Google's purge of the Play Store starts as the number of apps listed declines sharply

The number of apps available in the Google Play Store has declined to under 1.7 million by this past June which is down about a million apps year-over-year. It is also down a whopping 55% since peaking at 3.8 million apps. In July, Google warned app developers that it would start to purge the Play Store of apps that are risky and low-quality on August 31st. The kind of apps that Google wants in its Android app storefront are those that are "engaging, stable, and responsive." Apps that are designed to do nothing are not allowed in the Play Store.

It seems like a reversal from the old days when the then-named Android Market was locked in a battle with Apple's iOS App Store over which platform offered the most apps. Google's plan is to improve the quality of the apps in the Play Store while at the same time reducing the number of bad apps containing malware or a link to it once they are installed on an Android user's device.

Google has listed on its Developers page its "four pillars of Android app quality" which include:

One important thing to keep in mind is that just because Google removes an app of questionable character from the Play Store, it doesn't mean that the app has been removed from your

phone if you installed it. That part of the purge, getting poor quality apps off Android phones, is going to require users to delete apps on their handsets that don't live up to Google's demands. Now that's a call that Android users are going to have to make on their own.

While it is important for Android users to follow Google's "four pillars of Android app quality," this is really being aimed at developers. Google tells them, "There are four pillars of Android app quality. High-quality apps and games deliver value to users, are delightful to use, make the most of premium devices, and are designed for safety. Use these guidelines to build great experiences on Android, and increase your chances of being featured on Google Play."