Play Store shake up: devices section renamed to Google Store, Nexus 5 is gone

Google just rebranded the devices section of the Play Store, which is now called Google Store.

The new Google Store page features a fresh design with large, bold fonts, lots of white space, and clean imagery. Google calls this landing page the “new home for the latest products made with Google” and it’s subjectively an improvement over the previous layout. All of Google’s current products are present, from the new Chromebook Pixel 2015 (improved specs, cheaper price tag, USB Type-C – more details here), to the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, all Android Wear devices, Nest, Nexus Player, and Chromecast. There’s also a presentation page for Android, which features the same clean, airy aesthetic, under the “All kinds of screens for all kinds of scenes” tagline.

To celebrate the launch of the new Store, Google is offering free shipping on all devices for a limited time. If you’re wondering whether you need to sign up with your payment info again, the answer is no – your info from the Play Store will be carried over automatically.

Missing from the Store is the Nexus 5, which appears to have reached the inevitable end of life status, and the 2013 version of the Chromebook Pixel.

It’s not clear yet why Google has opted to separate the device section under the new Google Store branding. We could speculate that the move is meant to better delimitate the increasing number of Google-branded hardware products, perhaps in preparation for a bigger effort in this area.

We also don’t know if changes are coming to other sections of the Play Store, though at least a redesign looks likely at this point.

You can judge the new Google Store for yourself here, but be advised that it’s only accessible from the countries where Google actually sells hardware.