Google Play to Rank Apps Based on Their Performance, Stability

Google Play store appears to be taking a stricter approach towards Android apps that tend to crash and work improperly. In a bid to filter such apps, Google Play is updating its ranking algorithms to promote apps that are stable, taking app quality and performance into account. 

In a blog post, Google has announced that app creators should scrutinise their apps by focusing more on the Android vitals page and app pre-launch reports before publishing the apps and related updates. The app ratings in Google Play determine the quality of the apps where one star means a room for critical improvement for the apps. Google says that half of all the 1-star ratings stand for the app stability, penalised for excessive battery usage, slow render times, and crashes. Consequently, the apps with good ratings and better stability will appear on the top in the search and discovery results, while the unstable apps will have to settle with lower ranks.

Google is also encouraging these developers to use the new Android vitals tool to detect the performance issues in their apps, and those who will comply with the standards will gradually see improvements in their apps’ ratings and “ultimately their retention and monetisation.”