There was no way to track features and changes in Google's monthly Play system updates up until this year. That finally changed in January when Google set up a dedicated support page to highlight various changes included in each monthly update. Today, the company disclosed new features and improvements coming in the March 2022 update.
According to the updated support page, the Google Play system update for March 2022 will bring critical bug fixes for device connectivity, developer services, and utilities-related services. In addition, the new update brings an update to the Play Games Services profile to make it easier for users to manage their privacy settings.
There are tons of new changes for the Google Play Store, including improvements to the Play-as-you-download feature, new features for the Play Pass (which recently expanded to India) and Play Points programs, and various other enhancements and optimizations to security stability and accessibility. Finally, the March 2022 update also brings improved user experience and "feature education" for NFC/HCE devices.
The full update changelog for the Google Play system update for March 2022 is as follows:
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Critical Fixes
- [Auto, Phone, Tablet, TV, Wear OS] Bug fixes for device connectivity, developer services, safety & emergency, and utilities related services. [1][2]
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Games
- [Phone, TV] With the update to the Play Games Services profile, users will be able to better manage their privacy settings. [2]
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Google Play Store
- Improvements to Play-as-you-download feature to let gamers start playing mobile games while the app download continues to reduce waiting times. [3]
- New Features to help you discover the Apps & Games you love.[3]
- Optimizations allowing faster and more reliable download and installation.[3]
- New features to the Play Pass and Play Points programs. [3]
- Enhancements to Google Play Billing. [3]
- Continuous improvements to Play Protect to keep your device safe. [3]
- Various performance optimizations, bug fixes and improvements to security, stability and accessibility. [3]
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Wallet
- [Phone] Improved user experience and feature education for NFC/HCE-enabled devices. [2]
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System Management
- Updates to system management services that improve device connectivity, network usage, stability, security and updatability. [1][2]
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Developer Services
- New developer features for Google and third-party app developers to support ads, accessibility, analytics & diagnostics, machine learning & AI, and security & privacy-related developer services in their apps.
The Google Play system update for March 2022 will be rolling out to Android phones, tablets, Android TV and Google TV devices, Wear OS, and Android Auto devices in the coming days. Google notes that the updated Play Games Services profile, improvements to NFC/HCE devices, and critical bug fixes will arrive with Google Play services v22.09 while the Google Play Store improvements will go live with Google Play Store v29.5 starting March 3.