Monday 20 August 2012

Google quietly enables Smart App updates for Android


With the Smart App updates, the apps installed on a particular device will download only the "update" for the app.

Google has reportedly enabled its Smart App Update feature for Android devices. Introduced at the Google I/O Conference in June this year, the Smart App updates or Delta updates are meant for pushing only the update and not the entire app all over again.

According to a report of Android Police, this feature has been enabled for all Android users and even those with the new Google Play Store app update.

Android enthusiasts Nikhil Pai and Rakesh Khabhiya noted this change and confirmed that the smart app updates worked on devices located in India with older version of Google Play Store.


Usually, the Android app updates would require downloading the entire app package all over again. Now we can imagine the data consumption when about 6-7 app updates hit the Play Store on the same day.

With the new Smart App Updates feature dubbed as Delta updates, users no longer will be forced to download entire app packages. Only the update patches for the respective app will be pushed through the same update experience. For instance, Instagram app measures 13.25 MB so with the new delta updates, the Play Store will only push the update package and not the entire 13.25 MB update. Thus the new Smart App Updates feature directly help conserving precious data limit of users.

With the new Smart App Updates feature, loads of users with limited data packs will be able to surf more. Besides that, the users won't have to look around for a WiFi network every-time a new app update is pushed out.

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