Google to 'significantly expand' Play support team, says committed to resolving issues

Google is significantly expanding its Google Play support team in India and is committed to resolving issues that can impact the experience of a user or a developer, David Kleidermacher, VP Engineering, Android Security and Privacy, has said.

Speaking at the "Google for India" event on August 25, Kleidermacher said the company's online store teams in India had helped the firm gain a deeper understanding of the needs of partners and users.

“We are committed to listening to the ecosystem and acting swiftly to help resolve issues that can tarnish the experience of a user or a developer. For example, we recently announced clarifications around the policies on personal loan apps, including new requirements that will help safeguard users while enabling legitimate developers to operate and flourish. The bottom line is this—when we solve for our users, we also solve for our developers,” he said.

The theme of this year's event is Safer with Google.

The company is also launching several security features in Android. These include a privacy dashboard, where people can view apps accessing location, microphone and camera in the last 24 hours.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai did not address the event. Last year, the company announced $10 billion in Google for India digitization fund. Of this $4.5 billion was invested in Reliance Industries’ digital arm Jio Platforms, giving the US major a 7.73 percent stake in the firm. JioPhone Next smartphone, developed by Google and Reliance Jio, will be launched in September.

Sameer Samat, Vice President, Android & Play, Google, “Our teams are working hard to bring a fully-fledged device built with optimizations, Android operating system and Google Play, aimed at serving the needs of many who have never used a smartphone before.”

According to Samat, the device would have premium capabilities, security and malware protection, a first for any device in the category.