Tough regulating policies: Google Play Store sees massive drop in apps

New Delhi: Google witnessed a huge drop in the number of apps available in its Play Store amid tighter regulating policies, pushing the total number of apps to the lowest point in years.

The total number of Google Play apps has dropped by 360,000 in the past three years, reaching 2.59 million in June, according to data by CasinosEnLigne.com.

Google has put considerable effort into protecting Android users from low-quality apps and helping them to find high-quality apps more easily.

Even though the low-quality apps have declined, they still hold a 37 percent share on Google Play Store, the data showed.

The Statista and AppBrain data show that Android users could choose between 2.95 million apps three years ago and by the end of 2021, this number significantly dropped to 2.7 million and continued falling.

In January 2022, the number of available apps stood at 2.64 million, showing a huge 260,000 drop in the span of two years.

Statistics show the total number of Google Play apps slightly increased to 2.65 million by mid-2022 but dropped again by 60,000 in the past year. As of June, Android users could choose from 2.59 million available apps, which is 12 percent less than three years ago.

"Regular apps make up 63 percent of that number, and low-quality apps still account for the remaining 37 percent, despite their number falling in the past year," the report mentioned.

According to AppBrain data, the number of low-quality apps listed in the Google Play Store stood at nearly 983,000 in June last year. Eight months after launching the new monitoring system, their number dropped to around 947,000.

Besides a massive decline in the number of available apps, Google has also seen its Android market share drop to the lowest point in seven years, the report noted.

On the other hand, Android's closest rival, Apple's iOS, increased its market share by 1 percent in the last three years, reaching 28.44 percent in Q2 2023.

With inputs from IANS