Download Google Play Store 5.8.8 APK

Google Play APK 5.8.8 Update: You can now download the latest version 5.8.8 of Google Play Store APK which brings with it a bunch of changes and bug fixes that users have been facing for quite a while. This release also includes more Material Design, Details Page, updated look for What’s New, Wearable sensors/activity data, Enterprise apps support, among other things. The download link below has been updated with latest version.

The all new Google Play Store carries more elements of Material Design compared to initial releases of Android Lollipop. Apps like Google Play Newsstand, Gmail, Google+ are all now updated with additional Material Design elements.

You will also notice that the app icon for the new Play Store carrier the new, flatter look, keeping itself in line with Material Design’s aesthetics.

Apart from the design language, things have changed under the hood as well. Fire up the app and you will instantly recognize the subtle changes in animations for say, when accessing the slide-out drawer menu, along with changes in the iconography.

The What’s New section has been moved to the top and is now visibly highlighted in green, allowing for it to be prominently visible in each application listing.

Even the Widget Suggestion icons for the home screen have changed, maintaining the flat, paper like design, as was expected. Google went to the extent of changing the notification icon for the status bar as well, after all, it is this attention to detail that ultimately counts.

Version 5.8.8 of Play Store should start rolling out to users over the course of the next few days, but, we can’t be entirely sure, and it may take longer. Regardless, if you do not want to wait for that update to hit your device, you can download the APK of this new version of Google Play Store from the link at the foot of this post, side-load it, and give it a run.

Please note that this APK is not quite ready for Android M Developer Preview or ROM ports based on the Preview images. If you did not pay heed to this warning, and your Play Store is crashing, you will need to revert to an older version to get things up and running again.

If you happen to have tried the new Play Store and are running it on your device, do share your thoughts and opinions on the changes and any other improvements that we may have missed.

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Google Announces Android Stagefright Security Update for Nexus Devices

Google will be rolling out a security update for the Stagefright vulnerability, a critical security bug which was highlighted earlier this week, for its Nexus devices starting next week.

To recall, cyber-security firm Zimperium on Monday warned of a flaw in the world's most popular smartphone operating system that let hackers take control of Android smartphones with an MMS message. According to the report, attackers could remotely execute code via a specially crafted media file delivered via an MMS message to the customer's Android handset. The bug can affect the device even if the message has not been opened. The malicious codes would let them take control of the device without the owner's knowledge.

However, Google has now promised for a fix, meant for the company's own Nexus devices. Google also says it has already provided a fix to partners for them to roll out fixes for their devices, and will be releasing the additional safeguards it is rolling out for Nexus devices in open source. A company spokesperson is quoted by Android Police to say, this vulnerability was identified in a laboratory setting on older Android devices, and as far as we know, no one has been affected. As soon as we were made aware of the vulnerability we took immediate action and sent a fix to our partners to protect users [..] As part of a regularly scheduled security update, we plan to push further safeguards to Nexus devices starting next week. And, we'll be releasing it in open source when the details are made public by the researcher at BlackHat." The Black Hat computer security conference will be taking place in Las Vegas early in August.

While the Nexus handsets would receive the fix, it still leaves majority of the Android-powered smartphones exposed to the vulnerability. It is worth mentioning that CyanogenMod has already started issuing patches for the Stagefright bug to its users. The Stagefright flaw imperils some 95 percent, or an estimated 950 million Android phones, according to Zimperium.

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