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I know it shouldn’t bother me this much — but it does. As a creature of habit, I fear change. I believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That being said, I hate the Google Play update. I want the old name back. I want the old icon back. Since letters signed in my own blood to Google’s HQ most likely wont accomplish anything (aside from landing me in the state pen), I’ve been forced to find less creepy ways of dealing with this update. I’ve changed it back.
While there are a few ways of changing the Google Play icon back to the original Android Market icon, the easiest way is to simply download this handy app from iPaulPro, developer of one of my longtime favorite note taking apps, StatusNotes. He’s made a quick application, suitably named Market, that requires no special permissions of any kind, and is essentially a shortcut to the Google Play app store. Simple. Easy. And helps me hold onto the old world. At least for a little longer.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I really appreciate this.
Are you gonna pause and wish you could rewind when they re-brand Android to “Stop” or will you fast forward and hope for a better scene? I’m not too worried myself. I’ll just let Google play as they wish.
A start, but doesnt change enough. Only link.
I want to be able to correctly refer to it as Google Market.
That’s what it SHOULD’VE been changed to!
Is there a petition to bring back the old names?
Some of my friends find the new name insulting .
Who are your friends & why are they taking the name change so hard? Insulting? Really?
I’m curious, too. How could the name be construed as insulting?
You should go to these “friends” and slap em for being “insulted” over a name
Then he can tell them he’s “Just playing”.
The new icon is much more modern looking and not as cheesy as the older one. The universal play icon really says it all as far as content that is delivered from this one stop shop. Google is starting to understand marketing on a dare I say Apple like level.
I’d say Steve Jobs era Apple. Their naming sucks now. For example, with good ol’ Steve, we’d have Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. Instead, it’s now called OS X Mountain Lion. No more Mac. No more 10.x … and, we’d have the iPad 3, not the New iPad
I think the Mac part is being phased out, as to open up the possibility to new hardware (iPad’s running OSXor the merger of iOS and OSX) But just as likely to never happen :)
i hope it never happens, i love Mac computers. i hate iphone/ipad.
speaking of which, any other apple fans that want a good tech community, check out my site: http://www.omgosx.com we’re trying to build a community but it’s insanely difficult!
Try forming a study group for Spanish 101, anthropology 101 or
biology 101 (inside joke)
A Mac will soon be just a bigger iPad just as an iPad is just a bigger iPhone.
Nice find, thanks.
I’m sorry, but this is just ridiculous. Change is inevitable, deal with it. Who gives a fuck what it’s called, it’s still the same thing.
Sad day for android, when its users hate change. Now I never want to hear you, Chris, complain about fragmentation or slow carrier updates. You wouldn’t want all those changes the new OS update would bring anyway.
No, it’s typical for android to have things your way. Not the way a company wants to have it. I have very few original icons on my phone. most of them are replaced by something I like better.
Exactly, you can change them back, but Chris FEARS said changes ”
As a creature of habit, I fear change “. DO you FEAR those changes too? I hope not, because you can change it back. Do you b**** and moan about how awful those changes are in articles? Do you spread around manners in which the change can be reverted in articles?
These kind of posts belong on a forum, not a news-site.
You have a point there.
i agree,and most of these apps from google play are free also,thank you google play ;)
This is change. This is changing the icon. Why do you fear the ability to change the icon?
Reading comprehension is dangerously low on this site.
Where did I state that I fear the ability to change the icon? That’s right, I didn’t! As a matter of fact I like changes, the best part of getting a new phone is to see what’s changed, see how you can change it to fit my style (be it changing icons or whatever). I do not FEAR it, I embrace it, I also do not post them as an article when at best they should be confined to a forum.
you go ritishoemraw,i luv change too ; D
Well what’s it’s called is a factor in marketing and a factor in success. So a lot of people care what’s it’s called.
You are right though fearing change is indeed ridiculous but as I’m sure you know based on the many great posts by Chris it doesn’t seem likely he actually does fear change. It seem more likely this is just one of his legendary jokes you know like his hair ;)
thank you,i couldnt have said it better,i 0k i wouldnt have said it like this at all,but its my thoughts to a t,who cares what its called,i figured it out as soon as it showed up on my phone,how can anyone not know what it is,lol please,it looks the same except no droid and its white,when they seen the new one,all they had to do was click on it,i did,duhhhh lol!!
“Google Play” doesn’t even make sense. “Android Market” was fine or even “Google Market” makes sense, but “Google Play?” I hate the name.
Google should have taken to Google+ with a surveyed poll asking people which name they like better.
It’s basically a play on words. Google plays movies, Google plays music, Google plays apps, etc.
I think it’s actually pretty clever focusing on play as a verb instead of market as a noun.
Google plays books?!?!
Not every app gets “played”… Most apps are tools. I can’t “play” Evernote or “play” flashlight… just sounds dumb..
It’s specifically marketed to Google’s apps. And I would say just the categories in the play store.
They should’ve polled developers because they are the ones who will have to change all their descriptions and websites to tell users to get their enterprise ready apps from the Play Store.
If you think about it.. A Market suffices everyone’s needs. You get clothing, food, and anything else they have for sale. The name Android Market was really great…
I love ludicrous comments like this. Why would a multi billion dollar company take a poll over what they should name THEIR property?
Thank you Chris
It took me a couple of minutes to realize that I was supposed to click [Google Play Link] to get to the app. Why, Google, why?
Firstly, the app is called Play Store, not Google Play, get it through your skull once and for all …sir …please?
Secondly, they didn’t change the name for nothing… http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/07/google-plans-unified-gaming-hub-for-play-cross-platform-titles/
Thirdly, why wouldn’t you quit sounding like a boring blimp? :P
wow wow wow what’s with all the hatred there. Also you can’t use engadget as a source otherwise your eyes fall out, didn’t you know?
Oh oh… it was that. So I could have waited eternally for electricity to be restored.
No hatred, just a little exasperation. I admit that I have a pretty agressive sense of humour sometimes, though. I’ll add a smiley to soften this.
Engadget has been faster to report the Play change and was more correct about it.
Just saying, as I visit both engadget and phandroid on a daily basis.
The Engadget article you link doesn’t help the case of how the word “Play” marginalizes apps and books. Apple gets by fine with the App Store. App Store tells me that I can buy applications of any kind. They have integration with iTunes which I know means I can buy audio and video from. Google Play or even Play Store is childish and doesn’t convey the breadth of what the Market had to offer. It narrows and confines the experience to a smaller demographic.
For an advertising company, Google sure is bad at marketing.
Simply because this Phandroid article is not about how the “Play” word marginalizes apps and books.
It’s about the Play Store app on your device.
And changing its name and icon back won’t revert the hole service.
When u go into it, up top is says “Google Play”… not “Play Store”…
But, again, the article is about changing the name of the app, not the name of the service…
I changed my icons within 10 minutes of the update with my ADW Launcher. I don’t like the new one icons and the music one is horrible with its dark pee looking color.
Lol @ dark pee
You don’t like the new name and someone felt compelled to write an app for it? And then someone else felt compelled to write an article about the app? Wow, talk about First World Problems.
Change happens, especially in the mobile device market. Get over your self-importance and deal with it.
And on top of all that you wrote a comment on a message board. To make things even worse I responded to that comment.
Where did it all go wrong? =)
or you could use thaicon if you use a launcher like adw or lp to change the icon
Anyone having problems getting the new Play on a MIUI phone? I get the terms to accept but it never kicks in. Market still works, save for the Lorax app won’t load (wanted to see what it was).
I think the name is just plain stupid! Google Market was easy and to the point, lol, if it ain’t broke…Don’t fix it!
It’s not that serious, still does everything I need it to do. The name will grow on me.
Not crazy about the name, but do like the new icon a lot. And Google will call it anything it wants, I’ll keep referring to it as The Market.
The “Play Music” Icon is the one that really bothers me. That this is hideous.
Seriously. Get over it. Android Market isn’t coming back. Play Store isn’t the best name, but Android Market was wildly inaccurate and misleading. Most of the things for sale in the Android Market had nothing to do with Android.
And this spells the end of another android related source for me, I can’t believe you just threw an iTard level hissy fit over this, completely ruins your credibility and the site’s to have someone like this “writing” for it
Uhhh… u can do this yourself with Go Launcher Ex… just change the icon (I’m using the ICS theme from KOVDEV) and rename the icon to Market.
Give me a break, you people need to get over it. This is what is wrong with the world. Everybody turns something completely stupid into the end of the world as we know it. I don’t care about the fact that you people want your icon back, but all the dramatic comments are just completely outrageous. I have no better words than you people are freaks, as well as whoever got offended by the new name.
I’ve never been on an android site w/ so many haters in the comments lol, some of you need a life, maybe if you put your phone down for a little while and get in touch with the real world you wouldnt spend every second of your life dissecting someone else’s interests…grow the f*** up! I’m w/ Chris, Google Play sounds absolutely retarded and google should have just left the android market alone.
Let the hate begin in 3….2….1….
Google Play sucks – bring back Market
We’ll see how many downloads this app gets. Maybe Google will notice. Maybe not.
Google market would have been a much better choice. After all it makes sense, its a market where you buy books, movies, music etc.. Google play is just dumb.
I do see the reason for the change though. Many non tech/non android noobs might have thought that you needed android in order to access the market and make a purchase. So the name needed to be “dumbed” down so non android folks could possibly explore the marketplace. Which in the end is a good thing. The more successful the market is the better for all of us, better content and more content. Everyone wins.
When I see “Play” it makes think of Sony and Xperia, not Google or Android.
Maybe it’s just me, but my Market icon never changed after the update. It still says “Market”, but the music and movies icon both changed.
I love to play books and pictures, documents, the browser, settings, a new keyboard and of course, the calculator :)
The new icon looks so 90’s to me… And it doesn’t look like a play button with those colors in it and I say that because I just realized it’s a play button on the second day of the change.
Awesome Chris, thank you for posting this. I hate this change. Guess they have to spend that money on something.
In todays update from google market icon is restored to original. Play icon simply stay there without any function attached to it…
To all the people saying “WHY IS IT CALLED PLAY!?! YOU CAN’T PLAY A BOOK OR MAGAZINE OR APP!!!”
I’m a member of a site called Facebook. It is neither a face, nor a book. It is neither a book of faces, nor a face of books. UMAD?
Also, Blackberry came out with something called the “Android App Player”… nobody said “you can’t play apps” back then.
Was this app pulled from the Market? I can’t find it.
I don’t want a freaking toy store icon on my phone. I don’t use my phone as a toy. I want the market name and icon back.
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