Google’s March 2023 system updates give you more control over your Google Wallet loyalty/reward cards and more.
On its own, Android is an excellent platform for everything from phones and watches to televisions and car infotainment systems. But what really makes Android devices shine is Google’s ever-evolving suite of apps and services, especially the Play Store and Google Play Services. What’s more, Android now offers monthly “OS updates” that bring new features and keep people’s devices secure without requiring a full system update.
Each month, Google compiles everything that’s changed with every Play Services, Play Store, and Play system update — collectively called the “Google System” — and shares patch notes, with new details arriving throughout the month. Notably, these patch notes often mention features that haven’t been released yet, although it’s always a good practice to keep your devices up to date.
The easiest way to check if you need to update Google Play Services on your phone is to follow a direct link to the app Play Store List And update from there, if available. To update the Play Store, tap on your avatar in the corner, then on Settings. Under the About section, you will see the option to Update Play Store. Meanwhile, Google Play system updates can be found through the Settings app, under About phone > Android version > Google Play system update.
The first batch of March 2023 patch notes are minimal, containing just two anecdotes. Most notable is the change to how Google Wallet handles loyalty/rewards cards. In the app today, you can choose to allow Wallet Automatically import any loyalty cards that appear in your Gmail inbox.
Until now, the only way to remove this type of card from Wallet was to delete the original email from Gmail. Starting with Google Play Services version 23.08, you’ll soon be able to manually remove any unwanted loyalty cards from Wallet without having to delete an email.
Update 3/8: While Pixel phones are still waiting for the March 2023 security patch, Google’s system updates for this month are progressing. The latest patch notes mention a new set of animations that will be shown when a payment is made using Google Wallet. These were announced at the end of last month, with Google showing an example of two penguins sharing fish.
Meanwhile, the new change to the Play Store will make it easier to install new apps on your other devices. Upon installation, you should be able to choose to install an app on connected devices such as a Wear OS watch, Chromebook, or Android tablet. These changes should arrive in the near future, and require an update to version 34.8 of the Play Store.
Google Play system updates for March 2023
Google Play Store
- New features to help you discover the apps and games you love.
- Improvements that allow for faster and more reliable downloads and installations.
- Continuous improvements to Play Protect to keep your device safe.
- Various performance improvements, bug fixes, and security, stability, and accessibility improvements.
- [Phone] Users will have the ability to automatically create the apps they install on phones and tablets available on other connected Android devices such as Watch, TV and Chromebooks.
wallet
- [Phone] Wallet users can selectively exclude loyalty cards imported from Gmail.
- [Phone] The new animation displays after a successful click-and-pay transaction with Google Wallet.
System administration
- [Auto] [TV] [Phone] [Wear OS] [PC] Updates to system management and usability services that improve battery life, device storage, and network usage.
- [Auto] [TV] [Phone] [Wear OS] [PC] System management services updates that improve stability.
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