Google Play's app market is losing apps.

According to a new analysis by App Intelligence Intelligence AppFigures, Android App Marketplace has gone from about 3.4 million apps worldwide to just 1.8 million, starting in 2024 to now. This is about 47% drop, representing a large number of clearances of apps available to Android users around the world.

The company also noted that the decline is not part of the global trend. During the same period, Apple's iOS App Store has only had 1.64 million apps now, for example, a slight increase.

As far as Google is concerned, the decline in apps could force Android device owners to organize through Scammy, Spammy, or other poorly-quality apps to find the best install apps. Reducing can also help developers who have to fight for visibility.

Over the years, Google Play has had fewer strict requirements on app censorship, causing the market to be overwhelmed by low-quality apps. Although Apple continues to implement strict app review measures before launch, Google often relies on combining automatic checks with malware scanning to speed up the app review process. Due to human review, it has a lighter touch, so its application review period tends to be shorter.

In July 2024, Google announced that it would increase the minimum quality requirements for apps, which could affect the number of available Play Store apps.

The company said it not only prohibits crashing apps from crashing or not working properly, but also said it will start banning apps that display "limited features and content." These include static applications without dedicated features, such as text-only applications or PDF file applications. It also includes applications that provide very little content, such as applications that offer only a single wallpaper. Additionally, Google bans applications designed to be powerless or without functionality, which could be testing or other abandoned developer jobs.

Google has been approached for comment, confirming that its new policy is a factor here, which also includes an extended set of verification requirements that require application testing on new personal developer accounts and expands human comments to check applications that attempt to deceive or defraud users.

Additionally, the company points to other 2024 investments in AI for threat detection, stronger privacy policies, improved developer tools, and more. As a result, Google blocked 2.36 million policy-competitive apps from launching on its Play Store and banned more than 158,000 developer accounts that attempted to release harmful apps.

One factor Google has not quoted is the new trader status rule implemented by the EU as of February this year, which began requiring developers to share their names and addresses in their app lists. Those who fail to do so will see their apps removed from the EU app store. (It is worth pointing out that Apple also started requiring trader identity information in February, so it has not seen a drop in available apps.)

AppFigures also noted that even before the official start of last summer, the number of apps in the Google Play Store began to decline. It has not explained any of this change yet. However, the company said 10.4K issuances have been issued on Google Play so far this year, up 7.1% year-on-year as of April.