Play Store adds option to sync apps between Android phones attached to the same Google account

Google continues to improve the remote install service for apps discovered in the Play Store catalog, now allowing selection of device categories other than tablets, Android TVs and wearables.

If you use your smartphone throughout the day, but also have an Android tablet that you watch movies on when you’re at home, Google can help you install the apps you’re interested in from your phone to your tablet. But until now, the option to “sync” apps between smartphones attached to the same Google account has been missing.

Instead of complicating things further by listing all the devices attached to your account, with the idea that you’ll have to select each device in turn to install that app, Google is adding an option called “Sync apps to devices”.

As the name says, the selection added above the two “Share apps” buttons allows the app to be automatically installed on all compatible devices. But first, you’re directed to a page where you can check off exactly which devices are included on the sync list. After that, any newly installed apps from the Play Store will appear on all checked devices, as long as the version of Android is compatible with it.

Although Google doesn’t explicitly state this, we can assume that the option to sync apps between devices will include their settings. But for now, the functionality seems to be rather in its infancy, and it remains to be seen what it will look like when it officially debuts.