Content was offered for reading on a dedicated Newsstand section of the Google Play website or through the mobile apps for Android and iOS.

Publishers can restrict geographic access to their content, and employ Google Analytics for aggregated readership data.

Publishers can also offer discounts for Google Play subscriptions if a user is already a subscriber on another platform, such as print or digital.

[9] The second, in November 2016, coincided with the launch of the website, and added machine learning technologies to better personalize the content to each individual user, including improved news recommendation, and expanded support for interactive, rich media.

Then in January 2020, magazines were no longer available on Google News, ending all traces of Play Newsstand altogether.

Users can subscribe to digital magazines to receive new issues or access to content on an ongoing basis; but, since the replacement of Newsstand with News, users have posted hundreds of negative comments about the change - ranging from the failure to access paid for magazine subscriptions to feeling as if they were being force fed topics which were not relevant to them.

[7] On smartphones and tablets, content can be read on the Google Play Newsstand mobile app for the Android and iOS operating systems.

The full country list includes: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and United States.

[22] Availability of paid content was introduced in Italy in April 2014,[23] in France and Germany in May 2014,[24][25] in India, the Netherlands, Russia and Spain in September 2014,[26][27] in Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and South Korea in December 2014,[28] in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, and Turkey in March 2015,[29] and in Malaysia and Thailand in September 2015.