Smart App Updates Now Available In Play Store

August 17, 2012

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Smart App Updates Now Available In Play Store 2

Normally, when an app gets an update, you have to re-download the whole app from the Play Store to get the latest version. This isn't a big deal if you're just updating a small 2MB app, but when the app is huge, it's annoying.

To speed things along, Google announced Smart Updates at Google I/O last June, which reduces what you need to download to just the updated portion, or the delta. We've been waiting for this since the announcement, and today it looks like Google enabled the feature in the Play Store.

Smart Updates seem to have been implemented on the server side, meaning you don't need to have the latest 3.8.15 version of the Play Store installed to reap the benefits. The folks over at Android Police ran some tests and noticed that today's Instagram update, for example, only needed to install 3MB out of the total 13MB. That's a 10MB savings. Not bad!

Hit the source link to check out videos of some other smart app update examples.

source: android police

Ed Caggiani Author

Originally from the East Coast, Ed now makes his home in San Jose, California. His passion for technology started with his first ColecoVision and Atari gaming systems, and has grown stronger through Tandy computers, IBM clones, Palm Pilots, and PocketPCs. Ed's love for Android began with his first HTC Hero, then blossomed with the original Evo 4G, and now the Evo 3D and Motorola Xoom. He graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in Communications, and is now a professional User Experience Designer working in Silicon Valley. In his spare time, Ed enjoys video games, jamming on guitar, and spending time with his wife, two cats, and Logitech Revue.

3 comments

Stephen A. says:

August 17, 2012 at 8:27 AM

appreciated when using TELCO bandwidth.

Reply
Bobby Ryan says:

August 17, 2012 at 12:19 AM

Patent that sh¡t

Reply
1. Nathon Daltry says:
  
  August 17, 2012 at 3:11 AM
  
  I agree. This is great feature.
  
  Reply