Forum Discussion
Play Store number of downloads counter
Hi Tom1
Hope you’re well - apologies for the delayed answer!
I’ve consulted the team internally and they said that the downloads only count when done with a Google account.
Managed Google Play uses randomised work accounts that are generated in the enrolment process with no binding to Google services.
Please let us know if this was helpful :)
Chat soon,
Emilie
That's helpful technically explaining the cause, that doesn't help developers gain insight into their install base though. Can we see some change here to help?
As an example I've got almost 2k active installs on my app, but play shows... 45.
45.
If I were using play alone to track this, I'd have thrown the app in the bin a year ago as a failed project.
Hi jasonbayton and apologies for the delayed answer.
I think it's an interesting piece of feedback; if you could send me more information on the changes you'd like to see in the Managed Google Play via DM, I can pass it on to our internal team and they'll raise a feature request for you.
This can be a lengthy process and I can't make promises - it might be that the changes you suggest won't be implemented. It's worth a try, though :)
Tom1 I wanted to check if Jason’s comment is relevant to your situation - if so, you two could collaborate on drafting a request so we can pass on a cohesive query to the team!
Chat soon,
Emilie
In addition to the lack of insight into real installs for developers, I see another problem.
A low number of downloads also sends a signal to companies that want to use apps like this. “What, only 45 users? Maybe we shouldn't buy such a niche product. Who knows how long it'll be supported if the developers aren't making any money.”
The lack of insight should really be handled by the dev with their own analytics - the Play store number goes through a "de-spamming" process anyway and isn't really that accurate for dev insights.
The issue of looking like a smaller app (in terms of users) than it is an interesting one but ultimately the same could be argued by users who distribute via other stores as well where the userbase is split. Ultimately this issue comes down to "should play count and display anonymous downloads" which is effectively what is happening. The problem with this is the publicly show download number is unique users and as soon as you count anonymous users that would break the whole thing!
Not sure if there is a good solution for this other than to allow developers to choose to hide the download number on the store. Of course that also has issues.
Ben
