It’s finally hear: Google Play! Android developers will finally get to use promo codes to market applications.

They’ll also be able to distribute paid apps for free using promo codes, something that Apple has supported for a long time but Google has not, according to a TechCrunch report.

Reports surface that a new option had been found int he Google Play Developer Console allowing app makers to distribute codes for apps and in-app purchases, and details were also found in Google’s help documentation.

The new options allow developers to distribute 500 free codes per quarter. Unfortunately, developers can’t roll over unused codes into the next quarter, but they do have power over their promos, like being able to set start and end dates and the ability to pause prommotions.

Allowing 500 codes per quarter is actually better than Apple, which only allows 100 codes for every app version, and they can’t be applied toward in-app purchases.

“Over the past six months, a number of new tools in the Google Play Developer Console have been added to help you grow your app or game business on Google Play,” Yoshi Tamura, the product manager at Google Play, said in a statement posted on android-developers.blogspot.com. “Our improved beta testing features help you gather more feedback and fix issues. Store Listing Experiments let you run A/B tests on your app’s Play Store listing. Universal App Campaigns and the User Acquisition performance report help you grow your audience and better understand your marketing.”

The addition of promo codes could be a game changer for developers, allowing them a new tool to get early adopters to use their apps and market them to get a wider audience.

Android developers had been using their own workarounds for years, but that often took time and effort that could be spent on the application, so this will be a welcome change for them.