Google Play Developer Newsletter | best apps from 2020, spotlight on user retention, and more

What’s new on Android and Google Play

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January 2021

Celebrating the best apps and games from 2020

In 2020, the developers behind your favorite apps and games were unafraid to experiment, challenge the status quo, and design incredible experiences we never thought possible.

Check out the full list of the developers behind the best apps and games of 2020.

BEST OF 2020

Spotlight: Unlock successful user retention

Create an effective user retention strategy: based on Google Play research, learn how to keep people coming back to your app.

Tips to minimize churn in your app: optimize your churn strategy using three simple steps.

Check out the full report for case studies and developer experiences.

READ THE FULL REPORT

Play seller support in 22 new markets

Developers in 12 African, 4 Caribbean, and 4 Pacific Island countries along with the Maldives and Suriname can now set-up Google Play merchant accounts and sell paid apps, in-app products, and subscriptions in Google Play.

FULL LIST OF MARKETS

Upcoming Google Play and Android deadlines

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Approval required for background location access

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If your app uses location in the background, start the approval process by completing the permissions declaration from the App content page (Policy > App content) in Google Play Console.

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New apps submitted after April 16, 2020 need approval to access background location. Apps published before April 16, 2020 need approval by March 29.

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August 2021:

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New apps must target at least Android 11 (API level 30).

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New apps and games must publish with the Android App Bundle.

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New apps using Play Billing must use Billing Library version 3 or newer.

UPCOMING DEADLINES

What’s new on Android

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MAD Scorecard: this Android Studio plugin lets you see (and share) just how modern your Android app is.

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More productivity with Kotlin: learn how Kotlin has increased the productivity of our partners’ engineers. Part of the Build Better Apps with Kotlin series.

ANDROID STUDIO

Featured Kotlin case studies

Twitter increases developer productivity and code reliability with Kotlin

SmartNews reduces lines of code by 20% and improves team morale with Kotlin

Featured podcasts

Succeeding in 4x strategy games

Building quality apps with Firebase

From PC to mobile: Lessons in expanding to multi-platform gaming

Play Academy: Finding Bugs

What are you doing to find security bugs? Are you running vulnerability scans? Are you performing security reviews? This course teaches you the basics of how to find and manage security bugs.

LAUNCH PLAY ACADEMY

Thanks for tuning in,

The Google Play team

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Google Play Developer Newsletter | best apps from 2020, spotlight on user retention, and more

Celebrating the best apps and games from 2020

Spotlight: Unlock successful user retention

Play seller support in 22 new markets

Upcoming Google Play and Android deadlines

What’s new on Android

Featured Kotlin case studies

Twitter increases developer productivity and code reliability with Kotlin

SmartNews reduces lines of code by 20% and improves team morale with Kotlin

Featured podcasts

Succeeding in 4x strategy games

Building quality apps with Firebase

From PC to mobile: Lessons in expanding to multi-platform gaming

Play Academy: Finding Bugs

Older messages

Moving forward, together

Google Play Developer Newsletter | MAD Skills, 2021 target level API requirements

Google Play Developer Newsletter | CD Projekt Red - Play Asset Delivery case study, MAD Skills, and more

Google Play Developer Newsletter | New publishing features, Background access to location, Featured articles

Google Play Developer Newsletter | Play Console update, Android 11 released, and more

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