Summary

The Google Play Store may add a “try before you buy” feature.

Buying the game after the trial preserves your progress, so you can pick up where you left off.

The feature appears to be games-only for now, and there’s no launch date yet.

The Google Play Store may be adding an incredibly useful new feature soon. Google Play Store version 49.6.19-29 contains code that allows developers to offer trial periods for their games (via Android Authority). Google appears to be calling the feature “try before you buy.”

How it works

As easy as one, two, free

“Try before you buy” works exactly like you’d expect: developers can set a trial period, and users can then access the full game experience for that period before being asked to pay. Trials appear to be limited to one per game per user, and the trial period begins when you first launch the game.

Crucially, Google appears to be enabling users who purchase games after a trial to pick up right where they left off. This solves one of the potential issues with separate free and paid versions of apps — data loss when switching to the paid version. This new update should make for a seamless transition between trial and full purchase, adding “try before you buy” to the list of great Play Store features.

Why “try before you buy” matters

Google’s refund policy is… not great

As things stand, trying an app or game before you commit can be convoluted (if it’s possible at all). Google allows developers to offer free trials on apps with subscriptions, but for apps and games that charge a one-time fee, there’s no great solution. This is one of the many reasons users switch to alternative app stores.

For most one-time-purchase apps, users have to rely on Google’s refund policy. Unfortunately, you have a very short window to request the refund, and it’s not guaranteed, as many Redditors have discovered.

The ability to try apps and games before you purchase would improve this situation significantly. It would make it possible to try out new software without worrying about wasting money on a bad purchase. This, in turn, could lead to more sales for devs, as users may be more willing to take a chance. It’s a win-win.

Games only — for now

Unfortunately, “try before you buy” appears to be limited to games at this time. That’s a shame, because it would be equally useful for paid apps. We’re hopeful that, if this initial run goes well, Google will expand it to all Play Store apps in the future.

Google has not officially announced the “try before you buy” feature, so there’s no word on when it might launch.