YouTube Music and Google Play Music are merging. This is all because of Google's wish to provide a unified Music app. The move was confirmed by Google spokesperson however extensive details about the matter is not available.
"Music is very important to Google and we're evaluating how to bring together our music offerings to deliver the best possible product for our users, music partners, and artists," says the Google spokesperson. "Nothing will change for users today and we'll provide plenty of notice before any changes are made."
The two apps will continue to exist independently for the moment. The premium YouTube Red platform even already allows subscribers to access both YouTube Music and Google Play Music services.
Speaking of apps, it seems Google is shortening its list of apps in the Play Store. Google forwarded notices to app developers warning them that it will soon "limit visibility" or just delete the apps from the Play Store. Google had plans to revamp the Play Store to provide better recommendations to users by relying on AI tech. It is not a surprise that Google would be purging apps for the safety of its users. These "zombie apps" are currently at the thousands over at the Play Store.
Google is asking app developers to provide a valid privacy policy on the Google Play Store listing and within their apps. The notice says, "Google Play requires developers to provide a valid privacy policy when the app requests or handles sensitive user or device information." The developers' apps request sensitive permissions from camera, microphone, accounts, contacts, and phone or user data, but does not include a valid privacy policy.
The app developers were given a deadline, March 15 specifically, to finally provide the privacy policy. If developers fail to meet the demand, users will see tons of apps disappear.
