Google Play Store Just Got a New Look; Here Is What Changed in the Apps and Games Tabs

The Google Play Store is not an app that changes dramatically very often. Its core layout, with a search bar at the top, tabs along the row beneath, and content cards filling the screen below, has been broadly consistent for years. When Google play store redesign does happen, the changes tend to be visible immediately to anyone who uses the store regularly. The latest update is one of those moments.

A redesign appears to be rolling out widely across the Play Store, affecting the two most-used sections of the marketplace: the Apps tab and the Games tab. If your Play Store looks different the next time you open it, this is why.

What Has Changed

Pill-shaped navigation tabs

The most immediately visible change is the navigation tab design. In the previous interface, the sub-tabs within the Apps and Games sections, For you, Top charts, Kids, Categories, and Premium in the Games section, appeared as standard text tabs in a horizontal row. In the redesigned interface, these tabs now sit inside pill-shaped containers, giving the navigation row a more modern, rounded appearance that aligns with Google’s broader Material You design language.

Top charts and Categories now open separate pages

The behaviour of two key navigation tabs has changed meaningfully. Previously, tapping Top charts or Categories would load the content inline within the same page. In the new design, tapping either of these options opens a separate, dedicated page. To return to the main Apps or Games home page, users tap the back arrow in the top left corner. This is a more deliberate navigation flow, it separates browsing contexts more clearly, though it does add an extra step for users who switch frequently between sections.

For you is now the default home page

The For you tab has been removed from the navigation row entirely, not because the feature is gone, but because it has been promoted to the default home page for both the Apps and Games tabs. When you open either section, you land directly on the personalised recommendations that previously required tapping For you to access. It is a sensible rationalisation: if personalised content is where most users spend most of their time, making it the default removes an unnecessary tap.

Play Points display redesign

Google has also updated the visual treatment of Play Points within the new interface. Previously, a user’s Play Points total was displayed in a blue pill-shaped container positioned prominently at the top of the page, a design that was visually distinctive but also somewhat cluttered. In the new interface, this container has been removed, simplifying the top of the page and reducing visual noise for users who do not actively engage with the Play Points programme.

New notification badge style

Alongside the Play Points change, Google has rolled out a new visual style for notification badges within the Play Store. The specific design details have not been fully documented yet, but the badge redesign appears to be part of the broader visual refresh rather than a standalone change.

What Has Not Changed

The redesign is specifically limited to the Apps and Games tabs. The Books tab retains the previous UI, meaning users will notice a visual inconsistency between sections until Google extends the new design to the remaining parts of the store. Whether that extension is planned as part of a staged rollout or the Books tab is being treated separately is not yet clear.

The core functionality of the Play Store, search, app installation, updates, reviews, and account management, is unchanged. This is a navigation and visual update, not a functional overhaul.

Why Google Is Making These Changes

Google’s Play Store redesign fits within a broader pattern of gradual Material You alignment across Android’s core apps. Material You, Google’s design system introduced with Android 12, emphasises dynamic colour, rounded shapes, and cleaner visual hierarchy. The pill-shaped navigation tabs in the Play Store redesign are a direct expression of that language, bringing the store’s internal UI closer to the design conventions that have been rolling out across other Google apps over the past two years.

The decision to make For you the default home page rather than a selectable tab also reflects data-driven product thinking. Personalised recommendation surfaces drive engagement, and an engagement-optimised default state reduces the number of steps between opening the app and finding something worth downloading.

The removal of the blue Play Points pill is a decluttering decision. For most users, the Play Points balance at the top of every page is information they rarely need and did not ask to see every time they opened the store. Removing the persistent display reduces cognitive load without removing the feature itself.

Rollout Status

The redesign appears to be rolling out widely rather than being limited to a small test group. However, as with most Google app updates, the rollout is gradual, meaning some users will see the new interface before others. If your Play Store still shows the old design, the update should reach your device in the coming days.

The update affects the Play Store app itself rather than Android as an operating system, meaning no system update or device upgrade is required. The new design will arrive through a standard Play Store app update.

The Bottom Line

Google’s Play Store redesign is not a ground-up reinvention; it is a thoughtful visual and navigation refinement that makes the store feel more current, more consistent with Android’s design language, and marginally easier to use for the most common browsing patterns. Pill navigation, a smarter default home page, and a cleaner top bar are small changes individually. Together, they make one of Android’s most-used apps feel noticeably more polished, and for the billions of Play Store sessions that happen every day, small improvements to the most common flows add up to a meaningfully better experience.