Use the Google Play Store app to download applications and games for your Android phone or tablet. The Play Store also functions as an entertainment hub, allowing you to purchase or rent movies, TV series, books, and music to view or listen to on your Android smartphone, Chromecast-connected TV, or through the Chrome browser on your Mac or Windows PC.
Get it on Google
PROS
Protects device by vetting apps
Google utilizes in-store and on-device monitoring to protect against malicious applications. Google asserts that just 0.05 percent of Android devices that download apps from the Play Store contain a potentially hazardous app.
The program also contains Google Play Protect, which monitors your smartphone for potentially hazardous apps and verifies apps before they are downloaded from the Google Play Store.
Listen to music for free or with a subscription
Youtube Music A new music service with official albums, singles, videos, remixes, live performances and more for Android, iOS and desktop.
Watch movies and TV shows
Again, competing with video store rivals Apple and Amazon, Google’s Play Movies & TV store allows you to buy or rent movies and episodes to watch on your Android phone, PC, or Chromecast-connected TV. You can pick between SD and HD versions (priced correspondingly).
Share with the family
The Google Play Store’s Family Library allows you to share qualifying applications, films, TV programs, games, and eBooks with up to five family members.
Shop in Google Play through a desktop browser
Of course, the Android app allows you to shop in the Play Store, but you can also explore and purchase applications and movies, as well as manage your account, from a browser. The browser version is useful for rapidly managing your account, viewing your order history, and discovering and installing new applications. Unfortunately, to check for and install updates, you must use the app. (If you can’t find Google Play Store on your Android phone, see our article on how to find and activate it.)
CONS
Google’s hands-off approach to apps
While Google emphasizes security, it is less concerned with the quality of apps it allows in its store. Popular programs attract copycats, who use deceptively similar names and icons, making it difficult to distinguish the original from the fakes.
The official Android app store, Google Play also serves as storefront for music, movies, TV shows, eBooks, and magazines. Google Play is bursting with apps, and the company’s hands-off approach to policing copycat apps can, at times, make finding the true apps among knockoffs a challenge.
