Google gives devs a shiny new dashbord for Android apps

Today, Google launched a new developer dashboard for Android devs and all their Google Play-bound apps.

Google Play, you will recall, is the beefed-up, classier-looking version of the old Android Market. It contains media, games, e-books, and all kinds of Android applications.

The new dev dashboard is a sleek, Google Drive-reminiscent interface for navigating through your lineup of applications. You get the ability to publish app listings in 49 languages and a simpler, redesigned publishing workflow.

The new dash also lets you track user ratings over time so you can optimize your apps for higher quality (or perceptions thereof) — something that Google has been publicly persistent about lately.

The company recently published a huge manual and manifesto on how to build higher-quality tablet apps, and it’s been egging developers on to create all-around better Android apps in general over the past several months.

In a recent interview with Play’s team, we learned that part of the reason the Android Market was scrapped was for branding’s sake. Google wanted to create a higher-end experience for premium content, like a schmancy shopping mall where end users would feel comfortable dropping money for paid apps.

But Google just provided the storefront. “I’m not gonna take any credit for how much better the apps and games have gotten over the past year,” said Play engineering director Chris Yerga to VentureBeat earlier this year. “That’s all developers. The games and apps have gotten so much better.”

So in a way, the new dash is just part of Google’s bid to make the Android developer’s experience better and in the end, to make Android apps better, prettier, faster, and cleaner.

As with most redesigned Google UIs, you can switch to the new dashboard now from the comfort of your current developer console just by clicking on “Try the new version” in the header.

Top image courtesy of leedsn, Shutterstock