Google Takes Down Over 1.5 Million Android Apps From Play Store But That’s A Good Thing:-
Google has always struggled with keeping bad apps off the Play Store, but it looks like they’re finally making real progress. In 2024 alone, Google has reportedly removed over 1.5 million Android apps from the Play Store to improve security and give users more confidence in the platform.
Many people assume that having more apps in the store means the ecosystem is thriving — but in reality, a huge app count can also mean that poor-quality or even harmful apps are slipping through. In fact, Google found that over 1.6 million of these low-quality apps had been cluttering the Play Store for years, posing risks around security, performance, and lack of updates.
To address this, Google has tightened its developer policies, aiming to make the Play Store a safer and more valuable place for users. As a result, the total number of apps on the store has dropped sharply — from 3.4 million down to about 1.8 million, nearly cutting it in half.
This cleanup comes at a time when tech companies, especially in Europe, are under pressure to be more transparent about data use and privacy practices. Interestingly, some developers seem to be pulling their apps voluntarily to avoid having to meet these tougher standards.
Google says it’s now using a combination of human reviewers and AI tools to improve its app screening process. So far, this has led to over 2.3 million apps being blocked and many developers being banned from the platform.
While we can’t independently verify these numbers, it’s clear that cutting down on the sheer number of apps could help Google resolve long-standing issues and make Android more appealing and secure for users going forward.