Google Play’s new search box with integrated hamburger menu button is starting to roll out

Quick, open up your Google Play Store! Seeing the old version with a search button in the upper right? Close the app (force close it if you need to) and open it again. You’ll likely see that a new search box is neatly squared at the top of the app. This is opposed to the old small search button that existed in the upper right of the status bar and could be hard to miss for some.

This new update should make it easier for folks to find the search box and begin looking for all the apps and games they crave. Inside the search box is a hamburger menu button that will bring up the standard Google Play menu for switching between different categories, sections and menus.

You’ll see the white box fade away as you dive deeper into Google Play’s goods, but a search button will persist at the upper right as you scroll through apps and descriptions. Press it and it’ll expand to bring the search box right back up. Intuitive, beautiful and easy — just how we like it.

This is a server side switch so there’s no updated APK to download. Let us know if you’re seeing it in the comments, and be sure to leave your thoughts on the new design while you’re at it!

Google Play’s upcoming Family section makes finding kid-friendly content easier than ever

We’ve had more than a few clues that Google was fixin’ to announce a new kid-friendly section of the Google Play Store. They’ve definitely been focusing on family oriented apps with the recent launch of YouTube kids and their acquisition of Launchpad Toys, a studio responsible for popular apps for kids on iOS.

The biggest clue came last week when we discovered Google’s “Designed for Families” program, a special program for developers that allows them to submit their apps for additional review so that they’ll be labeled as family-friendly in the Play Store.

According to Google, more than 1/3 of Android users in the US are parents with a kids under the age of 12. It’s because of this, Google finally took the wraps off their latest project aimed at families, a new family home section coming soon to the Google Play Store.

The new page offers a handful of tools parents can use to help discover family-friendly content for their kids. First up is the “Family star,” Google’s little green star icon that highlights family-friendly apps, games, movies, and books in the Play Store. The family home section also allows parents to search for content based on their age group, showing only filtered family-friendly results.

Because generally kids like looking for content based on their favorite characters or shows, they can now browser for content based on characters like Dora the Explorer, or My Little Pony. Apps and games features in family home (which undergo a manual review process) all feature objective 3rd party content ratings (like ESRB ratings) and are labeled when they’re ad-supported.

Google says that with a new set of parental controls stronger password protection for in-app purchases, Android is more fantastic than ever for families looking to keep a watchful eye over their kids digital playtime.

Google Play’s Family section now has free apps of the week

One of the main reasons Amazon’s Appstore got a lot of attention in the early days is because they offered up a free paid app or game every day. It looks like Google is catching on to the trend.

The company has added a new feature to the family section that will offer up a free app of the week. The listing currently shows that it’s “By PBS Kids,” so we’re not sure if this is a PBS-specific promotion or if Google will let others in on the fun.

Said PBS app being offered up is Daniel Tiger Grr-ific Feelings, a collection of mini games themed around the children’s show. You can find it right here if you’re interested in grabbing it for your child.

The only other question we have is whether Google will ever look to do something like this for the entirety of Google Play. We certainly would love to see it, though there have been enough free apps and insane deals over the years that we wouldn’t blame them if they don’t.

[via Google Play]