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Delta updates go live in Google Play Store, saves bandwidth for you and Google

By on August 17, 2012 at 9:04am in Mobile News

In a late-night backend update, Google turned on Delta Updates in the Play Store, a small but exciting feature announced during Google I/O. The idea is simple: instead of re-downloading the entire .APK file when an app is updated (as has been the case until now), users will only download the delta, or differential, between the old and new app. So your 13MB file, for example, will not be only a few kilobytes, or if there’s a big change, a few megabytes.

To me and you this is not the biggest deal — what’s a couple MB here or there – but to Google, who lays out terabytes of bandwidth per day to hundreds of millions of Android users, it is going to save a lot of money. For data-limited Canadians every bit and byte counts, so we’re happy to see this feature enabled.

Via: Android Police

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Discussion

24 comments for “Delta updates go live in Google Play Store, saves bandwidth for you and Google”

  1. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 21

    Posted by Brian | August 17, 2012, 9:07 am
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    • Your right, not sure why people think Canada is more expensive then the US.

      Verizon charges a minimum of $80 for a smartphone and you get unlimited talk & text but only 300MB of data. If you want 6GB, that will run you a total of $120 a month.

      Sure there are cheaper carriers in the US, but there are also cheaper carriers in the Canada as well. I’m not sure why people think Canada is worse.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

      Posted by daveloft | August 18, 2012, 2:14 am

  2. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 60

    Posted by WP74Life | August 17, 2012, 9:08 am
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    • Too bad you have to buy a new phone to enjoy the WP8 ! LOL !

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 42 Thumb down 7

      Posted by vn33 | August 17, 2012, 9:14 am

    • Must be nice not having any apps to update!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 26 Thumb down 6

      Posted by ns.dev | August 17, 2012, 9:16 am

    • Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 43

      Posted by WP74Life | August 17, 2012, 9:21 am

    • WP74Life, it’s what’s ironic is how little you know of Android and for you to comment on how it’s not “upgradeable”. You can easily upgrade any android phone even without OEM support. There are so many developers on XDA/Cyanogen that works relentlessly in bringing the latest Android software to any phones. Can’t say the same about MS. Nokia is struggling cuz of MS, laying off thousands of ppl. The latest market poll shows Windows phone behind Bada OS (Samsug). That’s all I have to say about WP…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 4

      Posted by Senseless | August 17, 2012, 10:06 am

    • Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 19

      Posted by WP74Life | August 17, 2012, 10:13 am

    • @WP74Life
      Only thing WP is doing better than Android is making money off of patents.

      MS is making more money from patents they licensed to Android device makers than from their entire devices + apps sales combined. So impressive.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

      Posted by Yeria | August 21, 2012, 4:08 pm

  3. This is great for me and other peasants who can only afford 100mb on the prepay.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 19 Thumb down 1

    Posted by HighClassFrenchCricket | August 17, 2012, 9:11 am
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  4. WP74Life, you’re an i***t! You have no knowledge of the ecosystem that Android is. You want to download pirated apps then guess what, you will get viruses!

    BTW this new delta update should help slow down piracy with the APK only going to people who download the app for the first time. The next step is encrypting the APK.

    WP is going to die, plain and simple. Nobody buys it in Canada.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 21 Thumb down 6

    Posted by Rebellion | August 17, 2012, 9:12 am
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  5. Now I can finally flip the switch on automatic apparently updates.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 0

    Posted by HighClassFrenchCricket | August 17, 2012, 9:12 am
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  6. I meant automatic app updates, this website is in the stone age…can’t even edit posts.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 2

    Posted by HighClassFrenchCricket | August 17, 2012, 9:14 am
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  7. I refuse to believe that Google (or any company or that matter) would have the general consumer’s interest as the first priority.

    Label me a cynic but I agree with what the article says “but to Google, who lays out terabytes of bandwidth per day to hundreds of millions of Android users, it is going to save a lot of money”

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1

    Posted by vn33 | August 17, 2012, 9:17 am
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    • To them it’s a win win situation. Save money on bandwidth and appease their clients by lowering their data consumption.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0

      Posted by sam | August 17, 2012, 10:30 am

  8. I got a lg quantum windows phone from Walmart 6 months ago. It was in the electronics discount bins section next to 5 dollar DVD movies. It was at a moat excellent price of 99 dollars on the prepay.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0

    Posted by HighClassFrenchCricket | August 17, 2012, 9:28 am
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  9. Well, the comments have turned into a circle jerk…

    But I think this is a great feature that should be ‘adopted’ by other platforms. I am curious to see the fall line up of all 3 platforms.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 2

    Posted by Jeeverz | August 17, 2012, 9:35 am
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  10. Android Rules…Google Rocks

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 3

    Posted by Android4Ever | August 17, 2012, 9:44 am
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  11. @WP74Life
    look at the latest market poll… last I checked, Android is on top. oh wait… your WP may not be able let you browse… sorry….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 1

    Posted by Senseless | August 17, 2012, 10:23 am
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    • Market poll =/ Quality.
      Still, you didn’t proved me wrong yet.
      Nice try btw.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 11

      Posted by WP74Life | August 17, 2012, 10:58 am

    • It’s like saying Hyundai are far better than Ferrari because of the Market Share..
      Nice try buddy!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 7

      Posted by WP74Life | August 17, 2012, 12:46 pm

  12. Google should patent delta app updates before apple “changes everything..again…again.” and “invents” delta app upgrades.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 1

    Posted by tweak | August 17, 2012, 10:54 am
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  13. This should be good. I am often annoyed by the frequency some of these apps need to be updated. Especially when I’ve seen no problems.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Josh | August 17, 2012, 12:04 pm
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  14. Nice update, for everyone, not just Google. OTA updates shouldn’t hurt so much now with huge games and applications.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Dylan K | August 17, 2012, 10:30 pm
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