We're constantly working on ways to make Google Play a great place for users to
discover apps and games they'll love. We know this is crucial to most developers
ongoing success. There are steps you can take to ensure your app is primed for
success – that's why we're sharing a reminder of some of our top tips for
getting your app discovered on Google Play.
Build for quality
First, build for quality. Android users expect high-quality apps. App quality
directly influences the long-term success of your app - in terms of installs,
user rating and reviews, engagement, and user retention. These are some of the
factors that go into our search and discovery systems that help discern what
apps to recommend and surface across our Google Play experiences. When building
your app, check against the quality
criteria, and use what you need from the material design guidelines to make
sure you are delivering a highly usable experience. Also, be sure to test your
app for functional quality. Opt-in to the pre-launch
report for your alpha and beta apps in the Google Play Developer Console and
you'll receive a report for each APK showing how it performs on real devices. This will help you identify crashes and other issues before you release your app.
Example: Designing for high usability through Google Material Design.
Request only the permissions you need
Second, be considerate on which permission settings to enable for your app. We
see that there are some apps that ask for very sensitive permissions, even when
the app doesn't use them. (For example, a camera app asking for read and write
permissions to call logs.) Excessive app permissions may dissuade users from
installing your app. In fact, one study, in which users
were shown two unbranded apps with similar ratings that had the same
functionality but different sets of permission requests, showed that users were,
on average, 3 times more likely to install the app with fewer permissions
requests. And a similar
study showed that users are 1.7 times more likely, on average, to select the
application with fewer permission requests. The rule of thumb is to enable
permissions that are only essential to your app. Read the best
practices for app permissions.
Chart:
Distribution of permission groups use across Arcade Games category.
settings, if any.
Listen and respond to your users
Lastly, be attentive to user feedback. It's ultimately the users who drive our
search and discovery systems. When you hear user feedback about bugs or other
issues, we recommend engaging with the feedback and, if needed, updating your
app in a timely manner. Having an up-to-date app that reflects your user's
feedback can help you gain more installs, engagement, and higher ratings. Beta
testing is a good way to get feedback from real users before launch. You can
also check the ratings
and reviews section of the Developer Console to see an analysis of what
users are saying about your app and how that is affecting your rating compared
to similar apps.
Review benchmarks in the Developer Console uses machine learning to give you
insights about what users are saying about your app and how it affects your
rating.
Google Play strives to help users find and discover the most safe, high quality,
useful, and relevant apps. Building apps that put user's interest first will
help you be successful in Google Play. For more tips and best practices for
building a successful app business on Google Play, get the Playbook for Developers app.
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