This week on Google Play: 51 updates worth your time
Issue 1 · Oct 13–19, 2026. Gmail, WhatsApp Messenger, Facebook and 48 more apps shipped new builds this week. We read each update's notes and tell you which ones to install now. An independent weekly, not a Google publication.
51 apps · about 51 minutes · one app per screen
Start with GmailIn this issue
- 01Gmail
This Gmail build emphasizes email as a base for work, with chat, spaces, and calling offering different ways to keep a conversation moving.
Update now - 02WhatsApp Messenger
WhatsApp adds an optional conversation catch-up for group newcomers, alongside device transfers, a waiting room for linked calls, and a larger pinned participant tile.
Check one setting - 03Facebook
Facebook combines social connections, interest groups, Marketplace browsing, and creative sharing, with useful choices for shaping your Feed and deciding who sees your posts.
Update now - 04Muse from Meta 12.0.0.14.169
Muse expands its connected services for business and everyday work, introduces tablet availability, and keeps approval central to tasks carried out on your behalf.
Check one setting - 05iControl: Easy Widgets Themes 1.8.0.0923
iControl’s latest notes point to control themes, while the app offers a broad set of tools for customizing control panels, widgets and charging wallpapers.
Update now - 06TikTok Studio 44.6.3
TikTok Studio combines creator tools, post and comment management, audience insights, personalized monetization recommendations and tutorials to support your content work.
Update now - 07Daraz Online Shopping App 9.36.5
Daraz's latest listed build highlights performance improvements and bug fixes, while the app offers shopping across categories, deals, live showcases and order support.
Update now - 08Video Voice Editor + Effects 1.5.11
Video Voice Editor + Effects combines voice recording, trimming, audio adjustments, and a large selection of effects for making playful video voiceovers.
Update now - 09XBOX 2610.1.1
The latest XBOX build brings bug fixes and performance improvements to an app for gaming chat, console connections, game discovery, and sharing.
Update now - 10Messenger 582.0.0.61.92
Messenger brings messaging and calling together with shared albums, high-definition photos, large file sharing, disappearing messages, and ways to express yourself in chats.
Update now
Each entry sums up the developer's update notes and the Google Play listing for that version; the listing has the final word.
Also updated this week
A few more apps our readers use shipped smaller changes this week. None of them needs a full screen, so each gets one line here.
- Microsoft Word
Google Play’s notes for this Microsoft Word build mention regular new features and speed and reliability improvements, and point to Microsoft 365 offers in the app.
- WhatsApp Messenger
Google Play says WhatsApp now lets admins share recent group history with new members and adds group-call transfers between mobile and desktop, waiting rooms, and pinned participants.
- Muse from Meta
Google Play’s notes say Muse can connect business tools, help find customers by planning marketing and creating pitches or product pages with approval, add more app connectors, and work on tablets.
- X Browser -Light & Super fast
Google Play’s notes say the build fixes home-page column changes, improves video casting and autofill, resolves playback issues in Eye Comfort mode, and adds background blur to security dialogs.
Dates are the update dates shown on each app's Google Play listing.
Tips this week
How we write the digest
Each week we check the Google Play listings of the apps our readers use most: the version number, the update date and the developer's What's new notes. When an app has a new version, we put the developer's update notes and the listing details together on one page, in plain words, with a link to the official Google Play listing. Google and most developers release updates in stages over several days, so a version listed here may not have reached your phone yet. Select Weekly is an independent site and is not affiliated with any developer. This page doesn't read your phone or your Google account, and nothing is installed from here.
Updating basics
Most phones update apps on their own, but only while auto-update is on. To check, open Google Play, tap your profile picture, then Settings › Network preferences › Auto-update apps, and choose Over Wi-Fi only or Over any network. On an app's listing, the main button tells you where you stand:
UpdateA newer version is waiting for your phone.
OpenYou already have the newest version Google Play offers your phone.
If you see Open but this issue mentions a newer build, the rollout simply hasn't reached you yet. Check again in a day or two.
FAQ
Is this Google's official list of changes?
No. Select Weekly is an independent site and is not affiliated with Google or any app developer. We put each developer's update notes and the Google Play listing details together on one page and link to the official listing. The What's new box on a listing is often a single line, which is why we write these.
The issue lists a new version, but my phone doesn't have it. Why?
Google Play releases most apps to a growing share of phones over several days, so two phones can be on different versions on the same afternoon. Until the new build reaches you, the listing shows Open rather than Update. Clearing the app's storage or reinstalling it doesn't speed that up.
Why isn't my app in this issue?
We only include apps that shipped a change worth knowing about that week. If an app didn't update, or its update only fixed bugs, it waits for an issue in which something actually changes. Nothing is listed just to fill space.