Google Removing Poor-Quality Android Apps From Play Store to Boost Engagement

Google on Aug. 31 began removing certain Android apps from its Play Store, citing a desire to provide “a stable, responsive, and engaging user experience.” The move, part of the company’s latest updated spam and minimum functionality policy, is one that could affect developers.

Apps with “limited functionality and content,” such as those that are static without app-specific functionalities, will be removed. This includes text-only or PDF file apps and apps with a small amount of content that don’t provide an engaging user experience, such as single wallpaper apps, the policy said.

Google is also removing apps with broken functionality, such as apps that “crash, freeze, force close, or otherwise function abnormally.” This includes apps that:

• Don’t install.
• Install but don’t load.
• Load but are unresponsive.

The company declined to comment further on the move.

Less freedom for developers

Andrew Cornwall, a senior analyst at Forrester, told TechRepublic that while Apple’s app store on iOS “has traditionally rejected apps that don’t meet its quality guidelines, Google, on the other hand, has allowed developers to publish a lot more.” More apps meant more choices, giving an advantage to Google, he said.

Many developers first published to Google Play with a low-value test app, Cornwall said. “However, the developer never intended for anyone to download the app,” he noted.

Some people have used free app-building tools to create apps that were no more than advertisements for a service, he said. “Creators of these apps often used app store optimization techniques to encourage downloads, resulting in a poor user experience.” For example, “users would see the advertisements when searching rather than apps that did what they needed,’’ Cornwall said.

Another use case involved writers who would sometimes publish a book by delivering it as an app in Google Play, using the app purchase as a payment method, he said.

“These probably should have been e-books, to begin with, rather than apps,’’ Cornwall said.

Does this move affect security?

The policy change doesn’t significantly impact security — it’s more about improving user experience, Cornwall stressed.

“It’s possible this policy change could rule out some single-pane apps that just install adware or imitate another app’s login process and do nothing more,’’ he said. “However, they’d also fall afoul of the Privacy, Deception, and Abuse policy anyway.”

He added that Google has updated the Play Console Requirements “to ensure that financial products and services, health, VPN, and government apps are from registered organizations, not individual developers, which could help prevent users from leaking private information to an untrusted source.”

Another policy change coming that adds audio to Google’s Manipulated Media clause under the Privacy, Deception, and Abuse policy is “more about keeping Google out of trouble than end-user security,’’ he said.

Previous steps to address Play Store violations

This is not the first time Google has governed apps hosted on its Play Store.

In 2023, the tech giant prevented 2.28 million apps that violated its policies from being published on the Play Store, according to a Google blog posted last April. Google credited investments in “new and improved security features, policy updates, and advanced machine learning and app review processes” as measures taken.

Google also said at the time that it had strengthened its developer onboarding and review processes and now requires more identity information when Play accounts are first established. Investments in its review tooling and processes enabled it to “identify bad actors and fraud rings more effectively,” the company wrote. Subsequently, 333,000 “bad” accounts were banned from Play for violations including “confirmed malware and repeated severe policy violations.”

Further, Google said it has enhanced the privacy posture of over 31 SDKs impacting over 790,000 apps by partnering with software development kit providers to limit sensitive data access and sharing.

The upshot for users

Google’s updated minimum functionality policy aims to keep these lower-value apps out of Google Play, just as Apple already does for the App Store, Cornwall said.

“Users probably won’t notice a difference, except that searches will improve,” he explained.

“In the case of book publishers, they will need to find another payment or distribution method,” he said. “Spammers will move on to another low-cost channel. App developers can practice with Google Play’s internal testing options.”

By updating the spam and minimum functionality policy, Google will remove a lot of spam from Google Play, Cornwall added.

“That’s good news for users, who will find useful apps more quickly,” he said. “Legitimate developers shouldn’t worry. If you’re hoping to release the next ‘I Am Rich’ app and then retire on the proceeds, you’ll have to make it do something interesting first.”

Google lists a comprehensive set of tips to help developers get their apps published on Play.