Can't find the right app? Google Play Store's new AI tool is here to help

Don't you just hate it when you can't find the app you're looking for? Google acknowledges your frustration and wants to make the process better, Android Headlines reports. With the help of AI, of course.

Ask Play

During the annual Google I/O conference, the company announced a new feature in the Play Store. The feature is called "Ask Play," and it's more or less self-explanatory. It's a conversational search powered by AI.

Instead of using old-school search words and phrases, you can describe the app you're looking for in much more detail, in a natural conversational language, just like talking to a friend. You can also ask follow-up questions, revise the description of the app, and then get a number of recommendations fitting your app description.

These recommendations also come with a summary on why the AI thinks they fit your search criterion.

Play Shorts in the Google Play Store

Getting info about apps in the Play Store is also going to be modernized with a sort of a Tik-Tok, vertical short video approach. The new feature is called Play Shorts and gives users in the US the chance to see how an app or a game works in a short portrait video loop.

This could be very useful, as there are a lot of misleading apps and games plaguing the Play Store and advertising gameplay and functionality radically different from what you get when you download the software.

Centralized security reporting

Speaking of misleading apps and games, Google is trying to improve security in the Play Store with a dedicated security hub. The new tool is called Protected with Play and is mainly aimed toward development teams.

Protected with Play offers developers a quick and easy way to configure digital rights management for apps and games, as well as the option to monitor devices' integrity and flag potential risks in real time.

Google also tries hard to limit bot comments and ratings with internal anti-spam tools. The company reported over 160 million bot ratings and reviews removed over the past year.

AI used the right way

It's clear that Google is pushing hard with its AI ecosystem and wants to integrate and interconnect every app and feature.

While some AI use cases might be a bit questionable, using the conversational abilities of the modern Large Language Models to search for apps is quite a useful way to employ the algorithms.

I remember countless times of sheer frustration when I was trying to find an app without knowing the exact name. Having the ability to describe the app or game in a conversational style in my opinion is a great feature. I can't wait to test how good the algorithm is going to be in finding the right software.

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