Google is purging ‘low-quality’ Android apps next month

Google is raising its minimum quality requirements for Android apps, and will soon remove those that don’t meet expectations from the Play Store. According to the company’s latest spam policy update, apps that demonstrate “limited functionality and content” — such as text only apps, single wallpaper apps, or those that are literally designed to do nothing at all — will no longer be permitted on the Play Store effective August 31st.

These join existing restrictions that barred broken apps that are not responsive, don’t install, crash, or otherwise function abnormally. Google says it’s added the additional requirements to “ensure apps can meet the uplifted standards for the Play catalog and engage users through quality functionality.”

Google has made previous efforts to better police the apps hosted on its Play Store. As noted by Android Authority, as many as 2.28 million apps were blocked from the service in 2023 for violating policies and putting user security at risk. Google also said it had banned 333,000 “bad” Google Play accounts that same year for repeated severe policy violations, and concerns surrounding fraud and malware.