The Google Play Store is one of the key components of the modern Android experience. It’s the place from which you can access the vast majority of apps available for the world’s most popular mobile OS. You can also download apps more confidently than when you do it from the web, although occasionally a malicious app sneaks in. Anyway, sometimes even the Google Play Store has bugs, such as one that shows repeat app updates.
Bugs related to the Google Play Store are rare, but they do appear from time to time. They usually result in app downloads or updates failing or high battery consumption in some cases. However, there is another bug that, interestingly, is not the first time it has occurred.
Google Play Store prompting repeat app updates for some Android users
The bug in question causes the “Pending downloads” page of the Google Play Store to show repeat updates for no apparent reason. In other words, apps that you have already updated to their last version available appear as “pending” for updating. You can identify these repeat updates by checking the details below the app name. Usually, apps with actual pending updates show both the update size and the date when you last updated them. However, repeat updates don’t show the update size.
I’ve checked my device to see if the problem is occurring for me, but all pending updates seem normal. On the other hand, a member of the 9to5Google team detected that their Gboard, Google Messages, Pocket Casts, and The Athletic apps showed repeat updates available. These apps still download some data—between 1 and 2 MB—but they don’t bring any change. After all, in theory, the most recent version is already installed on the device.
It’s still unclear what the cause of this apparent bug is. There are similar reports from almost five years ago, so it seems to be something that happens every so often. Google never offered an official response to the problem, but it would be nice if it did.
