What you need to know
- Google has announced a new feature that will allow users to uninstall Play Store apps remotely.
- The feature isn't widely available yet, but some have managed to use the feature by enabling certain flags in version 38.8 of the Google Play Store.
- The tool will be similar to remotely installing apps in the Play Store, with a few caveats.
Google is planning to release a feature that will let users uninstall apps from the Google Play Store remotely, and it should be coming soon. The plans were spotted by TheSpAndroid, who noticed references to the feature in Google's system updates for December.
It's an official confirmation from Google that comes after flags were discovered for the Play Store that hinted at this functionality in November.
Google's notes only say that this new tool will "help you uninstall apps on connected devices" and don't go into more detail. The feature is set to appear in version 38.8 of the Google Play Store, which is rolling out now. However, our devices don't have the 38.8 update available yet.
Even downloading and sideloading the latest 38.8.21 version of the Google Play Store might not result in the feature being available. For now, it appears to be part of an extremely limited rollout.
TheSpAndroid has managed to enable the feature by enabling some flags in the 38.8 build of the Play Store, and it's still fairly hidden. When it becomes available, you have to tap your Google account icon and then tap Manage apps & device to get started. Currently, the Google Play Store only shows installed and uninstalled apps on this settings page.
When the uninstall feature is enabled, new functionality will let users see installed apps on their other devices. Then, you can select an app and press the trash icon to uninstall it from that device.
However, early reports indicate that the Play Store might not show a user's full list of apps. So, there still might be value in managing your installed apps on the device instead of trying to do it remotely. Like in the current version of the Manage apps & device page, you can sort apps on another device by size. This is useful for trying to free up space on another device remotely.
Google says this feature will be available in the Play Store and work with apps on Android Auto, PC, phones, TVs, and Wear OS. The date listed by the company for Play Store v38.8 features is Dec. 11, but as we mentioned, it doesn't appear widely available.
