According to the account of the last 12 months, Google has gotten rid of about 1.6 million apps from Play Store without a word. The Android marketplace is very likely now moving in an absolutely different direction where what matters the most is the quality, authenticity, and user trust instead of mass availability.
The recent reports, which stated that the decrease in available apps from early 2024 was as much as 47%, not only confirm that the platform is being cleared up but also uncover the emergence of a new era for the app developers. It might be quite soon that getting an app into the Play Store will be as hard and as selective as Apple’s App Store.
How did the things go?
This Policy was the most essential thing at the heart of Google’s strategy. Their action was quite quiet as the company made one in July 2024, requiring apps to contain “meaningful content, useful functionality, and a positive user experience.” In the past, apps were deleted only when they were not working or failing after launch.
As of now, the fresh requirements entail the following:
- Apps that have very minimum content in terms of value (e.g., placeholder tools, spam generators) are no longer permitted.
- The developers have to go through a very long human review process.
- The verification must be performed by a higher number of people in order to guarantee a decrease in fraud and the ban of anonymous uploads.
The responses were many, and their immediate outcome is that a variety of low-quality apps, clones, and otherwise unusable pieces of software have been completely removed from the Play Store.
Google Gets Closer to Apple’s App Store
Google’s Play Store used to be that one place different from Apple’s tightly controlled garden, but now it feels like Google is walking down the same path. The latest changes come across as Google trying to match Apple in terms of app store management rather than trying to look like Apple in design.
While Google’s crackdown involved, the Apple App Store’s number of apps went up a little to 1.64 million in 2025 from 1.6 million. Google still holds more apps in general, however, the gap is narrowing, and ratings are now more important than before.
How This Affects Developers
Right now, the limitation primarily targets the smaller app developers, especially the ones who are creating less feature-rich or less capable of being monetized. They might find it tough to penetrate the Play Store’s new regulations. This may also signal a distinct shift to a more premium app ecosystem where:
- Rankings and Exposure are Dominated Only by High-Quality Apps
- Niche or Novelty Apps Will Receive More Critical Review
- Customer Ratings and Infrequent Maintenance Will Be More of a Factor in Remaining Listed
VentureBeat reports that this could be the next movement for Google, as they haven’t given any feedback about the rules for monetization yet. Consequently, it’s expected that they want to keep the reliability and the status of the apps as a focus in case of a continued direction.
Not as Many Options for Android Users but the Ones They Get Are Better
On one hand, for the users, it implies fewer malicious and low-quality apps in their search results. The data from Appfigures even showed that at the same time as the decrease in app availabilities, new apps had a surge of 7.1% in the month of April 2025 from the aforesaid period of the immediately previous year — which means that developers are still creating and marketing new applications regardless of the heightened need for quality.
If Android users find the Play Store filled with junk apps, fake games, and dated interfaces, the absence of these types of apps would no doubt transform the platform into a more trusted space for them. This scenario resembles the way iOS users perceive their App Store.
This is more than just a spring cleaning — it’s a purposeful overhaul. By increasing those standards and adopting more stringent submission regulations, Google is changing its Play Store to a place where only best of the best apps would survive. The question, however, is whether the developers will accept the new standards or look for other channels for their apps.
Yet the word for the future of Android is unambiguous: if your app is not good enough, it will vanish.
