Downloading huge game? Google Play may finally let you pause it

Google is rolling out a feature it promised weeks ago: the ability to add home screen widgets right after installing a new app from the Play Store. The catch is that it's not fully baked yet, and it's arriving alongside another experimental feature that could finally let users pause downloads mid-progress.

A newly added message at the bottom of the screen informs users that widgets are available, along with a button that can be tapped to access widgets directly.

When the button is tapped, nothing new happens. The widget selection sheet will be displayed, which contains all possible widgets from that app.

This message does not appear every time when a new app is installed. In addition, this message can appear only once and cannot be accessed again using any system-built-in options.

Users will need to use the existing process of adding widgets to the screen. According to Google, this feature was mentioned last month, but it could not be tested.

Alongside the widget prompt, Google appears to be testing a Pause button for app downloads, aimed at letting users split large downloads into stages rather than committing to one continuous transfer, useful for anyone trying to avoid burning through mobile data.

The feature isn't working as expected yet, suggesting Google still has refinement ahead before a public rollout.