Back in the day, it was a really great way to find new apps. And by back in the day, I mean when it was still called the Android Market.
Its initial transition to Play Store in the ICS era also wasn’t too bad. It still kept a lot of the good things from Android Market. But since the launch of Lollipop, things have really deteriorated. It might not have really been the fault of Google, but there’s a lot more noise with subpar apps that crowd the store now. There’s also the incessant ads for sketchy apps featured prominently that leaves a bad aftertaste in your mouth.
Like you, I’ve probably spent like 30 minutes on the Play Store over the last 4 years probably. Every app I want today is either on F-Droid, or already pre-installed on my phone. Or they’re PWAs, and it’s easy to install them just by going to the website.
Yep. The number of times I’ve gone to the Play Store to discover new apps, in the past few years is exactly zero. Most of the new apps I’ve come across is via some news article or recommendations on Reddit (now Lemmy).
I agree with this! I remember almost like 8-9 years ago scrolling through the play store was a fun time killer for me. I didn’t really notice it but I started doing less and less until I stopped entirely. I never open it any longer than I need to to install an app now.
Back in the day, it was a really great way to find new apps. And by back in the day, I mean when it was still called the Android Market.
Its initial transition to Play Store in the ICS era also wasn’t too bad. It still kept a lot of the good things from Android Market. But since the launch of Lollipop, things have really deteriorated. It might not have really been the fault of Google, but there’s a lot more noise with subpar apps that crowd the store now. There’s also the incessant ads for sketchy apps featured prominently that leaves a bad aftertaste in your mouth.
Like you, I’ve probably spent like 30 minutes on the Play Store over the last 4 years probably. Every app I want today is either on F-Droid, or already pre-installed on my phone. Or they’re PWAs, and it’s easy to install them just by going to the website.
Yep. The number of times I’ve gone to the Play Store to discover new apps, in the past few years is exactly zero. Most of the new apps I’ve come across is via some news article or recommendations on Reddit (now Lemmy).
I agree with this! I remember almost like 8-9 years ago scrolling through the play store was a fun time killer for me. I didn’t really notice it but I started doing less and less until I stopped entirely. I never open it any longer than I need to to install an app now.