By According to a new study, the number of apps on the Play Store has decreased by 47% since the beginning of 2024.
According to a new app intelligence service Appfigures report, Google’s Play Store has been losing apps since January 2024. The Android app store had 3.4 million apps worldwide, but that figure had dropped to about 1.8 million in just one year (as first reported by TechCrunch).
That’s nearly half (47%) of all apps removed from the Play Store, which Google says is good news for Android users.
“This reflects the company’s focus on delivering high-quality apps” and “commitment to continuous improvements for user safety,” a Google spokeswoman told The Verge.
Google Play Store app removal
Back in March, the Google Play Store was hit by a major ad fraud that forced consumers to download “vapour apps” disguised as legitimate popular apps. These displayed recurrent advertising, making it impossible for customers to erase and generating a lot of money for fraudsters. This affected approximately 56 million downloads over 180 apps, and the only feasible method to resolve the issue was to delete the programs that caused it.
According to Tech Crunch, Google acknowledged that its new regulations were in effect here, “which also included an expanded set of verification requirements, required app testing, and expanded human reviews to check for apps that try to deceive or defraud users.”
According to The Verge, 200,000 app tiles were removed from the Google Play Store under the “games” category, followed by 160,700 in education and 115,400 in business.
Why is this a positive thing? Users will benefit from this substantial cleanup because it reduces the number of spammy apps in the Play Store and makes it easier to find legitimate apps. For creators, reducing the number of apps makes it easier for users to find their apps, as there is less noise from low-quality or fraudulent apps.
However, Google has stepped up its efforts to detect malicious apps and is “working on ways to make it even harder for malicious actors to hide or trick users into harmful installs, which will not only protect your business from fraud but also help users download your apps with confidence.”
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