Google is working on a Play Pass to bundle up mobile subscriptions

Numerous individuals aren’t that attracted to paying for mobile applications, yet Google may have a basic arrangement: package it all in a subscription. XDA and Kieron Quinn have found both code references and a Google Opinion Rewards survey indicating at a “Play Pass” application subscription service.

There are few lines of code, but one clearly references “PLAYPASS_SUBSCRIPTION.”

Play Pass was first spotted in June, but XDA recently received a relevant Google Opinion Rewards survey asking about a “Pass.” Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that the latest version (12.3.19) of the Play Store still features these strings.

As indicated by the report, it may offer “hundreds of dollars” worth of applications and games for an unspecified month to month rate. There’s no sign if or when Play Pass would go live, so don’t rely on giving it a turn presently.

This isn’t the primary Android application membership service, yet it could be the most powerful. Studies suggest that Google Play doesn’t produce as much income per download as Apple’s App Store.

“Play Pass” could entail users paying a monthly fee to get access to a selection of premium games that would otherwise have to be purchased individually. The apps would likely include some form of DRM so that they’ll be disabled or deleted if a user cancels the subscription.

Such a service would most likely cater to gamers, even despite the inclusion of “paid apps.” Most applications today feature a paid cloud sync backend, and adding a Play Pass subscription on-top would be confusing to users.

This could close that gap by influencing some Android clients to pay a generally reasonable repeating expense as opposed to purchasing applications each one in turn.

It might have to address some of the developer questions before Play Pass is ready for prime time.

Read: Fallout 76 will not be coming to Switch

Image via 9 to 5 Google