There are many metrics by which to measure how good an app is, and Google is starting to use a few more when it ranks Android apps and games in the Play Store. The latest app-ranking algorithm now takes into account app stability, performance and battery usage.
There are many metrics by which to measure how good an app is, and Google is starting to use a few more when it ranks Android apps and games in the Play Store. The latest app-ranking algorithm now takes into account app stability, performance and battery usage.
As well as improving the relevance of listings for people downloading apps, Google is also using this change to push developers to improve their apps.
Google suggests that developers use information from the Android Vitals dashboard — pooling data from users who have opted to share information about app performance — to identify issues with their apps so they can be addressed. Apps that perform well and crash less are more likely to appear in search results.
Writing on the Android Developers blog, Google Play product manager Andrew Ahn says:
Google says that the new algorithm will affect not only search results, but also app charts, and that it will continue to roll out over the coming weeks.
