iOS always had a neat update progress indicator on the home screen that allowed users to visualize what application or set of apps are being updated and installed on the device. Android always lacked this feature, and while a similar visual cue was included to restore applications, it was never available to show the update progress on the home screen.

Android Police spotted the feature last year, and it appears that it took Google nearly a year to roll it out more widely finally. 9to5Google reports that a black-and-white version of the app icon will appear on the home screen when the user clicks on the Install button when downloading new apps from the Google Play Store. Once the app is downloaded, the app’s name will change to “Downloading…”, and the progress ring will start filling in.

https://twitter.com/ArtemR/status/1493383540544659458

The current progress bar only works when new apps are downloaded, and it doesn’t currently show up when an existing app is being updated. When more than one application is being downloaded, the others will show up as “Pending…”, and it will appear in black-and-white, waiting to be installed.

https://twitter.com/MishaalRahman/status/1414616466159247371

Mishaal Rahman notes that the feature was added a while back and that the phone’s launcher has to support and display the progress rings in order for them to show up. It also appears that the new feature has been rolling out via Play Store updates in the past few weeks, and there’s a chance that you might also already have it on your device. More users started reporting the new feature in the past few days, and Google might be rolling it out more widely to users worldwide.