Google is testing a small but handy tweak for the Play Store (APK teardown)

It makes the navigation bar behavior more consistent with other Google apps.

Google is testing a small but handy tweak for the Play Store (APK teardown)
Google Play Store logo on smartphone stock photo (2)
Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
  • Google is testing another change for the Play Store’s new persistent navigation bar.
  • It makes the bar disappear when you scroll down on the main feeds, search results, or app listings, and it reappears when you scroll back up.
  • This new bottom bar behavior seems ready for rollout, and it could soon reach users with a future Play Store update.

Google seems to be testing yet another improvement for the Play Store‘s navigation bar. Just a few weeks ago, it rolled out an update that added a Search tab to the navigation bar and made the bar permanently visible on all screens, including app listings and developer pages. But it’s now testing a change that makes the navigation bar disappear when scrolling.

Although Google hasn’t implemented this in the current Play Store release, we managed to enable it manually in version 42.6.22 of the app. As you can see in the following video, the five-button navigation bar is visible on all screens, including the main feeds, app listings, and search results. However, it disappears when you scroll down and reappears as soon as you start scrolling back up.