Android Market 3.4.4 Update: Much Faster Performance

What changed in 3.4.4

Apart from a slight change in the wording of the option that adds a shortcut automatically, the main difference was performance. The store is full of images, which is why older devices struggled to run it smoothly. After this update, users reported significant speed improvements.

Older phones benefited most

The HTC Hero was the example people pointed to. Owners of that phone had spent a long time fighting a slow store, and many said the new version fixed that. For anyone on aging hardware, a faster app store made browsing and installing apps far less painful.

Waiting for the update

The update was not on every phone yet when the news broke. Google was rolling it out in stages, so the usual advice was to wait for it to arrive on its own.

A note on unofficial installs

• Some people installed the store from a file outside the official channel and reported problems, such as being unable to buy apps.
• The same trouble appeared in the past with an unofficial version 3.1.1.
• Installing apps from unknown sources also carries security risks, so waiting for the official update is the safer choice.

Status today

This version is long outdated. The store is now called Google Play and updates itself.