This week Google released a new version of Android Market 3.3.11 in anticipation of the new Android 4.0 ICS. In fact, Google has been busy updating other applications like Gmail and Google Reader. It is very apparent that they are starting to unify all Google applications for Android 4.0 operating system. I installed the new Android Market both on my HTC Evo 3D and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 without any issues. There are some reports that the new Market doesn’t work on all tablets but you may just have to try it out. You can always uninstall the update if it’s a problem. Let’s take a look at the new features of the Android Market on the tablet.
The new UI is clean, fast and uses image blocks that look to be the standard in ICS and all other Google products. The home screen shows image blocks of apps, movies, and books with those options being displayed on the top-right. When you choose either apps, movies, or books then you go to its home screen with featured image blocks. Here you can swipe left or right to access categories, staff picks, top paid, top free, and more. When you choose an app, the top bar displays screen shots while description, what’s new, videos, reviews, and more follow below. One new item is that the reviews shows exact average rating to the decimal with the exact number of times the app was rated. You can also see how many people rated each star. Other changes are in the setting which are as follows:
- Auto-update apps
- Update over Wi-Fi-only
- Auto-add shortcuts
- Wi-Fi indicator (apps that exceed certain size)
- Voice option in search
- Supports multiple Google accounts
Overall, the new Market is an improvement over the previous version and adds some needed features. I specially like the new swipe function which allows you to quickly move between different screens. What do you think of the new Android Market? Download link.
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