Android’s upcoming ‘Collections’ feature aims to drive users back to their apps

Google’s plan to promote Android apps outside its Play Store is starting to shape up, as a new feature called “Collections” reveals a way that users will be able to keep up with their apps from their Android home screen. At this year’s Google I/O developer conference, the company presented developers with tools to re-engage users with the apps they already have installed on their devices. However, the company at the time didn’t detail what this surface would look like, only focusing on the software development kit (SDK) that developers could access to integrate with the new offering.

Google also shared that it already has over 35 developer partners on board to test the new feature, including Spotify, Pinterest, Tumblr, TikTok, and Shopify.

In a session at the conference, developers were presented with information about a new invite-only Engage SDK, designed largely to bring users back into their apps by showcasing content, promotions, and deals. The surface, Google said, would “automatically organize the best and most prevalent content from apps already installed” with a focus on enabling cross-app continuing journeys for nearly every app category.

With a tap, users would be able to launch full-screen, immersive experiences that highlight and arrange the most important content from their installed apps.

Now, we’re starting to get an idea of what this surface will look like, thanks to an APK teardown of the Google Play Store software, performed by the blog Android Authority. Their experiments in reverse engineering reveal a still-in-development feature known as “Collections.” Previously referred to by the codename “Cubes,” the feature introduces a Play-Store-powered widget for the Android home screen that organizes app updates into categories like Watch, Listen, Read, Games, Social, and Shop.