India, April 30 -- Google's Play Store just went on a massive spring clean. Since the start of 2024, the number of Android apps has dropped from 3.4 million to around 1.8 million, that's a 47% drop in just a few months, according to new data from Appfigures. Apple's App Store, meanwhile, has quietly grown, going from 1.6 million to 1.64 million apps. So what's going on with Android?

Google used to allow just about anything on the Play Store. But in July 2024, that changed. The company introduced stricter rules to cut out apps with little or no real function, things like: Single wallpaper apps, text-only apps and placeholder apps that don't actually do anything. Apps now need to offer real value or they're removed.

It wasn't just about c...