Google is reportedly giving Parallel Download another chance after the feature reappeared in a recent Play Store update.
If you’re not familiar with it, parallel downloading is said to give Android users the ability to install multiple apps at the same time. The technology first appeared about four years ago when a Reddit user noticed that they could download Chrome, Google Photos and YouTube to their mobile device at the same time. Since then, it has seemingly fallen into obscurity until it was discovered by industry expert Assemble Debug after diving into the files of Google Play version 40.0.13.
Current restrictions
He was surprised to see it fully functioning. Screenshots on TheSpAndroid blog show that Assemble Debug was able to download Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Acrobat without any problems. At a glance, the process works the same way as single-app installations. The time it takes to get a piece of software onto your phone depends on the file size.
Investigating further, Assemble Debug discovered that the feature was being held back by a few limitations. First, parallel downloading doesn’t work for updates. If you want to download patches for multiple apps, you must do so separately. Nothing changes on that front.
Second, Google limits the number of simultaneous installations to just two apps. Assemble Debug points out that the constraint is controlled by an internal flag. He deactivated the flag and was able to increase the download limit to ‘five apps at a time’.
It’s possible that Google could change the maximum number of installs at any time, but for now they’re keeping it small. There could be an increase in a future testing period.
Participate in the early test
For those interested, it is possible to activate parallel downloading on your device by grabbing the latest Play Store patch; however, the process is difficult. TheSpAndroid indicates that you need a rooted Android smartphone. Rooting isn’t super difficult to do, but it does take a while and you run the risk of completely bricking the hardware. If you want to learn how to do this, we have a guide with step-by-step instructions on how to root your Android phone.
Once all that’s done, you’ll need to enable a particular flag through the GMS Flags app, which you can find it on GitHub. Details on how to do this can be found in TheSpAndroid’s report.
It is unknown when this feature will officially launch. Since the company is experimenting with Parallel Downloads again after so long, this could indicate an upcoming release. Hopefully this is the case. Being able to install apps in bulk is a nice quality of life upgrade. It can help new phone owners save a lot of time in setting up their devices.
Speaking of which, check out Ny Breaking’s list of the best Android phones for 2024 if you’re looking to upgrade.