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Google has released new updates for the Play Store and Google Play Services, bringing a bunch of under-the-hood improvements and new features to both, including a feature we’ve previously spotted under development.
The latest version of Google Play Services (v26.28) is here, and users can now choose to display their device’s IMEI number on the lock screen. This can be helpful for lost or stolen phones. However, prominently displaying a phone’s IMEI number can also allow malicious actors to track or clone the device. Fortunately, it seems Google will leave it up to users to decide whether they want their IMEI displayed on the lock screen when the feature rolls out.
IMEI on the lock screen seems to be a server-side rollout. As such, it’s not yet available on several of our devices, even with the latest version of Play Services.
The Play Services update also adds a couple of other quality-of-life improvements: apps can now ask for audio permissions in WebViews. This can be useful when a user taps a link that opens in a WebView within the app. Previously, if the linked webpage required audio permissions, it couldn’t request them, so it wouldn’t work properly.
On Android TV, the new update adds support for the Android Credential Manager. This will let users easily access saved passwords and passkeys on their TV. It also gives the option to use a phone for passkey authentication.
Here’s the full changelog for Google Play Services v26.28:
The Google Play Store is also being updated to version 52.4, and it brings a couple of notable changes. The Play Store now displays natural language queries. It also expands the search suggestions and search input box to two lines.
The Play Store will also give users an option to add an app’s widgets to the home screen during app installation. This could prove useful for people who love using widgets, or while installing widget apps.
The update also introduces limited mobile data usage for restoring apps in India, Nigeria, and Indonesia. These features are also currently unavailable on our test devices and are likely to be server-side rollouts as well.
Here’s the full changelog for Google Play Store v52.4:
You can update your phone to the latest Google System Services by heading over to Settings > Google settings > All Services > Privacy and security > System services. You can also enable automatic updates to ensure your phone is always running the latest available version of Google’s System Services.
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