Almost a year ago, we saw the Google Play Store working on a feature that would automatically open newly installed apps with the help of a toggle. While it was initially expected to be widely available in the latter half of September, the plan never really materialized. But that’s changing now, with Google rolling out a revised version of this toggle more broadly.

In its previous form, tapping the install button in a Play Store app listing greeted users with a progress indicator, a Cancel button, and not much else. However, as AssembleDebug notes, the Play Store is now rolling out this nearly forgotten auto-open toggle to more users across the globe, albeit in a slightly modified form.

Making a comeback after a long absence

The Play Store’s auto-open toggle and the timer-based notification

The toggle, marked as “Auto-open when ready,” is also live on my Pixel smartphone and works exactly as it did last year. However, the toggle itself as well as some of the corresponding text are different, with Google also providing a small description: “Jump into the app after it installs.” By comparison, the first iteration of this auto-open toggle was named “Turn on Auto-open” when the toggle was switched off and “Automatically open after install” when the toggle was enabled.

Enabling this newly discovered toggle doesn’t mean the app is opened right away, though. Much like last year, users will see a notification with a five-second timer before the app opens. This notification features dedicated Open and Cancel buttons to override the timer.

While I can imagine using this for some apps, the novelty will undoubtedly wear off quickly, especially given the 5-second delay with the timer. Nevertheless, it’s a decent feature to have for people who want something new out of their app installation experience.

Users will also appreciate the fact that this toggle is disabled by default. However, there’s currently no way to hide it from view if you don’t see the utility of this feature. With no settings option to disable it, people will have to make peace with this toggle’s presence each time they tap that Install button. To try it out, open any app on the Google Play Store and tap Install.

What do you make of this inclusion?

Thanks: Moshe