Google has taken the extraordinary step to block reviewers from being able to download popular chip testing benchmarks directly through its Play Store, surprising reviewers of its latest Pixel 8 series smartphones. Incredibly, the company has extended this block to include all new customers of its P...
Google has lifted the block it placed on the ability for users to freely install benchmarking apps on its Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones. The block had been in place during the review embargo period but extended past the on sale period where customers purchasing the devices couldn’t install benchmarks on their new Pixels either.
This article seems to be outdated as both apps are now visible in the Play Store and I had no problems downloading and running them. A comment suggests that it may be due to the previous minimum SDK target for the apps being too low. I'd be willing to chalk this up to being more innocuous than active malice on Google's part.
When this first came out I checked on my Pixel 7 which is on A14 already and I didn't have the apps available either.
They are now available.
So yeah, it's almost certainly on the app developers who didn't target the new API version available, not Google. New Pixels launch with new versions of Android, but you can validate the same issue on older Pixels who have already upgraded to the new Android version.