{"id":497424,"date":"2026-06-27T00:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T00:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/497424\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T00:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T00:26:20","slug":"im-trying-to-use-google-play-to-discover-new-apps-one-hidden-feature-made-it-far-easier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/497424\/","title":{"rendered":"I&#8217;m trying to use Google Play to discover new apps \u2014 one hidden feature made it far easier"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Despite being a tech reporter, I&#8217;ve never done a great job at keeping on top of new apps.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s something I&#8217;ve been trying to change, and the Play Store has buried a feature that could make it easier.<\/p>\n<p>While many of my tech peers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidpolice.com\/found-better-google-play-alternative\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">have stopped relying on Google Play for apps<\/a>, I&#8217;m trying to get better at discovering new Android games, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidpolice.com\/apps-transformed-phone-into-ultimate-productivity-tool\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ultimate productivity apps<\/a>, and creative tools like photo editors or camera viewfinders.<\/p>\n<p>For ages, I have been frustrated by the lack of one simple feature, which is standard on other software storefronts. Why doesn&#8217;t the Google Play Store have a wishlisting feature, so I can make a list of apps I&#8217;ll want to try in the future?<\/p>\n<p>However, after several weeks of keeping a Notes app list of prospective downloads, I discovered that the Play Store has this function. It&#8217;s just more buried than it should be.<\/p>\n<p>Where the wishlist should be, there&#8217;s the less useful option to install an app on other devices.<\/p>\n<p>Now I&#8217;ve found how to use the Play Store wishlist properly, there are loads of ways it&#8217;s boosting my app discovery.<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                                            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidpolice.com\/googles-trying-out-a-new-uninstall-button-right-on-each-apps-play-store-listing\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img width=\"440\" height=\"248\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Google Play Store logo on a purple background\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782519977_79_google-play-store-logo-1.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782519977_79_google-play-store-logo-1.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    Related<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidpolice.com\/googles-trying-out-a-new-uninstall-button-right-on-each-apps-play-store-listing\/\" title=\"Google Play is testing a feature to make removing apps from your other devices way easier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tGoogle Play is testing a feature to make removing apps from your other devices way easier<br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"display-card-excerpt\">A simpler way to vanish apps for good<\/p>\n<p>                        How to use the Play Store wishlist<\/p>\n<p>            Save those apps for later<\/p>\n<p>I imagine there are plenty of people like me who didn&#8217;t know that the Play Store wishlist feature was available.<\/p>\n<p>To add an app to your wishlist, you have to press the hamburger menu button when you&#8217;re on the app&#8217;s Play Store listing. This will add it to the wishlist.<\/p>\n<p>Hiding the option in the menu means the wishlist isn&#8217;t as obvious as it should be.<\/p>\n<p>Finding your wishlist is harder than it should be. To do so, you&#8217;ll need to go to the Play Store and press your profile icon in the upper-right corner. From here, scroll down to Library, then select Wishlist.<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;ll see a list of everything you&#8217;ve tagged, not just apps but books. However, items from your watchlist on Google TV will be elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>So, the process is more of a chore than it should be. But now I&#8217;ve discovered it, there are loads of ways I use it that are really handy.<\/p>\n<p>                        Listing games I want to try later<\/p>\n<p>            Get potential downloads ready<\/p>\n<p>        <img width=\"1650\" height=\"928\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Google Play Store, showing an array of games.\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/play-store-wishlist-games.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/play-store-wishlist-games.jpg\" class=\"img-brightness-opt-out\"\/><\/p>\n<p> My most common use of wishlists is to save mobile games I&#8217;ll want to buy and install in the future.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t see a need to get them straight away, as some of the games I want to play take up loads of storage space, and can cost a pretty penny. And if I&#8217;m already playing one game, why buy another?<\/p>\n<p>Every few days, I&#8217;ll peruse the Play Store for new titles that sound interesting, and drop them onto the list. Then, when I get tired of the game I&#8217;m playing, I have a nice big list of ones to consider.<\/p>\n<p>Before I&#8217;d discovered the wishlist feature, finding a new game would be a nightmare.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;d forget all the interesting-looking ones I&#8217;d wanted to check out, and would often download a freemium title, which took longer to download than I&#8217;d actually play it for.<\/p>\n<p>                        Preparing for future work<\/p>\n<p>            Getting productivity in place<\/p>\n<p>        <img width=\"1650\" height=\"928\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A price tag on the Google Play Store, with text saying 'In-app purchases'.\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/play-store-wishlist-price.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/play-store-wishlist-price.jpg\" class=\"img-brightness-opt-out\"\/><\/p>\n<p> Just like when it comes to mobile games, I don&#8217;t want to fill up my smartphone with work or creative apps before I need to use them.<\/p>\n<p>There are some expensive and space-consuming creative apps. Directors&#8217; viewfinders for testing camera lenses, video editors for throwing together clips on the go, and apps that help you chart the sun, weather, or stars in precise detail.<\/p>\n<p>Finding the right tools for the job can take some research and a lot of time.<\/p>\n<p>But even when I&#8217;ve found them, I don&#8217;t like to let them clutter my phone before I need them, especially if they require a monthly subscription.<\/p>\n<p>So letting them queue up in my wishlist, waiting for the all-clear from a certain project or fund, lets me prepare without putting my money on the line.<\/p>\n<p>                        Reminders that an app is on sale<\/p>\n<p>            All in one place<\/p>\n<p>        <img width=\"1650\" height=\"928\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A menu on the Google Play Store showing the text 'Add to wishlist'.\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/play-store-wishlist-balatro.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/play-store-wishlist-balatro.jpg\" class=\"img-brightness-opt-out\"\/><\/p>\n<p> While you might really want an app, its standard price might be higher than you&#8217;d feel comfortable paying.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s often true for me when the app has an upfront cost and requires extra purchases for expansions or extras.<\/p>\n<p>When you put an app in your wishlist, it&#8217;ll be listed alongside its current price. You can skim through your desired downloads to see how much you&#8217;ll need to pay to get it.<\/p>\n<p>That means you can check if any of them are discounted.<\/p>\n<p>I used to glance at the r\/googleplaydeals subreddit for this advice, but it&#8217;s easier when it&#8217;s just a list of all my desired apps.<\/p>\n<p>Games included in the Play Pass subscription are also marked by a little icon, so you know how much of your list you&#8217;ll be able to enjoy if you sign up.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m waiting to hit the critical mass of these on my wishlist before I test it.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a useful way to save money on apps I don&#8217;t urgently need, and it is one of those useful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.androidpolice.com\/nobody-told-me-about-these-google-play-features-they-are-non-negotiable\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Google Play Store features no one tells you about<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite being a tech reporter, I&#8217;ve never done a great job at keeping on top of new apps.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[342,111,139,69,145],"class_list":["post-497424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-mobile","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}