It seems that Google is working on the possibility of downloading multiple apps at the same time from the Play Store. Our colleagues at TheSpAndroid noticed this, fiddling a bit with version 40.0.13 of the app on a device with unlocked root access privileges. It is not the first time that indications have emerged in this regard: the first traces date back as far as 5 years ago, so it is difficult to understand if this is the right time or if everything will be resolved with a hole in the water.
It must be said that this time the underlying software infrastructure now seems quite mature and well thought out. By default, explains the source, the Play Store is set to download a maximum of two apps at the same time, but the limit can be raised up to 5 by changing hidden flags (in all likelihood once the function is official there will be more conveniently accessible options, or even an automatic adjustment based on the available bandwidth, for example). Interestingly, the feature is only designed in the case of downloads of apps that are not present on the device, and does not apply in the case of updates.
If you own an iPhone, you’ll know that this capability has been available on iOS for a long time; it’s unclear why Google has so far failed to materialize. You could argue that it’s not necessarily a shocking novelty – after all, bandwidth is what it is, but generally five simultaneous downloads, although slower, manage to be faster than a sequence of as many downloads executed at high speed one after the other, if only for a matter of optimizing system resources in the installation phase.
It is a rather interesting coincidence that just in these days clues have emerged about the arrival on Android of another “historical” feature of the iPhone, namely the integration of the WhatsApp call log into the general one of the operating system. In this case, however, the “fault” is not Google’s – the software infrastructure has been available since the days of Android 9, no less, but the developers of the instant messenger have so far never wanted to take advantage of it.
