Instead of a homescreen widget, you can now launch Google Play Collections using an app shortcut.
Previously, you could only launch the Watch, Game, Read, Listen, Food, Shop, and Social feeds by placing a widget on your homescreen. The smallest configuration was a bar that showed up to four shortcuts and the App Library, with 2×1 being the most compact size. At the other end, Collections could take up your entire homescreen to show a unified feed directly.
Google is now starting to offer an app shortcut. When long-pressing the Play Store, “Collections” will appear on top of the ever-useful My apps. This launches the feed immediately.
Like all other app shortcuts, just drag it to your homescreen to get an icon. This app shortcut also means you can use device search, like the Pixel Launcher, to bring up “Collections.”
We’re seeing this Collections shortcut with version 44.8.15 of the Google Play Store, but there’s a server-side component and it’s not yet widely rolled out.
Meanwhile, version 44.9 of the Play Store will bring Collections to Android 10-12 in the US.
Google announced Collections in July of last year, with a wider US rollout that September.
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