What that means is, if you got downloaded the last update that came out before this one, you can probably get away with not getting this update for the time being. The actual 7.1.13 update itself doesn’t have any huge changes aside from the standard bug fixes and other “invisible” improvements.
However, there are a lot of exciting things happen on the server side, and they will certainly require at least a fairly recent version of Google Play Store in order to work on your device. So if it’s been a while since you updated, you’re definitely going to want to download Play Store 7.1.13 APK right now so you can make sure you have access to these exciting new features as soon as they roll out to your device and region.
What’s new with Play Store 7.1.13 APK?
Compared to the last update we wrote about? Not a whole lot. If you started experiencing a new issue after getting the previous update, then you have a good chance of finding a bug fix for it in the new 7.1.13 version. But otherwise, this update is only essential for people who haven’t updated in a month or more, and for people who are beta testing Android 7.1.
We can’t confirm this firsthand, but users who are using 7.1 Beta are reporting that installing Play Store 7.1.13 enables some of the app shortcuts that have been generating a lot of buzz around this new Android OS version. If you happen to be one of those people, we highly recommend downloading the latest APK to your device – worst case scenario, the app shortcuts aren’t there but you get a few minor improvements as a consolation prize.
Play Store gifting is finally here!
Well… sort of. In our last update we mentioned evidence in an APK teardown that gifting was in progress, and as of today, Google has started rolling this option out server side, but only for Play Books. So far, this is the only section of the Play Store that allows you to gift a single item to a friend, but it’s reasonable to assume that expansion to Music, Movies & TV, and Apps & Games is in the works.
Again, this is a server side change, so downloading Play Store 7.1.13 is no guarantee that you’ll have instant access to it, but it certainly can’t hurt. If you have this option, you’ll know immediately because you’ll get a promotional pop-up when you enter the Books section of Google Play.
Not all aspects of Play Store gifting for books are up and running yet for all users – for example, there is supposedly a “gift” icon that makes the process of sending a gift relatively simple (and we have seen the icon in previous APK teardowns), but not everyone has access to it just yet.
If you don’t have the special icon, you can still select books or comics to send as gifts, it’s just a little more tedious. It’s easy if the book appears on Play Books’ front page, but if it doesn’t, it has to be sent from your library.
But that doesn’t mean you have to own a copy of every single book you want to send as a gift – you have the option of adding the book’s free sample to your library, and then sending the complete book from your library via the free sample (obviously, you’ll have to pay for the book to send it as a gift).
Something new in Play Store 7.1.13 for Pixel users
Very, very few people have access to Google’s new Pixel smartphones at this point, so this doesn’t apply to most people, but there is a new feature for tech support inside Google Play Store for this device with the latest version of Play Store.
The Google Support app can be downloaded from the Play Store on any device with Android 5.0 and higher, but it will only work on the company’s own Pixel devices for the time being.