Google's Play Store already offers different sections for content like apps, music and books, and according to a new report, the company will soon be adding yet another new section to its digital shop. The folks over at Android Police have discovered a reference to "Google Play News" in a JavaScript file from the web version of the Play Store. Buried inside all of the code are sentences like "To read Google Play News, you must have a supported Android phone or tablet" and "Subscribing you to this news edition...," and there are also requests for a user to sign in to receive a "News Issue" and "News Subscription," suggesting that this new section of the Play Store will house newspapers.
The report goes on to point out that each section of the Google Play Store currently has a specific color that represents it, like green for apps and blue for books. Since this "Google Play News" appears to be a new section in the Play Store, it makes sense that it would receive its own new color. After digging around in the Play Store CSS, Android Police found all of the colors of the existing sections as well as a new yellow color with the description "news" attached, which you can see above.
There's no icon for this Google Play News section or any timetable for when it might actually launch, but it certainly seems like Google is preparing to add newspapers to the Play Store. As I mentioned before, the Play Store is already home to several other types of media, so adding newspapers makes sense. It's actually kind of a surprise that it's taken Google this long to add newspapers to its digital storefront. Newspapers are still a popular way for many to get their news fix, and the New York Times and Wall Street Journal are currently occupying the number one and two spots on Apple's "Top Grossing" list for its Newsstand app, so digital newspapers are obviously something that people are interested in. What do you all think of a Google Play News section of the Play Store? Would you use it to get some digital newspapers on your Android phone or tablet?
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