Apps are the essential element of smartphones, as without apps, smartphones would be pretty pointless devices we carried in our pockets. And yet, the number of Android apps available has almost halved in recent times.

The Number of Android Apps Has Halved

While there are third-party alternatives, the Google Play Store is Google’s marketplace for apps, and anyone who owns an Android phone will be very familiar with it. However, Android owners may be surprised to learn that the number of Android apps available on the Google Play Store has dropped massively over the last 18 months or so.

According to app intelligence provider Appfigures, which shared its new analysis with TechCrunch, the number of apps available on the Google Play Store has dropped by 47% since the start of 2024.

At the beginning of 2024, the Google Play Store was home to 3.4 million apps worldwide. However, now, in April 2025, it’s only home to around 1.8 million. Which is one hell of a drop over a relatively short space of time. ​​​

This isn’t a larger global trend either, as Apple’s iOS App Store has maintained around the same number of apps over the same time period. At the start of 2024, that figure was 1.6 million, and now, it’s 1.64 million. So, a small and pretty insignificant increase.

This sharp decrease in the number of Android apps on the Google Play Store would be concerning if it wasn’t actually a good thing. Because Android owners are ultimately benefitting from this.

Why Fewer Android Apps Is a Good Thing

The key is Google’s attempt to foster quality over quantity, with the company making concerted efforts to clean up the Play Store. In July 2024, Google announced that it woiuld be raising its minimum quality requirements for Android apps, and there have been other policies enacted too.

These include an expanded set of verification standards, new developer accounts being required to test their apps, and humans spending more time reviewing apps before they were published to the Google Play Store.

So, while on the surface, Android owners may be feeling aggrieved that there are fewer Android apps to choose from, what’s left should be of a higher quality, with the spammy and scammy apps having been purged.

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Testament to that is the fact that the number of apps on the Google Play Store is now very similar to the number of apps on the iOS App Store. Apple has always strived for a higher degree of quality control, so it’s comforting to see the two numbers so similar.