How much do you know about the official android app store? It is not the only window to the applications since there are alternative ways to access the download of apps, but there is no doubt that it is the best gateway for those who do not want to break their heads with the Apks. And it has a lot of curiosities.
What a mobile application store is Google Play Store, in it we can find everything and for everyone. And with the simplicity of looking for something appropriate to our needs, press a button and install it; having, in addition, the updates accessible with the same simplicity. So there is no question: the Google Play Store is one of the best incentives of Android. Although it was not always called that or had the same impact.
Before it was not called Google Play Store
Those who have been on Android for a few years will know that the application store was not called Google Play as it is now. In its origins its name was Android Market, a name that matched more with the system than with its developer. This changed in March 2012 when Google renamed the app store to stay in line with the company name. until today.
At first there were no paid apps
The sambenito that Android is a system where you don’t pay to download apps perhaps it originates from the beginning of the application store, Android Market. Everything that was offered in the beginning was free of cost for the user: there were no payments for downloads, no in-app purchases or subscriptions. This changed in February 2009 when Android Market was opened to paid applications in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How many applications are there?
If you’ve ever wondered how many apps are in the Google Play Store, this is a really large number. Specifically, and according to data from AppBrain, currently there are more than 3,002,406 applications (statistics as of January 1, 2021). It would take several lives to prove them all.
How many paid apps are there?
The model of free download or “freemium” is the usual one in the Android application store. There are paid apps, but their number is very small: only 3.8% of the entire store (approximately 113,935 applications) asks for money in exchange for the download.
How much is the most expensive app worth?
Google stipulates the maximum and minimum prices of the Play Store. The cheapest app is, of course, free; no matter how much there is a limit if the developer wants to charge: 0.50 euros. And there is a limit above: the maximum price cannot exceed 350 euros.
Number of apps when the store opened
Evolution of the number of applications in the Google Play store. Statista data Android debuted commercially in 2008 with the T-Mobile G1 in the United States; becoming and el HTC Dream when it was marketed outside of that country. 2009 was the first year of the operating system, a year in which its users did not have as many options to choose from in the Android Market store: according to Statista, in December 2009 there were 10,000 Android applications listed.
Are there more games or more applications?
Although we tend to generalize calling all mobile software app or application, we can differentiate between games and other applications, those that are not pure entertainment. In terms of volume, there are around 388,000 games on Google Play (results after adding all the categories). In a matter of percentage, only 14.85% of Google Play apps are games.
What is downloaded the most?
Following data from 2018, 33% of all global downloads were from games (App Store and Google Play Store). Regarding Android, and out of an estimated total of 76,000 million downloads for the Google Play store (during 2018), 38.68% were games (29.4 billion estimated downloads). Despite the fact that there are far fewer games, on Android devices they are the most downloaded category.
Top 10 most downloaded apps
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Removing the system apps, those that Android needs to work, the “top 10” of all history is such that (AppBrain data):
- YouTube.
- Google Chrome.
- Google Drive.
- Google Play Music.
- Gmail.
- Google Maps.
- WhatsApp.
- Google Play Movies (ahora Google TV)
- Facebook.
Obviously, Google is cheating since many of these applications are pre-installs on most Android devices. If we remove the Google apps (and those reinstalled by Samsung, the world’s leading manufacturer) of the most downloaded, the “top 5” looks like this:
- WhatsApp Messenger.
- Facebook.
- Instagram.
- Facebook Messenger
- Microsoft OneDrive.
- Facebook Lite.
Google is king of downloads
It develops the system and has applications that are found on almost every device, so it is logical that Google is number one in downloads. Specifically, its apps accumulate more than 100,000 million installations; doubling the second of the podium, Samsung; and five times the third, Facebook (AppBrain data).
How the download count works
This is a fairly common question. Because, is a download added every time someone downloads an application, even when it has already been installed? The answer is no, only the first download is counted:
- Every time someone downloads an application that Google did not previously have, their download counter increases by one.
- Whenever a phone is started for the first time its applications add a download to the counter. This applies to Google search, Maps, YouTube and other pre-installed apps. Yes, provided that the user had not already used those applications.
- No matter how much a person downloads an application a hundred times, it will only count one download, the first. Updates also don’t add downloads to the counter.
- A curious fact is that Apks do not raise the Google Play download counter, but updates do: If you install an application file, and it is free and original (its signature has not been altered), the store will add a download to its counter when it is updated.
Google Play analyzes mobile security
Google Play Protect, this is the name of the security service that is responsible for monitoring all applications installed on the mobile and also the hundreds of millions that are in the Android app store. It is active by default and analyzes more than 50,000 million apps per day on more than 2,000 million Android devices (data from Google).
Google Play also installs updates
2020 was the year that Google released the system updates via the Play Store. With this system, the company ensures that a good number of software components reach almost all android; which supposes a great improvement in the privacy and security of the users. These Google Play updates are usually quarterly.
Apps can be tested without installing them
They are called “Instant apps” or Instant Applications, a type of software that allows you to save space on your phone and offer an advance to the user before deciding to purchase and / or download the app. You can access these applications without installation from Google Play Games, also searching through the Google search engine (on your mobile, some will appear with the message “Try”).
What about apps that disappear?
When you download an application from the Google Play Store, whether it is free or paid, this will always remain in the user’s account, even if the app is no longer visible in the store. This means that nothing installed is lost: just go to the purchase list and download it again. Of course, as Google removes the application due to bad practices (developer abuse, malware, adware, or ad fraud, for example), this app is no longer available to everyone, even to those who have downloaded it (both free and paid).