Wear OS watches. It also highlights the Play Store’s ability to push apps to Wear OS devices and Android TVs while helping developers by making their apps more easily discoverable.
The change comes shortly after a Play Store website redesign was spotted with a row of chips to filter apps by device.
The Play Store is also set to start showing device-specific reviews early next year. Google teased this feature in August as a way for users to view more relevant reviews based on the device they’re using in order to get a better understanding of the device-specific experience. This would also make it easier for developers to target app improvements on different device types.
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