Google has announced a new ‘Designed For Families’ scheme for developers, which it hopes will result in a more ‘family-friendly’ Google Play store.
The initiative encourages developers to submit their apps for review, with qualifying content receiving better promotion in the Play Store.
Google hasn’t gone into specifics over the scheme, but it appears a new family apps section will be added to the Play Store, filled with age-appropriate applications and games.
It’s also likely these approved apps will carry a ‘Designed for families’ label in the description.
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“Your apps in the program can benefit from enhanced discoverability in addition to maintaining their existing categories, rankings, and reviews elsewhere on the Google Play store.”
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The blog went on: “Apps in the family-friendly experience on Google Play will be more discoverable by parents and families, who expect the apps to be age appropriate. The Designed for Families program is designed to be inclusive of apps that are made for kids as well as those that can be enjoyed by the entire family. To address this audience, there are specific guidelines and policies your apps need to meet, which will be assessed in an app content review.”
Google currently features a Content Rating for apps and games on the Play Store, but this initiative incentivises developers to offer family-friendly content in exchange for additional promotion on the store
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.