The quantity of applications present on the Google Play Store has almost halved in the last year — and this is indeed a beneficial change for Android users.

As reported by app analytics platform Appfigures (via TechCrunch), the overall number of apps on Google Play has decreased from 3.4 million at the start of 2024 to a mere 1.8 million — marking a noteworthy 47% reduction. While this may initially seem concerning, the drop is primarily attributed to Google’s intensified efforts to eliminate fraudulent, spammy, and substandard apps from its platform. The company has confirmed to TechCrunch that recent changes in policy were instrumental in this decrease.

In essence, Google is tidying up — and bidding farewell to the worst offenders.

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Traditionally, Google Play has maintained a more lenient app approval process compared to Apple’s App Store, famed for its stringent and meticulous review system. Google’s method relied heavily on automation and provided a faster turnaround for app submissions, which facilitated developers — but regrettably, also allowed malicious actors — to publish apps with ease.

This shifted in August 2024 when Google started applying stricter standards for app quality. The new policies specifically aimed at applications with limited functionality (often labeled as “static” apps), as well as those that frequently crash, freeze, or exhibit unusual behavior. As indicated in a January 2025 entry on Google’s security blog, the company took action against 2.36 million apps that breached its policies in 2024 and revoked over 158,000 developer accounts linked to hazardous or misleading apps.

For Android users, this translates to a cleaner, safer, and more trustworthy app store experience — with considerably fewer junk apps to navigate through.