Google Play could finally catch up to Apple and Steam with this long-missing store feature
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Google Play could finally catch up to Apple and Steam with this long-missing store feature
Nov 5, 2026 — 5:00 AM ET
- The Google Play Store does not yet natively support gifting app purchases to other users.
- Google now appears to be preparing a system designed to support gifting games to your friends.
- Buyers will be able to include a note, and re-gift titles recipients don’t ultimately want.
Right now, gamers everywhere are up in arms over what’s being seen as an assault on physical media: New games are increasingly only distributed online, and it’s becoming harder and harder to get the latest releases on optical discs or cartridges. Even though Android’s been doing app distribution over the internet since the beginning, it still has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to store features — but at least one big upgrade may be landing soon.
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While storefronts like Steam support easily gifting games to your friends, so far Google Play has lacked an equivalent option. Sure, you can send a friend a gift card for the game’s value, but that’s not quite the same. But today as we crawl though some of the changes present in version 53.9.23-24 of the Play Store for Android, we’ve spotted what looks like work towards finally adopting its own gifting mechanic.
You won’t see this interface live right now in the app, but should Google finish up work and choose to enable it, we could get a new “Gift” option for premium, paid apps within the three-dot overflow menu.
Once you choose a game you’d like to buy for someone, you’ll be able to fill out a short (200 characters max) note, just like you’re attaching a virtual card. Once nice feature we’re already spotting here is that Google seems prepared for the possibility that the recipient may not want to take you up on your kind gesture, and in that case you’ll still be free to transfer the gift to someone else (who’s hopefully a little more open to it).
As you can see on the right, this workflow appears to support your choice of payment options and allow you to apply discounts, just like you’re buying an app for yourself. And while it’s not quite functional here, you can see those “%s” variables acting as placeholders where your message and delivery instructions will appear. Understandably, the person you’re buying the app for needs to also be a Google user, which we’re sure some lawyers asked the devs to point out here.
Honestly, this has been a long time coming for Android, and especially as Google works to make the Play Store a more favorable destination for premium games, features like this are exactly what users and game devs alike are going to be looking for. Apple’s supported gifting for years now, and it’s high time Google catches up.
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