Google is updating the Android spam and minimum functionality policy to weed out low-quality apps in the Google Play store.
Here are the details:
- Starting September 1, 2024, existing substandard apps will be removed from the Google Play Store.
- New apps that Google determines as low-quality will not be allowed in the Google Play Store from that day forward.
Google lists several examples of app types that it considers substandard:
- Static apps, for example apps that display text only. (new)
- Apps with “very little” content, for instance “single wallpaper apps”. (new)
- Apps that have no function or do nothing.
- Apps that do not install.
- Apps that do install, but do not load.
- Apps that load, but are not responsive.
In other words: Google is expanding the classification of substandard Android apps to include static apps and apps that do little or nothing.
The company reasons that these types of apps are “not consistent with a functional and engaging user experience” and therefore “are not allowed on Google Play”.
Expect these apps to be removed from Google Play in the coming months.
Closing Words
It is understandable that apps that do not load or crash offer a bad user experience. Clearly, the developers of such apps need to get back to the drawing board to sort out these major issues before offering them in the Play Store.
While apps that do very little are not harmful, they may be used to swarm the Store with similar types of apps.
Imagine a single wallpaper app that is copied thousands of times to show a different wallpaper in each of the apps. The developer could target different keywords with each of the apps, thus flooding the Store.
Still, this could have been dealt with in other ways probably.
What is your take on this? Do you download and install Android apps frequently? Have you encountered substandard apps in the past? Feel free to leave a comment down below.
I wish Google also will remove fake free games too. Those games that get 100M downloads, but after 10-30 minutes of game time that is advertised, game becomes something completely different that has nothing to do with game marketing.
Whenever I see big tech saying they are protecting me from (insert current word used here) programs/apps I cringe.
Only one thing is certain, they have their own best interests in mind, not mine.
Good. That will now leave only 50 apps in the app store.
More than slightly ironic given that Google itself is an enormous “substandard app”… plummeting quality of search results, utter contempt for user privacy, monopolistic behavior. Remember when “Don’t Do Evil” was a company slogan? It’s not any more.
The fact that Android exists is a sad commentary on the laziness of handset makers (other than Apple, and I guess now Huawei) in allowing Google to control the phone OS market rather than spending any effort on developing their own software.
I get most of my apps from F-Droid although some of those don’t work properly either. Even VLC for Android fails miserably sometimes while the Windows app works perfectly.
But does this mean that if a given app is removed by Google it will also be removed from the user’s phone?