Google Play Store now has Android Excellence collections

After Apple revamps the App Store, Google is kind of following in their footsteps with its new Android Excellence collections. This new program is going to highlight collections of apps that deliver “incredible user experiences on Android,” take advantage of Google’s best practices, or have “great design, technical performance, localization, or device optimization.” Google launched the collection today and split it into two groups: apps and games. You’ll be able to see these collections in the Editors’ Choice section, where the other featured apps and games are curated by Google’s editorial team.

The section seems to benefit developers more than users, though, as the apps will only be refreshed quarterly. So, if you go through all the apps and the quarter isn’t done yet, you’d have to wait. Developers are given extra exposure, though, for that length of time.

Source: Tech Crunch

Google to penalize poorly-made apps

While Apple keeps a tight rein on the apps that show up on the App Store, Google has always had a more lax approach. But it seems the tech company wants to finally punish apps that demonstrate poor stability and power efficiency. Announced at the recently concluded Google I/O, Google is introducing Android Vitals for its developers. This initiative aims to analyze various metrics and scores of an app in relation to speed, security, and stability.

Google will be looking at things like “App not responding (ANR) rates,” “Crash rate,” “Slow rendering,” Frozen frames,” “Stuck wake locks,” and “Excessive wake-ups.” Using these metrics Google will see which apps are ranked at the bottom 25 percent. The penalty for these apps is they might no longer be visible on the Play Store. If this helps improve the quality of apps that show up on the Play Store, then we’re all for it.

Source: Android Authority

Google tests new look for Play Store Top Charts section

Google continues to test new features for its Play Store app. This time around the Top Charts sections get a revamp. You can now see a bit more space between the apps. It also clearly delineates which apps rank higher. Aside from that, the section also shows a new switch at the top right that will help you hide apps you already have installed on your device. This new feature was first spotted by Android Police back in June but it looks like it’s hitting more and more devices. Perhaps, it’ll make its way to yours soon.

Source: Android Police

Google to crack down on fraudulent app installs in Play Store

Google has enhanced its systems for identifying and stopping fraudulent app installs meant to affect app rankings in the mobile app store. “If an install is conducted with the intention to manipulate an app’s placement on Google Play, our systems will detect and filter it,” Google Search Quality Analyst Kazushi Nagayama and Google Product Manager Andrew Ahn wrote in a blog post. “Furthermore, developers who continue to exhibit such behaviors could have their apps taken down from Google Play.” Aside from this, Nagayama and Ahn remind developers that if they promote their apps, these must be done through legitimate means.