In the world of Google, you’ve probably seen two store names. While the Google Play Store and the Google Store may look similar, they are very different. Each serves an important purpose in the Google ecosystem.
What is the Google Play Store?
The Google Play Store – sometimes simply called “Google Play” – is the company’s digital market. It comes pre-installed on Android phones and tablets, as well as Android TV and Google TV devices. The Play Store can also be accessed online through any web browser.
The main purpose of the Play Store is to be a place for Android users to download apps and games. In fact, it used to be called “Android Market”. At the same time, it only had Android apps and games, but as Google expanded it, that name no longer made sense.
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As the Android Market grew to include music, e-books and movies, Google renamed it “Google Play”. As part of the content was not exclusive to Android, there was no point in being on the “Android Market”. Now, all of Google’s digital content can be found under the umbrella of Google Play.
So, what is all this content? As mentioned earlier, apps and games are the main things that people get from the Play Store. The other categories include “Movies and TV” and “Books”. The Play Store also used to include music, but that changed with the introduction of YouTube Music.
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The simple way to think of the Play Store is that it is the place to download and buy anything digital Of google.
What is Google Store?
While the Play Store is for digital content, the Google Store is the company’s online market for physical products. This includes Pixel smartphones, Chromebooks, Chromecasts, Nest devices and some Google partner products.
Until 2015, the few physical products from Google could be purchased on the Play Store under the “Devices” tab. As the company began to focus more on building its “Made by Google” devices, it switched physical products to the dedicated Google Store. There is still a “Devices” tab on the Play Store website, but it is now linked to the Google Store.
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Google products can be purchased from several retailers, including Best Buy and Amazon. However, the Google Store sometimes offers more options and discounts. You can also get customer support from Google if you access the Google Store, which is likely to replace a broken device.
A Google Store equivalent would be the Apple Store. It is a store owned by the company that manufactures the products they sell. In both cases, there are some partner products, but most items are owned by the store owner.
Unlike the Apple Store, the Google Store is just an online market. There are no “real” Google Stores in the real world. You can find specific Google sections in stores like Best Buy, but that’s it.
The only exception to the “physical products” rule on the Google Store is subscriptions. You can purchase subscriptions to services like Google One, Stadia Pro and YouTube Premium. These are subscriptions that usually come with physical products.
The difference between the Google Play Store and the Google Store is really quite simple. The Play Store is for digital content, while the Google Store is for physical products.
The Google market started with the Android Market, evolved into the Play Store and eventually split up to include the Google Store. If you want to buy anything in the Google ecosystem, these are your two main destinations.