In what could be a bug or a change in behavior, the Google Play Store is not showing available system-level updates for apps.
Update 9/4This issue persists and we have now seen it affect YouTube, a pre-installed app, on multiple devices. While we received a notification from the Play Store that a new update was available, navigating to the Pending Downloads screen reveals that there is nothing to install. Visiting the app list directly will reveal that it is available for update.
Update 7/11This happens again with Google Partner setup:
Google Partner Setup is a required app for devices running Google Mobile Services (https://www.android.com/gms/)
- This app is pre-installed by the device manufacturer to ensure proper device performance on all Android devices with Google Mobile Services; it cannot be disabled or deleted.
- Google recently moved this app to the Play Store so that important bug fixes, improvements, and updates can be delivered to your device more quickly. No other changes have been made as a result of this app being listed in the Play Store.
- If your device is running Android 7 or earlier, you will not receive an update for this app. This app may indicate that it is incompatible with your device, but this does not mean that the app is malfunctioning or causing your device to crash.
Update 7/1If the Play Store notification today says you have another update that doesn't appear in the pending downloads screen, that missing app is Google's data recovery tool:
This system app helps you recover data from your old phone using cable or cloud backup. The app is already installed on your Android device.
It can only be accessed and updated via a direct link on Google Play. Also, the app does not appear in the list of installed apps.
Original 2/6This issue occurs on the Pending Downloads screen. System apps that have updates available simply don't appear here, even though other apps appear normally.
We first noticed this issue a few weeks ago. It has recently occurred in Settings Services and Google Wi-Fi Provider, which have seen updates in the last few days.
Oddly enough, a system app with a new version will show up in the “New Updates” notification on Google Play, but it doesn’t show up once you visit the page to launch. You might also notice this happening when an alert tells you there are three app updates — for example — but only two of them are new.
This may be an intentional change and follows the way Google Play Services is automatically updated through the Play Store, but never shows up in the pending downloads screen. Google may be working on expanding the range of system-wide apps that are treated this way.
However, if you disable automatic updates, these system apps will never install the latest version. So you'll have to see if there's a download available from somewhere else and manually go to the list to update.
More on Google Play:
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