56
The Play Store is a frustrating mess — here are 7 issues Google must fix in 2026 (www.androidauthority.com)
submitted 1 month ago by sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al to c/android@lemdro.id
18 comments fedilink hide all child comments
top 18 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 51 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Well, I am pretty convinced most of the mentioned issues are actually intentional design choices.

Google does want neither the users, nor the app owners to have the best experience, but to control their actions in a way that generates the most revenue for Google.
Prime example for Enshitification.

From Google's point of view, it must not change any of the issues, as everything is working perfectly for them already.

[-] cron@feddit.org 9 points 1 month ago

One thing that bothers me is the reviews. For some reason, those Google Play reviews are barely helpful at all.

[-] skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 month ago

Gamification of reviews is one of the biggest reasons for CI/CD existing. Releasing pointless version bumps with no code changes on most apps. The whole update psychology needs to change, in general.

[-] Rekall_Incorporated@piefed.social 15 points 1 month ago

It's funny how American oligarchs wax theatrical about "da AI revolution" and yet they can't even solve basic issues in an application store or follow their own publishing guidelines (Twitter/Grok CSAM features).

Bunch of liars and criminals.

[-] ViatorOmnium@piefed.social 13 points 1 month ago

Sorry, best they can do is kill the little competition that managed to survive.

[-] TurtleTourParty@midwest.social 3 points 1 month ago

Why innovate when you can litigate?

[-] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

You can use a much better organized front-end instead with optional account login.

[-] kadu@scribe.disroot.org 4 points 1 month ago

Wouldn't know, I don't use the Play Store on my Android phone.

[-] rescue_toaster@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 month ago

Yeah. I have a few necessary apps only available through Google store, but with the exception of installing those, I never use Google play.

I opened it the other day and it's unusable for browsing apps, whereas I regularly open and browse F-Droid for new apps.

[-] ideonek@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago

What do you use?

[-] kadu@scribe.disroot.org 9 points 1 month ago

F-Droid

[-] Ilandar@lemmy.today 5 points 1 month ago

If you need apps from the Play Store you can use Aurora Store. It has a much cleaner UI.

[-] HenriVolney@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

Step one: remove Android and install an open source OS

[-] merde@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 month ago

Step one: remove Android and install an open source OSp

isn't Android open source?

Even if you have Lineage or Graphene, you may need to have access to boogle play store. In which case, a better advice would be to use Aurora instead

[-] NewOldGuard@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago

Android is NOT open source. AOSP is, but the android distributions you get on a retail phone add proprietary and closed source features atop AOSP. It is at best open-core but even that is questionable given the release cadence of AOSP

[-] merde@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

you're right. thanks for the precision

At its core, the operating system is known as the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and is free and open-source software (FOSS) primarily licensed under the Apache License. However, most devices run the proprietary Android version developed by Google, which ships with additional proprietary closed-source software pre-installed, most notably Google Mobile Services (GMS), which includes core apps such as Google Chrome, the digital distribution platform Google Play, and the associated Google Play Services development platform. Firebase Cloud Messaging is used for push notifications. While AOSP is free, the "Android" name and logo are trademarks of Google, who restrict the use of Android branding on "uncertified" products. The majority of smartphones based on AOSP run Google's ecosystem—which is known simply as Android—some with vendor-customized user interfaces and software suites, for example One UI. Numerous modified distributions exist, which include competing Amazon Fire OS, community-developed LineageOS; the source code has also been used to develop a variety of Android distributions on a range of other devices, such as Android TV for televisions, Wear OS for wearables, and Meta Horizon OS for VR headsets.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28operating_system%29

[-] sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al 4 points 1 month ago

Go away!

[-] Maeve@kbin.earth 2 points 1 month ago

People with budgetary constraints are out of luck, there.

this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2026
56 points (100.0% liked)

Android

21472 readers
417 users here now

The new home of /r/Android on Lemmy and the Fediverse!

Android news, reviews, tips, and discussions about rooting, tutorials, and apps.

🔗Universal Link: !android@lemdro.id

💡Content Philosophy:

Content which benefits the community (news, rumours, and discussions) is generally allowed and is valued over content which benefits only the individual (technical questions, help buying/selling, rants, self-promotion, etc.) which will be removed if it's in violation of the rules.

Support, technical, or app related questions belong in: !askandroid@lemdro.id

For fresh communities, lemmy apps, and instance updates: !lemdroid@lemdro.id

💬Matrix Chat

💬Telegram channels / chats

📰Our communities below

Rules

  1. Stay on topic: All posts should be related to the Android OS or ecosystem.

  2. No support questions, recommendation requests, rants, or bug reports: Posts must benefit the community rather than the individual. Please post to !askandroid@lemdro.id.

  3. Describe images/videos, no memes: Please include a text description when sharing images or videos. Post memes to !androidmemes@lemdro.id.

  4. No self-promotion spam: Active community members can post their apps if they answer any questions in the comments. Please do not post links to your own website, YouTube, blog content, or communities.

  5. No reposts or rehosted content: Share only the original source of an article, unless it's not available in English or requires logging in (like Twitter). Avoid reposting the same topic from other sources.

  6. No editorializing titles: You can add the author or website's name if helpful, but keep article titles unchanged.

  7. No piracy or unverified APKs: Do not share links or direct people to pirated content or unverified APKs, which may contain malicious code.

  8. No unauthorized polls, bots, or giveaways: Do not create polls, use bots, or organize giveaways without first contacting mods for approval.

  9. No offensive or low-effort content: Don't post offensive or unhelpful content. Keep it civil and friendly!

  10. No affiliate links: Posting affiliate links is not allowed.

Quick Links

Our Communities

Lemmy App List

Chat and More

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
ijeff@lemdro.id
ladfrombrad@lemdro.id
Paradox@lemdro.id
multimoon@lemdro.id
mikestevens@lemdro.id
Devgard@lemmy.world
limerod@reddthat.com
Netrunner@lemdro.id