What to Expect in February’s Android Update

A small list of Google system updates is set to release later this month, including some critical device fixes and some changes for the Google Play Store.

According to Google's update page, February's update will be addressing some bugs related to device connectivity, system management, safety, utilities, and developer services. More specifically, it means general improvements for device stability, network usage, and security. And in the case of developer services, it will be adding new features for both Google and third-party developers to take advantage of. Things like support for accessibility, ads, analytics, and even machine learning.

But the Google Play Store has the longest list of the bunch, featuring everything from performance optimizations and bug fixes to security and stability improvements. Play-as-you-download will be seeing improvements to reduce wait times so you can start playing mobile games while they're downloading. That goes hand-in-hand with other planned optimizations intended to speed up download and installation times.

The update notes also mention "Enhancements to Google Play Billing," but don't go into detail about what these enhancements will be. And new (unspecified) features are also being included to make it easier to discover more apps and games.

The Google Play Store update will be rolling out on Tuesday, February 8th, with the update for Google Play services following suit on Thursday, February 10th. In addition to the Google Play Store, the new update will be rolling out for pretty much every Google device you can think of: phones, tablets, watches, TV devices, and more.