Since 2012, Google Play has been your place to find and enjoy apps, games, movies, TV shows, and books. More than 2 billion people in 190 countries use Google Play to discover blockbuster movies, apps that help you be more productive, and books that inspire imagination. 

To show our appreciation, we created a new rewards program called Google Play Points that lets you earn points and rewards for the ways you already use Google Play. Over the two years, millions of people in Japan, South Korea, the US, Taiwan, and Hong Kong have joined the program. Starting this week, Google Play Points is launching in Australia, as well as UK, France and Germany. 

It’s free to join, and you can earn Play Points to use for special items and discounts in top games like Candy Crush Saga and Pokémon GO, or for Google Play Credit to use on movies, books, games, and apps. 

Play your way and earn points 

With Google Play Points, you’ll earn points on everything you buy with Google Play, including in-app items, movies, books, subscriptions and more. You can also earn Play Points by downloading featured free apps and games. Weekly points events can boost your earning rate on movies, books, and select games. 

Google Play Points has four levels, from Bronze to Platinum. Your level depends on how many points you’ve collected, and higher levels have perks like weekly prizes. 

Redeem your Play Points how you’d like 

We’re partnering with developers of some of the top apps and games on Google Play so that you can redeem points for special in-app items like characters, gems and more. You can also use Play Points for Google Play Credit and rent an award-winning movie or buy a best-selling audiobook. 

Join for free 

Google Play Points will be available over the next week. It’s free to join, there is no recurring or monthly fee, and you’ll earn three times the Play Points on everything you buy your first week. To get started, visit Google Play. Tap menu, then Play Points. Learn more about Play Points--and get ready to earn points and rewards. 

Posted by Winston Mok, Product Manager, Google Play

Google Play has always been about connecting you to the best apps, games, and digital content. Since everyone plays a little differently, we wanted to introduce a new way to enjoy many of these digital experiences: Google Play Pass. We’re excited to announce that Play Pass is coming to Australia.
Play Pass is a subscription service that gives you access to hundreds of apps and games that are completely unlocked—all without ads, in-app purchases and upfront payments. Play Pass offers a high-quality, curated collection of classic favourites like Sonic the Hedgehog to brand new titles like Levelhead, and from award-winning Indies like Stardew Valley to useful apps like Photo Studio Pro, with new apps and games added every month.
Play Pass is rolling out to Android devices in Australia this week. You can get started with a one-month trial, and subscribe for just $7.99/month or save with a yearly subscription for just $49.99/year.
Apps and games you already love, plus more to discover 
The Play Pass collection spans hundreds of titles, from games that help you unwind to apps that power productivity. We think the creators of Monument Valley put it best: “Play Pass helps encourage people to try new experiences they would not have otherwise," says Maria Sayans, CEO of Ustwo games.
You’ll find well-known titles like Terraria, Monument Valley, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. And other amazing titles you might be less familiar with like LIMBO, This War of Mine, Teslagrad, and many more. With new additions every month—including favourites like The Gardens Between and Kingdom Rush, coming soon, and brand new releases premiering on Play Pass later this year like Bright Paw from Rogue and Line Weight from The Label—there’s always something new to discover.

To make all of these apps and games easier to find, we’ve added a new Play Pass tab for subscribers. Play Pass apps and games can also be found throughout the Play Store–just look for the Play Pass “ticket.” All apps and games found on the Play Pass homepage or throughout the Play Store with the ticket are completely unlocked with your subscription.
Share with the whole family 
Just as with Google Play Family Library, family managers can share their Play Pass subscription with up to five other family members in their Google Family. Each family member can access Play Pass individually, so your experience won’t be affected by what others download. Play Pass also has a great selection of family-friendly apps and games—from Sesame Workshop to Learny Land—so the whole family can enjoy.
Get started
Once Play Pass is available this week, you can start your trial by simply opening the Play Store app on your Android device, tapping the menu at the top left, and looking for “Play Pass.” You can learn more here. Have fun!

Posted by Zoe Hayes, Head of Apps & Platforms Marketing, Google Australia & New Zealand

This is a cross-post from the Official Google Blog

Just like the Loch Ness Monster, you may have heard the rumours about Google Drive. It turns out, one of the two actually does exist.

Today, we’re introducing Google Drive—a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff. Whether you’re working with a friend on a joint research project, planning a wedding with your fiancé or tracking a budget with roommates, you can do it in Drive. You can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and beyond.

With Google Drive, you can:

• Create and collaborate. Google Docs is built right into Google Drive, so you can work with others in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once you choose to share content with others, you can add and reply to comments on anything (PDF, image, video file, etc.) and receive notifications when other people comment on shared items.
• Store everything safely and access it anywhere (especially while on the go). All your stuff is just... there. You can access your stuff from anywhere—on the web, in your home, at the office, while running errands and from all of your devices. You can install Drive on your Mac or PC and can download the Drive app to your Android phone or tablet. We’re also working hard on a Drive app for your iOS devices. And regardless of platform, blind users can access Drive with a screen reader.
• Search everything. Search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Drive can even recognise text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Let’s say you upload a scanned image of an old newspaper clipping. You can search for a word from the text of the actual article. We also use image recognition so that if you drag and drop photos from your Grand Canyon trip into Drive, you can later search for [grand canyon] and photos of its gorges should pop up. This technology is still in its early stages, and we expect it to get better over time.

You can get started with 5GB of storage for free—that’s enough to store the high-res photos of your trip to the Mt. Everest, scanned copies of your grandparents’ love letters or a career’s worth of business proposals, and still have space for the novel you’re working on. You can choose to upgrade to 25GB for $2.49/month, 100GB for $4.99/month or even 1TB for $49.99/month. When you upgrade to a paid account, your Gmail account storage will also expand to 25GB.



Drive is built to work seamlessly with your overall Google experience. You can attach photos from Drive to posts in Google+, and soon you’ll be able to attach stuff from Drive directly to emails in Gmail. Drive is also an open platform, so we’re working with many third-party developers so you can do things like send faxes, edit videos and create website mockups directly from Drive. To install these apps, visit the Chrome Web Store—and look out for even more useful apps in the future.

This is just the beginning for Google Drive; there’s a lot more to come.

Get started with Drive today at drive.google.com/start—and keep looking for Nessie...

Posted by Sundar Pichai, SVP, Chrome & Apps