Download Google Play Chrome Extension for PC

Like iPhones have the Apple App Store, Android phones - and other Android devices - have the Play app. It's the main source for Android applications, music, movies and games, as well as e-books. All of these services can be directly accessed through the Play Store application, which almost always comes pre-installed on Android phones and tablets, providing they have GMS certification.

The Play Store, Google Music, and Google Movies all work in slightly different ways, but downloading content for any of these aspects is straightforward. Simply launch the Play Store application, then search for and download new apps, music or movies. Users can find each type of download in the respective applications, each of which can have its own app icon.

As per the name, the application is owned and produced by the Google corporation, one of the biggest names in the online world. They're also the company responsible for creating the Android operating system. As a result, Android device owners can rest assured that Google are a trustworthy source of safe software.

Although the application itself is free, and typically pre-installed on Android devices, not all of the content available through the Play Store is free. Content on the Store can be filtered by price, but just like there are many free applications, games, movies and e-books, there are also many paid-for pieces of content, too.

According to Google, this application runs in the background of an Android device to update Google-connected applications, as well as performing a range of other functions that are essential for improving application usability whilst online and offline. It is recommended that users allow this service to run in the background as required and not force stop the service.

Multiple accounts can be added to a single Android device. Once an account has been created, the process can be launched from the Settings application. Under Accounts, Add Account, and then Google, users can follow a quick process to link the additional Google account to their smartphone or tablet Android device.

Gift cards for the Play Store can be purchased from retailers and redeemed personally or as a gift. They allow Android device owners to purchase paid-for content from the Play Store. They cannot however be reloaded once spent. A new gift card would have to be purchased and a new balance loaded instead.

Although users can't use this application specifically on an iPhone, it is possible to download the Play Music application from Google onto an Apple device. Songs cannot be purchased in this manner, though any music that has been backed up to the Google cloud can be played on the iPhone device.

Initial release of this application took place on the 6th March 2012, though prior to its release, there were the Android Market, which existed since October 22nd 2008. The release of Play saw the merging of the Android Market with Google Music and Google eBookstore. All other Google-endorsed Android content also comes under the same umbrella, such as Books, Games, Movies & TV and Newsstand.

The Music services offered by the application do hook up to the smart home hub, the Amazon Echo, powered by Alexa. This voice assistance will be able to stream any stored or backed up music from a connected Google account through the speaker of the home hub.