Tag: money

Android Google

Latest Google Play Store update gives you more reasons to spend money on games

Google’s Monthly System updates for Android are designed to improve user experience with the addition of new features. These updates are generally limited to routine patches for the Android system, Play Store, and Play Services. The July 2023 System Update, on the other hand, has contained more than just bug fixes, with an upcoming Google Wallet feature being detailed in the changelog and then disappearing mysteriously, only for a Google spokesperson to confirm its arrival later. Another addition has caught our eye among the list of changes, specifically related to the improved visibility of new offers and promos for games on the Play Store’s homepage.


We’ve spotted the mention of this promotional content feature within the July 2023 Google System Updates changelog, detailing how Android smartphones can now “see whether new events, updates, offers, and content are available within an app or game” from the Play Store’s home screen.

The feature already appears to have been live for some time on the web version of the Play Store, which also has the benefit of displaying more promotional content, whereas mobile users are restricted to single swipeable cards on top of the screen. Switching to landscape orientation offers a broader view of the available deals on games, however. These changes are part of the Google Play Store version 36.5 update, which began rolling out to devices on July 3.

Google Play Store Game Deals Mobile-1
Google Play Store Game Deals Mobile

These cards only appear on the Games tab in the Play Store (for now), with each card marked with “Special Event” on the top left. A bulk of these promos highlight some of the most popular mobile games in the business, including Roblox, Clash of Clans, Pokémon Go, etc. Meanwhile, navigating to the last card in the carousel takes you to a hub page containing all “offers & events.”

Google Play Store Game Deals Mobile Hub
Google Play Store Game Deals Mobile Hub-1

This

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Android Google

Google Pay users are discovering Google accidentally gave them free money

Google Pay stock photos 4

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

TL;DR

  • A Google Pay bug has accidentally sent payments from the company to random accounts.
  • The payments have ranged from a few dollars to over $1,000.
  • Google has fixed the problem and says “the money is yours to keep.”

If you’re someone who has a Google Pay account, you might want to check out your balance right now. Google may have accidentally given you some free money.

Google Pay users were surprised by something strange earlier this week. It appeared that they had received payments from an unlikely source — Google. One of those lucky users happened to be freelance journalist Mishaal Rahman who shared that he received $46 in rewards. According to Rahman, the payment came with a message stating it was for “dogfooding the Google Pay Remittance experience.”

The term dogfooding refers to a process where employees beta test pre-release software given to them by their company. In return, the company gives them money for participating in the test. As a result, this money should’ve only gone to Google employees.

Rahman was far from the only person to receive a payment. Reddit threads on both the Google Pay and Google Pixel subreddits were full of users who claimed to have received money that ranged from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars. One user even claims that they received a deposit of over $1,000.

It appears that there may have been a bug in the app or some kind of mix-up that resulted in the unexpected payments. On April 6, Rahman shared this official message sent from Google.

You received this email because an unintended cash credit was deposited to your Google Pay account. The issue has since been resolved and where possible the credit has been reversed. If we were able to

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