

It’s not exactly difficult to find and install Android apps the conventional way. But it seems Google wants to create a path of least resistance between thinking about an app you might want and actually installing it. Currently, there are at least four primary ways most of us probably search for and install an Android app:


    1. Open the Android Play Store app, search for an app, and then install it;
    2. Visit the Google Play Store in your desktop web browser, search for an app, and remotely install the app on your Android phone or tablet remotely without even touching your device;
    3. Search for an app in your desktop web browser and then use method 2 above to complete the installation;
    4. Search for an app in your mobile device web browser or the dedicated Google Search app, tap the Google Play Store link in the search results, and then install the app.

Android Police, however, reports there is a fifth way appearing on some Android devices. Some people are seeing this new process on their Android devices that reduces the friction to find and install an app, according to the report. Or, it may simply appear to reduce friction by using a visual trick. It works like this:


  1. Launch the Google Search app. Or, if you use the Google Now Launcher, you can presumably skip this step;
  2. Search for the app;
  3. Press the install button in the search result;
  4. A small permission window pops up asking you to grant the app various permissions;
  5. A miniature version of the Google Play Store appears in a window overlaying your app search results;
  6. You press install to actually install the app.

It seems there’s no reduction in the number of steps it takes to find and install an app using this reported new process. But an Android user may perceive less effort, because the search results window remains visible the entire time.

Fortune asked Google about the developments, but Google’s response to them didn’t confirm or deny the new process. Google merely said they are always trying new ways to search and find the content you need. Since the company didn’t directly answer the question, we do not know if this feature is merely experimental, or one that will appear in wide release soon.

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