The Google Play Store is one of the most important apps on any phone, which is probably why Google is always tweaking it here and there. Last year, the Play Store received its biggest visual overhaul in a while, and this summer the app starting rolling out new search filters and experimenting with a redesign of the My Apps screen. In this latest test, Google is getting rid of the Play Store’s hamburger menu.
With the three-line hamburger menu gone, the options previously present in the side panel move to a floating window that’s accessible with a tap of the avatar in the upper-right-hand corner. That’s where the the shortcuts to the app library, payments & subscriptions, settings, and more are found in this experimental build.
Hamburger menus were a popular choice a few years ago, but as screen have gotten bigger, many of the shortcuts they once contained have been moving to bottom navigation bars and tabbed interfaces. Google has been steering developers away from using hamburger menus as of late, especially since they don’t exactly play nicely with the fully gestural navigation introduced in Android 10. If the Play Store does indeed adapt this UI sometime in the future, it certainly won’t be the first Google app to pivot to menu options that are healthier for your fingers.
