Tech critics and gadget reviewers (myself included) have long complained that there simply aren't enough good Android tablet apps out there. Google is finally making a push to correct that.

On Monday, the company published a "tablet app quality checklist" on its Android Developer website that urges developers to build tablet-optimized apps, particularly ahead of the holiday shopping season. Google also published a list of best practices for publishing those apps in the Google Play storefront, along with three "developer stories" that point out success stories from prominent developers who have already built apps that take advantage of tablets with larger displays. The Android team will also host a series of Google+ Hangouts and live YouTube broadcasts that will offer tips on how to build Android apps that look good and perform well on both smartphones and tablets. And, finally, Google will promote tablet-optimized apps in its Google Play app store this week.

Google isn't taking the step of asking developers to make separate phone and tablet versions of their apps, as Apple has done, but this effort is still notable and long overdue. While Apple proudly touts that more than 250,000 apps have been built specifically for the iPad, Google has declined to say just how many tablet-specific apps exist for Android and has instead boasted about its ecosystem of apps built to run on both phones and tablets. But the result of that has mostly been a lot of Android phone apps awkwardly stretched to fit larger tablet screens. Big-name apps such as Twitter, Facebook and Rdio all exhibit these problems.

"With the release of Nexus 7 earlier this year, we shared some tips on how you can get your apps ready for a new wave of Android tablets," Google said in a developer blog post. "With the holiday season now approaching, we're creating even more ways for great tablet apps to be featured in Google Play – including a series of new app collections that highlight great apps specifically for tablet users."

Among the developers Google is citing in its proselytization of tablet-optimized apps is mobile game maker TinyCo, which updated its apps with tablet-friendly features about six months ago.

"Before, we've done separate apps for separate platforms and even for separate devices on platforms," said Rajeev Nagpal, head of product at TinyCo. "But after awhile, it became a bit overbearing and unwieldy to do that." So the company moved to a new process that allows it to deliver one app download that can change how the app works depending on what type of gadget a user is playing on.

"Our system can determine what type of device you have in your hand – if it's a phone or a tablet, what operating system your running," Nagpal explained. "There are hundreds of things we can determine in real time. And we can tune the experience based on device that you have in your hands, we can deliver a different user interface or different animations and artwork to suit your device."

Over the last six months, TinyCo has seen its Android downloads triple and enjoyed a 35 percent increase in the amount of money its average user spends on in-app upgrades. Nagpal said this boost can be attributed to delivering better and more immersive games on tablets.

"If we can get our players to stick around longer and spend more money while they are there, then that's a win-win," he said. "It helps us make more money, but it's also a sign that we're making better games and players are enjoying them more too."