To start using Google Play, you need an Android device, a Google account (which you need to create when setting up the device for the first time or when logging into the store for the first time), and the app must be installed. This app comes preinstalled on most Android phones. If not, you can download the app by tapping the green “Download” button at the bottom of this guide.
When you open the app for the first time, you are taken to the home or main window. At the top you will find an app search engine. On the left you will see an icon in the form of three horizontal lines that gives access to the options menu, and on the right you will see the user you are logged in to the platform with.
Search box, menu and logged in user in Google Play Store
At the bottom there is a menu to navigate through the 4 different types of content that can be downloaded from Google Play:
- games
- Apps
- Movie
- Books
Depending on which area you’re in, the interface’s look and options will change slightly to match the type of content.
Content available in the Google Store
games
The area games offers, as you would expect, all available game content organized in different tabs. They are located just below the search bar. The first is For you, a collection of suggested games.
Later you will find the area Top Charts, where you can see the lists of the best games, sorted by any criteria. Under Premium find the paid games, Categories shows a detailed list of genres, family grants access to the functions to share content with the other family members, and Editor Choice shows a collection of recommendations from the editors of the store.
game section
What do you have to do to download a game? Very simple: tap it in this window and you will be taken to its file. There you will find the green Install button that you need to tap to install the game on your device.
Press Install to download a game
Apps
The Apps section is very similar to the Games section. The tab welcomes you with more recommended content, Top Charts shows the list of the best apps, the fastest growing apps and the trending apps. Categories lets you drill down into all the available apps, Editor Choice acts as a recommendation board for the team responsible for filtering the content, Family gives access to shared family content, and Early Access lets you try out apps that are still in under development.
app area
What do you have to do to download an app? Same as a game: tap the app you want and you’ll quickly see the green install button. Tap on it.
Press the green Install button to download the app
Movie
Although here we are mainly interested in games and apps, in the Google Play Store you can also access the catalog of films on the platform. There is free and paid content. It’s also organized in tabs: For Her, Best Selling, New Releases, Genres, Family and Studios.
movie section
What do you have to do to see a movie? As you can imagine, we enter it and choose whether we want to borrow or buy it. With the free ones, you can watch them directly.
Books
The last type of content available is books. Digital books are offered, but also audio books, and you can find both free and premium books. You are also behind Ebooks, audiobooks, genres, best selling books, new releases and free books organized, making it easier for you to find what you are looking for.
books and audio books
Menü des Google Play Store
At the top of the interface, the search engine and menu access button are always available. Tap the icon to view the menu.
The Google Play menu
On the side of the screen all available options are shown:
- My apps and games: is a list of all the apps and games you have installed on your device. It also gives you information about versions and whether updates are available.
- notifications: This is the section dedicated to the store’s notifications and its configuration. You can see all received notifications here.
- Subscriptions: in Google Play you can subscribe to an app or game to receive news about its development and right here you can check all the subscriptions you have made.
- wish list: a wish list to save all the content you want but don’t want to download at the moment.
- Account: all information of the user profile logged into the account is stored here. There are various settings and preferences, setting the payment system, an area for rewards, purchase history or setting the family function that allows content sharing among family members.
- payment methods: another area to configure different payment systems.
- Play Protect: is a feature that scans our device for potentially dangerous apps. It is enabled by default for security reasons, but can be disabled from here.
- settings: General settings of the Google Play app, e.g. B. in terms of notifications, app downloads, automatic updates, visual interface themes, parental controls and more.
The rest of this side menu consists of several shortcuts to other native Android apps, such as B. the movie, book or music app. If you have these installed, they will open directly to the content you downloaded and synced to your Google account.