You'll soon be able to queue Google Play downloads for when you have Wi-Fi access

By Christian de Looper Published September 18, 2016

Google play — Ymgerman/123RF

Mobile data is a valuable resource and for many, overusing data means being subjected to either throttled speeds or crazy fees. Google wants to help change that and is experimenting with a feature that will let you shop for new apps without using up any mobile data.

The feature will let you queue up apps to download over Wi-Fi once you finally get to a connection, helping save data without letting you forget about that app you wanted.

The feature is currently only showing up for a few users and it does not seem like there is any way you can trigger it yourself, so if you are not seeing it now, you will have to wait. The option to queue for Wi-Fi download appears in the form of a new dialog box that appears when you try to download something from the Google Play Store over mobile data. Currently, the Play Store only lets you download large apps over Wi-Fi, however now you can wait for Wi-Fi for any download.

The Play Store also tells users that the feature is still in testing and that if Google removes the feature after testing, queued apps could download over mobile data.

It may be a small tweak but the feature could be useful for a lot of people, especially those that live in places where mobile data is not as affordable as it is in the U.S. However, you can always save money by cutting down on mobile data and this feature could help make that a little easier.

Google, slowly but surely, has been updating its Play Store to help it remain relevant — for example, it recently added the ability to share content with up to six people through Play Family Library.

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Christian de Looper

Contributor

Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…

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