Google unveils new Developers Console

Console has new interface, ability to track app success

Google first demoed its  Google Play Developer Console at Google I/O earlier this year. After testing it out with tens of thousands of developers, reviewing their feedback and making adjustments, it has finally been launched Monday.

So what's new about thisDeveloper Console?

First, it has a new interface, which Google says is “bright and appealing to look at.” It is meant to be easier to navigate, and to load quickly even if multiple apps are open at the same time.

It also allows developers to track the success of their app over time, with statistics regarding user ratings, including a graph showing changes over time, for both the all-time average user rating and new user ratings that come in on a certain day.

Data will be able to be broken downby device, country, language, carrier, Android version, and app version.

In addition, Google has streamlined how apps are published, so that developers start with either an APK or an app name, and can save before they have all of the information needed for their app. Developers can also see the differences between the different versions of their apps, so that they can catch unintentional changes.

Apps can now be published in 49 different languages.

Developers can try the new console by going here and then clicking on on “Try the new version” in the header.

“Today, we’re very happy to announce that all developers can now try the new Google Play Developer Console. At its core, the Developer Console is how you put your app in front of hundreds of millions of Android users around the world, and track how your app is doing. We hope that with a streamlined publishing flow, new language options, and new user ratings statistics, you’ll have better tools for delivering great Android apps that delight users,” it says on the Android Developers Blog.

A big step for Google Play

Google Play, which was known as Android Market until March of this year, first became available to users in October 2011. It combined Android Market, Google Music and the Google eBookstore into one. It has since become a competitor to Apple's iTunes store.

Google Play recently announced that it has hit its 25 billionth download, taking three years and 11 months to hit the milestone. In comparison, Apple, who hit the 25 billion download mark back in March, beat Google by a few months, taking just three years and eight months to get to the same number.

Google play is the home for 675,000 Android apps, while Apple announced during its iPhone 5 unveiling earlier this year that it offers 700,000 apps, 250,000 of which specifically for the iPad.

Apple also announced during the unveiling that it had sold 400 million iOS devices, while Google has activated over 500 million Android devices, Hugo Bara, Android's director of product management, in said in a Google+ post earlier this month.

There is one area where Apple clearly beats Google: in how many people actually pay for apps.

A report from Statista in August showed that two thirds, or 66%, of Android users did not pay anything for the apps they downloaded over the course of a year, compared to only 30% of iOS users. So while Android may be closing in on Apple's app downloads, only Apple is actually making money off of them.

 Still, Google has done a nice job since the revamp of its app store, and this new interface will most likely help recruit more developers to design apps for Android.

(Image source: https://www.technologytell.com)