Hide Updates In Play Store

Prevent the Play Store app showing that selected apps require updates.

*** R E Q U I R E S -- R O O T ***

Due to constant Google changes this app will not be updated.

Sometimes newer is just not better. This can be true of Android apps as

well. There are times when we know that newer releases of some installed

apps are not something we want to use. But the Play Store app keeps

nagging us to update such apps by placing them at the top of the "My Apps"

list. Until now, the best we could do was try to ignore these notices.After a while,

this gets tedious and even painful if the number of apps you do not

want to update grows large. This app "hides" apps you

select from being shown in the Play Store "My Apps" list.

This is not a perfect solution. That can

only come when Google provides the means in Play Store. Meanwhile, this app does the best

it can and it works pretty well. It works by forcing Play Store to

"forget" that you have the selected apps on your device. If Play Store

"forgets" this, it will not nag you to perform updates on these "hidden"

apps.

This is not a one-time or permanent fix. Google Play periodically refreshes its data from Google servers when it syncs app data and this will cause apps to once again appear in the "My Apps" list as requiring updates. The period between Google Play app data refresh is not documented but it appears to be about 24 hours or until your next device reboot. So to keep the apps you select "hidden", this app needs to perform its function periodically as well. You can run this app's routine on demand using the "Run Now" button. If you enable "Run at Boot + Every _ Hour(s)" or change the hourly interval, the same function will be performed immediately then automatically performed shortly after every device boot and again at the hourly interval you specify (unless 0 hours is specified).

However, there are side-effects of the mechanism this app employs:

1. The apps you select to be "hidden" will no longer show up in the "My

Apps" list at all. Of course, the apps will still be installed. They

will still function as normal (save for paid apps or those where you

have made in-app purchases - see below). They will show up in the

Android app manager as usual. They will show as installed if you search

for and display the apps in Play Store. So this really isn't too

inconvenient compared with the benefit of not being nagged all the time.

But that is your choice.

2. Apps that are paid or for which in-app purchases have been made will

likely not work correctly if "hidden" using this app. Use of this

app to "hide" paid apps or apps having in-app purchases is NOT

RECOMMENDED. If you do "hide" such an app

anyway, re-install of the app will likely be required. This

app is currently able to identify those apps for which in-app purchases

have been made and to will not offer those apps to be

selected for being "hidden" by default. You can override this behavior. At this time, there is no clear mechanism

to distinguish paid apps from free apps. So this protection for paid

apps is not currently offered. Later releases may add this in the

future.

Press the Add button to select the apps you wish to be "hidden" in Play

Store's "My Apps" list. They will be added to the list but not immediately

"hidden". This is by-design as an effort to protect against mistakenly

choosing to "hide" an app. Apps shown in the list will be "hidden" only

when this app's function is next executed via the "Run Now" button or at

the next reboot (if "Run at Boot" is enabled).

To remove an app from the list, just long-press its entry in the list and

it will be removed. This does NOT immediately cause the app to appear

again in Play Store. It will appear in Play Store when it next syncs its

data with Google servers. This reliably occurs when you reboot your

device.

Please note: uninstall of apps on your device are monitored. Uninstalling an app currently to be "hidden" will remove it from the list.