In what could be a bug or behavior change, the Google Play Store does not show available updates for system-level apps.
Updated 1/1/25: New year, the old Play Store problem persists. Here’s a list of common Google apps that don’t appear in the pending downloads list, but show an “Updated” when you visit the Play Store listing directly:
Updated 04/09/24: This issue persists and we have now found that it affects YouTube, which is a pre-installed app, on multiple devices. Although we received a notification from the Play Store that a new update is available, going to the pending downloads screen reveals that there is nothing to install. When you directly visit the apps list, it can be updated.
Updated 11/07: This happens again with Setting up Google partners:
Google Partner Setup is a required application for devices that run Google Mobile Services (
- This app is pre-installed by the device manufacturer to ensure the device works properly on all Android devices with Google Mobile Services; it cannot be disabled or deleted.
- Google recently moved this app to the Play Store so that critical bug fixes, improvements, and updates for your device can be delivered faster. No further changes have been made following this listing on the Play Store.
- If your device is running Android 7 or earlier, it will not receive an update for this app. This application may indicate that it is not compatible with your device, but this does not mean that it is malfunctioning or causing your device to malfunction.
Update 7/1: If a Play Store notification today says you have an additional update that doesn’t appear in the pending downloads screen, that missing app is Google’s Data Restoration Tool:
This system app helps you restore data from your old phone using cable or cloud backup. The app is already installed on your Android device.
It is only accessible and updated by a direct link to Google Play. The app also does not appear in the Installed list.
Original 2/6: This issue occurs on the pending downloads screen. System apps for which updates are available simply don’t appear here, even if other apps appear normally.
We first noticed this issue a few weeks ago. This happened recently with Settings Services and Google Wi-Fi Provisioner, which were updated in recent days.
Oddly enough, a system app with a new version will appear in the Google Play “new updates” notification, but won’t appear once you actually visit the page to launch it. You may also notice this happening when an alert says you have, for example, three app updates but only two are new.
This may be an intentional change and follows how Google Play Services are automatically updated through the Play Store, but never appear in the pending downloads screen. Google could expand system-level applications that are handled this way.
However, if automatic updates are disabled, these system apps never install the latest version. As such, you must discover elsewhere that a download is available and manually navigate to the listing to update.
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