Google Play from Windows or Android (versus Gmail)

Two questions that came over from the Windows group today.

Is there any way to download from the Google Play store itself (not some
other web site) an Android app without logging into the Google Play store?
(Either through a Windows web browser or through Android phones?)

If an account is always needed, what is the difference, if any, between a
"Google Play Account" and a "Gmail account"?

Dne 27/05/2017 v 19:13 harry newton napsal(a):
Two questions that came over from the Windows group today.

Is there any way to download from the Google Play store itself (not some
other web site) an Android app without logging into the Google Play store?
(Either through a Windows web browser or through Android phones?)

If an account is always needed, what is the difference, if any, between a
"Google Play Account" and a "Gmail account"?

There are just Google accounts,
that can be used for Google Play and/or Gmail.

--
Poutnik ( The Pilgrim, Der Wanderer )

A wise man guards words he says,
as they say about him more,
than he says about the subject.

On Sat, 27 May 2017 19:27:35 +0200, Poutnik wrote:

Dne 27/05/2017 v 19:13 harry newton napsal(a):
Two questions that came over from the Windows group today.

Is there any way to download from the Google Play store itself (not some
other web site) an Android app without logging into the Google Play store?
(Either through a Windows web browser or through Android phones?)

If an account is always needed, what is the difference, if any, between a
"Google Play Account" and a "Gmail account"?

There are just Google accounts,
that can be used for Google Play and/or Gmail.

Can also be used for YouTube. I remember a slogan that went
something like this... One account for all things Google.

--
Wildman GNU/Linux user #557453
The cow died so I don't need your bull!

On 27/05/2017 18:44, Wildman wrote:
Can also be used for YouTube. I remember a slogan that went
something like this... One account for all things Google.

I can also send an email.

--
With over 500 million devices now running Windows 10, customer
satisfaction is higher than any previous version of windows.

Dne 27/05/2017 v 19:44 Wildman napsal(a):
On Sat, 27 May 2017 19:27:35 +0200, Poutnik wrote:

Dne 27/05/2017 v 19:13 harry newton napsal(a):
Two questions that came over from the Windows group today.

Is there any way to download from the Google Play store itself (not some
other web site) an Android app without logging into the Google Play store?
(Either through a Windows web browser or through Android phones?)

If an account is always needed, what is the difference, if any, between a
"Google Play Account" and a "Gmail account"?

There are just Google accounts,
that can be used for Google Play and/or Gmail.

Can also be used for YouTube. I remember a slogan that went
something like this... One account for all things Google.

As Youtube is owned by Google, they involved option
to use Google account even for Youtube.

Similarly options or intentions are
for Facebook with WhatsApp, or Microsoft with Skype.

--
Poutnik ( The Pilgrim, Der Wanderer )

A wise man guards words he says,
as they say about him more,
than he says about the subject.

On Sat, 27 May 2017 12:44:25 -0500, Wildman wrote:

Can also be used for YouTube. I remember a slogan that went
something like this... One account for all things Google.

Works for Google Drive too.

--
s|b

On 2017-05-27, Poutnik wrote:
Dne 27/05/2017 v 19:44 Wildman napsal(a):
On Sat, 27 May 2017 19:27:35 +0200, Poutnik wrote:

Dne 27/05/2017 v 19:13 harry newton napsal(a):
Two questions that came over from the Windows group today.

Is there any way to download from the Google Play store itself (not some
other web site) an Android app without logging into the Google Play store?
(Either through a Windows web browser or through Android phones?)

If an account is always needed, what is the difference, if any, between a
"Google Play Account" and a "Gmail account"?

There are just Google accounts,
that can be used for Google Play and/or Gmail.

Can also be used for YouTube. I remember a slogan that went
something like this... One account for all things Google.

As Youtube is owned by Google, they involved option
to use Google account even for Youtube.

Similarly options or intentions are
for Facebook with WhatsApp, or Microsoft with Skype.

I think your Google account will have to have at least one (Android)
'Device' registered with it before you can download any apps, either to
your Android device or to a web browser on some other operating system.

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~

On 27/05/2017 18:44, Wildman wrote:
I remember a slogan that went
something like this... One account for all things Google.

That's in reality a curse -- the worst thing about Google.

--
Cheers, Bev
"I don't need instructions, I have a hammer."
-- T.W. Wier

On 2017-05-27 22:25, s|b wrote:
On Sat, 27 May 2017 12:44:25 -0500, Wildman wrote:

Can also be used for YouTube. I remember a slogan that went
something like this... One account for all things Google.

Works for Google Drive too.

But not automatically for google+, you have to accept something first.

Ie, you can have gmail, play, and yet, not G+.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Whiskers wrote:

I think your Google account will have to have at least one (Android)
'Device' registered with it before you can download any apps, either to
your Android device or to a web browser on some other operating system.

And with your Android device registered in your Google account, you can
visit their play store with a web browser on Windows or Linux, find an
app, select to install it, and Google will push the app to that device
if currently connected via wi-fi or data. I configured the play store
app to only download via a wi-fi connection to preserve my data quota.
I can browse there from my Windows desktop and have their play store
push an install onto my Android phone (which has the Google account
defined so it connects to the play store).

"Carlos E.R." wrote:

s|b wrote:

Wildman wrote:

Can also be used for YouTube. I remember a slogan that went
something like this... One account for all things Google.

Works for Google Drive too.

But not automatically for google+, you have to accept something first.
Ie, you can have gmail, play, and yet, not G+.

Don't you have to define a G+ profile to stroke your, um, ego in public
to advertise yourself? Luckily Google has not [yet] enforced that we
enlist in their pathos club to have a Google account.

I forget where, perhaps reviews in Google's play store, I could not add
a comment unless first I created a G+ account. No thanks. I'm not that
socially needy. Although I have a Google account (for use with their
play store, Gmail, Google Drive, and everything else Google) and when I
go to plus.google.com, there is a link to "Join Google+" probably
because I have not joined and they want me to. I'm not clicking on the
link because it might go to a profile definition page or it might just
go ahead and join me - and I'm sure once joined that I could unjoin.
https://support.google.com/plus/answer/6320423?hl=en says how to delete
my G+ profile so maybe that's how I would unjoin. I think the only
reason why they require me to join G+ is that a profile is where they
track my reviews; i.e., I can go into my profile and see my list of
reviews, maybe even those in Youtube, too.

Leaving reviews at their play store and for Youtube videos is, to me,
unimportant. If they really wanted my review, they wouldn't force me to
join their club of members suffering Histrionic Personality Disorder. I
don't need followers. I'm not interested in joining a mass of morons.
I'm an independent extrovert (with some arrogance tossed in), not a
dependent extrovert that needs ego stroking from others. I don't feel
the need to advertise myself or stroke myself in public.

On 2017-05-28 00:32, VanguardLH wrote:
Whiskers wrote:

I think your Google account will have to have at least one (Android)
'Device' registered with it before you can download any apps, either to
your Android device or to a web browser on some other operating system.

And with your Android device registered in your Google account, you can
visit their play store with a web browser on Windows or Linux, find an
app, select to install it, and Google will push the app to that device
if currently connected via wi-fi or data. I configured the play store
app to only download via a wi-fi connection to preserve my data quota.
I can browse there from my Windows desktop and have their play store
push an install onto my Android phone (which has the Google account
defined so it connects to the play store).

If you have several Android devices, it will tell which can accept the
app and which not, and you can choose to which device to send the app.

It is also easier to read the app description on the computer.

And if you are not logged in, you can browse apps without it nagging you
about them later.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

In article , The Real Bev
wrote:

I remember a slogan that went
something like this... One account for all things Google.

That's in reality a curse

not at all, and it's easy to use more than one account. in fact, google
makes it easy to do exactly that.

the worst thing about Google.

no, definitely not the worst. not even close.

this one is near (or at) the top of the list:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...ds-retail-shop
ping-20170523-story.html
Google already monitors your online shopping ‹ but now it's also
keeping an eye on what you're buying in physical stores to try to
sell more digital advertising.
....
Google says it has access to roughly 70 percent of U.S. credit and
debit card transactions through partnerships with other companies
that track that data. By scanning this data, Google says it can
automatically inform merchants when their digital ads translate into
sales at a brick-and-mortar store.

On 2017-05-28 00:58, VanguardLH wrote:
"Carlos E.R." wrote:

s|b wrote:

Wildman wrote:

Can also be used for YouTube. I remember a slogan that went
something like this... One account for all things Google.

Works for Google Drive too.

But not automatically for google+, you have to accept something first.
Ie, you can have gmail, play, and yet, not G+.

Don't you have to define a G+ profile to stroke your, um, ego in public
to advertise yourself? Luckily Google has not [yet] enforced that we
enlist in their pathos club to have a Google account.

G+ has other utilities.

You can upload some photos to drive, and share them with a person or
group of persons that also have G+, and only them can see those photos.
Not the universe. You can choose who has access.

You can have G+ and not publish anything to the world. Only privately.

Sharing a file with a link means no auth check.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On Sun, 28 May 2017 01:08:59 +0200, Carlos E.R. wrote:

G+ has other utilities.

Putting all the responses together, does that mean there are TWO kinds of
Google "accounts"?

Google Plus (the facebook-like thing)
and
Google account (includes Google Play, Youtube, Google Drive & Gmail)

Is that accurate?
If not, what needs to be fixed?