Your Android phone will soon be able to auto-open apps when installation completes
When you install an app, the chances are that you’re going to want to fire up straight away. To help with this, Google is in the process of rolling out a handy auto-open feature to Android users.
If this sounds familiar, that is because it is something Google was spotted working on back in the second half of last year. You would have been forgiven for thinking that the company had forgotten about it, but the auto-open toggle is back.
You may not be interested in the feature, so you will be pleased to hear that it is not enabled by default. It is a toggle that is available on an app-by-app basis during the installation process – so you can start the download/installation, and while this is happening you can flick the toggle from the same screen to save having to manually launch the app when installation finishes.
X user AssembleDebug shared the news saying:
The "Auto-open when ready" feature is rolling out more widely in the Google Play Store
This feature allows you to automatically open the app after it is installed. It is turned off by default and you see this option only when you hit the Install button.
It almost goes without saying that Google’s own Pixel devices are getting preferential treatment when it comes to gaining access to this toggle, but Google’s own Pixel devices are getting preferential treatment when it comes to gaining access to this toggle.
Despite what you might expect, however, flicking the toggle to the active position does not mean that the app launches the moment installation is complete. Instead there is a countdown timer of five seconds so you have a chance to back out and change your mind if you want.
For some people, the timer will be an annoyance, but the auto-open feature remains useful. It is easy to imagine a hefty download – for a game for example – taking so long to complete that a user starts doing something else such as browsing social media... and promptly gets distracted and forgets what was happening in the background.
The notification and timer serves as a reminder that the download is complete, and gives an opportunity to choose between immediately launching or finishing off whatever proved to be the distraction.
It is not clear if what is rolling out is the final design for the auto-open toggle, so it could still change in the coming weeks – or months, if recent Google delays are anything to go by.